On March 30 and 31, the Department of International Development, Community, and Environment (IDCE) will celebrate its first ten years as a formal department, inviting the Clark community to a keynote address and symposium.

IDCE students are immersed in studies of grass roots initiatives, social movements, government policy, market approaches, entrepreneurship, technological innovation, individual action and education. Armed with the intellectual tools to effect positive change, they then put those tools to action everywhere from the neighborhoods of Worcester to the villages of Sudan — a marriage of research and practice.

“We’ll be looking at the accomplishments of the past decade and the challenges we faced,” said IDCE Director William Fisher. “Together, we’ll look forward to envision the next ten years and what the future holds for us and interdisciplinary departments like IDCE.”

On Wednesday, March 30, IDCE will host keynote speaker, Amy Goodman, award-winning investigative journalist, author, syndicated columnist, and host of the “Democracy Now!” TV/radio program. She is the author of four New York Times bestsellers, including “Breaking the Sound Barrier.”

Goodman’s address will begin at 4 p.m., in Tilton Hall at the Higgins University Center.

On Thursday, March 31, IDCE will present a two-part symposium titled “Building Bridges, Breaking Barriers,” starting at 9 a.m. in the Grace and Lurie Rooms at the Higgins University Center. Panel topics will include:

• Global Health and Social Justice: Who Sets the Agenda?
• Meeting Complex Challenges: The Evolution of Environmental Science & Policy
• Building Bridges Between Research and Practice: The “hyphen” in ‘scholar-practitioner’
• Geospatial Technologies for Environmental Sustainability: The Potential and Limitations
• Learning from Practice Stories: Tales from a Planner, an Executive Director, and a Community Organizer
• Neighborhoods and Regions of Promise: Pathways to Sustainable Development
• Participatory Approaches to Development: New Avenues and Critical Reflections

Among the panelists scheduled to participate are Clark faculty, IDCE alumni, colleagues, and at least one policy expert.

All events are free and open to the public.

For more information about IDCE: The First Ten Years, please visit the IDCE webpages.