Department of Political Science – International Relations of Emmanuel College, USA – Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation 

One of the key aims of the “International School of Sea” of Archipelagos Institute is to bring the Aegean in the international map of applied education for environmental conservation.  university studies for the environment, through the cooperation with leading international universities. Such an important educational action was completed recently in collaboration with the Department of Political Science of Emmanuel College, USA, and with focus on the area of the small islands of Agathonisi, Arki and Lipsi. 

“This study abroad program is running for 10 years and aims to promote the area of the Eastern Mediterranean as a nodal field in relation to geopolitics, protection and culture. This year we joined forces with Archipelagos Institute and added a new important aspect – that for environmental conservation” says the Dr Petros Vamvakas, Assistant Professor in Department of Political Sciences and International Relations of Emmanuel College in Boston and Director of Institute of Eastern Mediterranean Studies. He adds “today the protection is not an issue of war power, but soaks through aspects of the climate change and human insertion in natural habitat in relation to wild financial competition”. The team of students from EC IEMS had the opportunity to gain experiences investigating and reading these aspects during the research on board the Aegean Explorer.

Combining the research in marine ecosystems with the analysis of political aspects, the common goal of this new important collaboration is the continuous multidisciplinary investigation of environmental, cultural, political, social and financial angle in important islands of Aegean Sea where the Archipelagos Institute is active for over 25 years.