{"id":26535,"date":"2020-05-12T14:10:34","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T18:10:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=26535"},"modified":"2020-05-12T14:10:34","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T18:10:34","slug":"gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/","title":{"rendered":"GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The UCF Office of Global Perspectives &amp; International Initiatives (GPII) and <em>Al-Bilad<\/em> will kick off the six-part \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series on May 12. Originally intended to be held as a live, round-table discussion, the series will shift to a Zoom video-conference format. The lectures will also be recorded and distributed to the newspaper\u2019s readers and posted on the GPII website. <em>Al-Bilad<\/em> is one of the oldest newspapers in Saudi Arabia, having first been established in 1932 \u2013 the same year the modern Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was unified.<\/p>\n<p>The series will feature expert panels, including UCF faculty members, outside experts affiliated with UCF and Saudi experts, who will speak about a wide range of environmental topics. These include: coastal habitat preservation, smart city and smart growth development; solar energy use and development; sustainable food production; eco-tourism; urban ecology; managing sensitive ecosystems; and water management. While detailed, these forums are designed to be accessible to audiences with limited expertise.<\/p>\n<p>The first lecture, \u201cThe Global Water Crisis: Impacts and Opportunities in the Middle East,\u201d will be given by Thomas Crisman, Ph.D. a professor in the School of Geosciences at the University of South Florida. Crisman was a Jefferson Science Fellow in the Office of Conservation and Water at the U.S. State Department in 2014-2015. A frequent collaborator with GPII on Middle East resource issues, he is currently consulting on the <a href=\"https:\/\/ucfglobalperspectives.org\/category\/addressing-global-crisis\/\">Addressing Global Crisis Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Upcoming speakers, all from UCF, include Drs. Jacopo Baggio and Peter Jacquez, both of UCF School of Politics, Security and International Affairs and the National Center of Integrated Coastal Research, and Dr. Youcheng Wang, Dean of Rosen College of Hospitality Management.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve had to work with our partners to adapt to the global pandemic, but are honored to work with <em>Al-Bilad<\/em>, one of the oldest Saudi newspapers. We are excited to engage Saudi audiences in a discussion about critical issues which will shape the Kingdom\u2019s and world\u2019s development in the coming decades. There have been a lot of positive moves undertaken by Saudi Arabia in recent years, and we hope to contribute to the ongoing national dialogue about sustainable growth and development,\u201d noted David Dumke, director of GPII.<\/p>\n<p>UCF has always enjoyed a strong reputation in engineering and science. One of the largest universities in the U.S., UCF is located in a state with unique environmental concerns. UCF has special expertise in a variety of fields shaped by environmental and sustainability considerations. Many of the challenges faced by the Kingdom today are studied and researched by UCF faculty. Additionally, the GPII Office has co-sponsored a series of Middle East-related international conferences with the Hollings Center for International Dialogue on resource-related issues, focusing on food security, water, energy conservation and sustainable development.<\/p>\n<p>UCF has a longstanding interest in Saudi Arabia. In 2013, UCF \u2013 partnering with Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University \u2013 established the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd Program for Strategic Research and Studies (PMBF). The <a href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/pmbfprogram\/\">PMBF Program<\/a> has sponsored a wide range of activities focusing on the environment and sustainability. UCF also has hundreds of Saudi nationals studying at their Orlando campus. The Saudi chapter of the UCF Alumni Association was established in 2017.<\/p>\n<p>GPII and <em>Al-Bilad<\/em> still intend to hold live roundtables discussions in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, after the COVID-19 pandemic ebbs and international travel resumes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The UCF Office of Global Perspectives &amp; International Initiatives (GPII) and Al-Bilad will kick off the six-part \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series on May 12. Originally intended to be held as a live, round-table discussion, the series will shift to a Zoom video-conference format. The lectures will also be recorded and distributed to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":139,"featured_media":26536,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[8,4158],"tags":[958,1440,5977,6224,4990,3236],"class_list":["post-26535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-perspectives","category-pmbf-program","tag-distinguished-speaker-series","tag-global-perspectives","tag-gpii","tag-pmbf","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-sustainability"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The UCF Office of Global Perspectives &amp; International Initiatives (GPII) and Al-Bilad will kick off the six-part \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series on May 12. Originally intended to be held as a live, round-table discussion, the series will shift to a Zoom video-conference format. The lectures will also be recorded and distributed to [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-05-12T18:10:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2020\/05\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jessica Squires\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jessica Squires\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Jessica Squires\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a5ff974f3057f0a0290acc48810d77f\"},\"headline\":\"GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-12T18:10:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":564,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Distinguished Speaker Series\",\"Global Perspectives\",\"GPII\",\"PMBF\",\"Saudi Arabia\",\"Sustainability\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Global Perspectives\",\"PMBF Program\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/\",\"name\":\"GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series - College of Sciences News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-05-12T18:10:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a5ff974f3057f0a0290acc48810d77f\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2020\\\/05\\\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg\",\"width\":768,\"height\":576,\"caption\":\"A conference room with people seated, facing a speaker and two panelists at the front beside a projected presentation.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"College of Sciences News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0a5ff974f3057f0a0290acc48810d77f\",\"name\":\"Jessica Squires\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/46f7c60c77d34991835316428bac58d6941e97e1e0b764e96c3c9643ce39a860?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/46f7c60c77d34991835316428bac58d6941e97e1e0b764e96c3c9643ce39a860?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/46f7c60c77d34991835316428bac58d6941e97e1e0b764e96c3c9643ce39a860?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jessica Squires\"},\"url\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series - College of Sciences News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series - College of Sciences News","og_description":"The UCF Office of Global Perspectives &amp; International Initiatives (GPII) and Al-Bilad will kick off the six-part \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series on May 12. Originally intended to be held as a live, round-table discussion, the series will shift to a Zoom video-conference format. The lectures will also be recorded and distributed to [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/","og_site_name":"College of Sciences News","article_published_time":"2020-05-12T18:10:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":768,"height":576,"url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2020\/05\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Jessica Squires","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Jessica Squires","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/"},"author":{"name":"Jessica Squires","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0a5ff974f3057f0a0290acc48810d77f"},"headline":"GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series","datePublished":"2020-05-12T18:10:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/"},"wordCount":564,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2020\/05\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg","keywords":["Distinguished Speaker Series","Global Perspectives","GPII","PMBF","Saudi Arabia","Sustainability"],"articleSection":["Global Perspectives","PMBF Program"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/","name":"GPII, Al-Bilad Kick Off \u201cSustainable World, Sustainable Kingdom\u201d Distinguished Lecture Series - College of Sciences News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2020\/05\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-05-12T18:10:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0a5ff974f3057f0a0290acc48810d77f"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/gpii-al-bilad-kick-off-sustainable-world-sustainable-kingdom-distinguished-lecture-series\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2020\/05\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2020\/05\/water-nexus-3-768x576-1.jpg","width":768,"height":576,"caption":"A conference room with people seated, facing a speaker and two panelists at the front beside a projected presentation."},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/","name":"College of Sciences News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0a5ff974f3057f0a0290acc48810d77f","name":"Jessica Squires","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46f7c60c77d34991835316428bac58d6941e97e1e0b764e96c3c9643ce39a860?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46f7c60c77d34991835316428bac58d6941e97e1e0b764e96c3c9643ce39a860?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/46f7c60c77d34991835316428bac58d6941e97e1e0b764e96c3c9643ce39a860?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Jessica Squires"},"url":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26535","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/139"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26535"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26535\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26535"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26535"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26535"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}