RSCN hosts student workshops on sustainable community development

AMMAN — The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature (RSCN) on Sunday concluded its training workshop held as part of the Middle East Partnership project for productive landscapes.

Held in partnership with the German University of Nürtingen-Geislingen (HfWU), the German Jordanian University (GJU), the American University of Beirut (AUB) and Birzeit University, the workshop lasted for six days in the Ajloun Forest Reserve.

“The workshop supports sustainable community development through focusing on three main aspects; including understanding the landscape and community, identifying challenges and creating solutions and building business models,” project’s manager Osama Hasan, who is also in charge of developing tourist facilities at the RSCN, told The Jordan Times on Sunday.

The project, which started back in 2019, is implemented by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and is funded by the German Foreign Ministry, aiming to promote cultural exchange among university students from the various participating countries and the local communities.

“In this workshop 44 persons participated. This is the third workshop that has been held in Jordan as part of the project,” Hasan said.

He noted that the project concentrates on both scientific and field angles through extensive visits to and meetings with the local community in Ajloun.

Ajloun Forest Reserve Manager Othman Tawalbeh said: “This year’s participating students came up with entrepreneurial ideas that can be applicable after having long meetings with Ajloun’s local community.”

The students’ feasible ideas may be re-examined and then transformed into a viable project implemented by the local community of Ajloun. 

Leen Fakhoury, a professor at the GJU, said in an RSCN statement that the workshops have created an opportunity for students to “exchange unique experiences” and promote cooperation among them through their development of sustainable projects.