Content and Structure

The 3-week certificate course offers a series of interdisciplinary workshops with a focus on innovation and collaboration. Workshops are facilitated by UC Berkeley faculty and non-academic experts from the greater San Francisco Bay Area. Training methods include lectures, small group exercises, role play simulations, debates, participant case studies, panels and presentations and open space sharing.

The curriculum is enhanced by field trips that showcase California’s groundbreaking responses to diverse agricultural, natural resource and urban environmental challenges:

• Capay Valley in Yolo County (diversified farming and marketing systems);
• Central Coast (intensive horticulture and coastal conservation);
• Berkeley and San Francisco Bay Area (“green” urban planning/economy, renewable energy, sustainable water and waste management, environmental and food justice);
• UC Berkeley Botanical Garden (remote sensing tools, habitat and water quality monitoring).

“My experience in the ELP 2010 was truly wonderful. It has provided me with tools and guidelines on how to deal with multi-stakeholder meetings and achieve consensus through effective negotiation. It has provided me with skills in collaborative leadership for leading my organization. Thanks to Beahrs ELP, I am now more confident in discussing environmental issues with legislators.”

— Cezario Magpayo, Philippines Legislator’s Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Philippines