North Carolina’s State University Department of Crop & Soil Sciences has a strategic program lead by Dr. Lori Unruh Snyder that focuses on “International Agricultural Cropping Systems.” This program is derived to create opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to have international agriculture experiences that are like such as but not limited to support and to promote student and faculty travel and training, and provides supplies and materials to support the objectives of this program for bi-lateral country to country exchanges for the benefit of the State of North Carolina and North Carolina State University.
The first project that the International Agricultural Cropping Systems will showcase September 2017 is the “Training the Next Generation of Coffee Producers & Consumers via Innovation & Entrepreneurship.” This will start the formation of a “Consortium Uniting People for Sustainability (CUPS)“, where North Carolina State University, North Carolina, U.S. and SENA Centro para la Formación Cafetera, Regional Caldas, Colombia will come together from September 24 to October 3, 2017 to interact with NC State and the surrounding communities.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
September 26, 2017: NC State Department of Crop & Soil Sciences with SENA will offer students, faculty and staff coffee quality training for $5.00 dollars in Williams Hall
September 27, 2017: NC State will host the first Coffee Summit at the Global Training Center on Centennial Campus, The symposium will bridge academics, businesses and communities for presentations, and workshop training for teachers
September 27, 2017: STEM Workshop for Teachers, titled “Coffee Science “Stem”ing New Ideas to Talk about Food Security”.
September 29, 30 and October 1, 2017- Pop-Up Fundraisers & Educational Opportunities:
- September 29, 2017: (Durham, NC)– Counterculture--9 AM to 11 AM & Bean Traders–2 PM to 4 PM
- September 30, 2017: (Cary & Raleigh, NC)–Brew Coffee–9 AM to 11 AM & Lucky Tree–1 PM to 3 PM & Jubala 7 PM to 9 PM
- October 1, 2017: (Raleigh , NC)–Jubala–9 AM to 11 AM & Lucettegrace 1 PM to 3 PM
Thus, NC State with SENA will be visiting and hosting community events at local coffee and pastry shops demonstrating coffee quality information about the Colombian coffee sector. The events will have ticket purchases that will support the International Cropping Systems Program and our mission of providing NC State students and the surrounding community with hands-on learning centered around international agriculture and showcasing the global and local “glocal” agricultural value chain processes from the field to the cup. The events are co-sponsored by and fundraising efforts operate under the auspices of the NC Agricultural Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization.
Thus, the overall arching goal is to have this become an annual event that supports bringing international students in from other coffee regions around the World come be a part of the NC State community.
NC State and SENA won the Innovation Fund grant that will allow increased bilateral collaboration between North Carolina State University and SENA Centro para la Formación Cafetera, while increasing study abroad in the fields of agriculture, environment, tourism, and gastronomy. Through bi-directional training in coffee production, the partnering institutions will bring new technologies for training future coffee farmers to increase their focus on entrepreneurship across different disciplines and businesses across the United States and Latin America & the Caribbean. The program includes a dynamic mobile training laboratory on product development, which will be utilized by students from both institutions to exchange ideas and kick-start new product innovations, as well as discuss and learn from key experts in the agri-business sectors.
The 100,000 Strong in the Americas Innovation Fund is the dynamic public-private sector collaboration between the U.S. Department of State, Partners of the Americas, and NAFSA: Association of International Educators, corporations, foundations, U.S. Embassies, and universities.
Since its inception in January 2014, a total of 99 Innovation Fund grants have been awarded to teams of 207 higher education institutions from 20 countries in the Western Hemisphere region. Innovation Fund partnerships between universities in the United States and higher education institutions in the Western Hemisphere are increasing more student exchange opportunities and strengthening regional education cooperation throughout the Americas.
Learn more: www.100kStrongAmericas.org
Follow the Innovation Fund on Twitter and Facebook via #100KStrongAmericas
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