Announcing: The EICES Executive Education Program in Agro/Food Systems

The Earth Institute Center for Environmental Sustainability has just launched a new Executive Education Program in Agro/Food Systems that will open for enrollment in Fall 2016.

The Executive Education Program in Agro/Food Systems will provide students with an understanding of the relationships between food production, ecosystems, climate change, population growth, food security, and global health. Students will come away from the Program with the knowledge and skills to be sound decision makers in the growing field of Sustainable Food Systems.

Students of the Agro/Food Systems Program are required to complete five fundamental courses from the Executive Education Program in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability. In addition, they must take three electives and four courses from each of the Agro/Food Systems action areas:

• Food & Health/Hunger
• Food, Environment and Ecology
• Food Economics and Sustainability
• Food Systems

As with the Executive Education Program in Conservation and Environmental Sustainability, the Agro/Food Systems Program is designed for working professionals. Classes will be held during evenings and many will be available via distance learning. No previous coursework is required. Courses may be taken on an individual basis or toward completion of the 12-course Certificate in Agro/Food Systems.

Courses will be taught by Columbia University professors and researchers from the Consortium for Environmental Research and Conservation (CERC) as well as adjunct faculty and current practitioners from both the public and private sectors. Individual courses will be announced soon.

In today’s world of changing climate, growing populations, and the coexistence of over- and undernutrition, sustainable food production is an imperative. The Executive Education Program in Agro/Food Systems gives students a solid foundation in the ways sustainable agriculture can be achieved and the challenges we face to its implementation.