2011 Washington DC Fulbright Enrichment Seminar Will Focus On Greening Of The Planet

140 Fulbright Students from 60 Countries in Washington, DC from March 17-20, 2011

The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs will host the 2011 Washington DC Fulbright Enrichment Seminar on March 17-20 at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill. The theme of the Washington DC seminar is Greening of the Planet: Global Challenges, Local Solutions. The seminar will examine the effects of climate change on the host city and local efforts to respond to environmental challenges.

The Enrichment Seminar will bring together approximately 140 first-year foreign Fulbright students from more than 60 countries, along with ten recently returned Fulbright U.S. alumni, who serve as seminar mentors and facilitators.

The four-day seminar will feature keynote speakers, panel discussions, community service visits demonstrating best strategies for applying entrepreneurial principles, and examine business models and public policies to solve environmental problems. Community service activities will focus on helping the local community with specific volunteer environmental projects. Workshop projects will gather small groups of Fulbright students to identify an environmental challenge in a specific country or region and to develop a hypothetical project to address this challenge.

The press is welcome to attend the following events:

• The welcome remarks given by Ambassador J. Adam Ereli, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs and the keynote address given by the Honorable John Peter Sarbanes, U.S. Congressman, Maryland 3rd Congressional District and distinguished Fulbright Program alumnus, on Thursday, March 17 at 9:00 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.
• The community service activities involving park restoration and landscape maintenance at Crossway Community, Friends of Rock Creek’s Environment (FORCE), Potomac River Clean-up, Fort Mahan Clean-up, Anacostia Watershed on Friday, March 18 at 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
• The panel discussions on: Greening of the Planet – From Vision to Action featuring Neha Bhatt, Deputy Director, Policy and Research, Smart Growth America, William Hewes, Associate Director, Climate Policy, American Rivers, Keith Losoya, Founder, Waste Neutral Group, Roger Platt, Senior Vice President, U.S. Green Building Council, and Chris Zganjar, Applied Scientist, The Nature Conservancy on Thursday, March 17 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill.

The Washington, DC Fulbright Enrichment Seminar is one of nine enrichment seminars hosted across the United States by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) as part of its flagship Fulbright Program. These enrichment seminars, an integral part of the Fulbright experience, benefit first-year Fulbright foreign students and support the overall mission of the Fulbright Program – to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.

Media Contacts: Gerard Doran, DoranGW@state.gov, (202) 632-3242, or John Fleming, FlemingJT2@state.gov, 202-632-6454.