All in the - American University of Beirut

levels… The [AUB] students discovereda number of similarities as well as newtechniques, technologies, and urbanschemes that, in the end, enriched a lotof their design projects.hoped that this time AUB students willvisit New York.However, eight lucky New Yorkersdid get to spend the summer in Beirutas hard working interns with variousAlong with Kara, Danberg-Ficarelliorganized a producers capacity buildingworkshop on organic compostingdelivered by Ziad Abi-Chakerfrom the Lebanese company CedarFarmers Pod: the "pod" expands to hold produce at a farmer's market and collapses into a public sitting area (Joana Dabaj“This engagement with a group ofpeople carrying out similar tasks allowedthe students a bit of an ‘escape’ fromthe studio [by] giving them permissionto use social media as a tool for learning.We explored a number of mediasand while it wasn’t completely successful(slow internet, dissimilar socialmedia sites, etc.), a good amount ofinformation was exchanged—and oneor two good friendships came out ofthe semester!”The program’s initial proposition hadprovided for the AUB students to visitNew York but this proved not to bepossible. Thomas says, “If we couldhave financially provided for a trip toNew York at the start of the semester, Iam sure the collaborations would havebeen a lot richer. I guess it goes to showthat we haven’t yet been able to replacethe experience of sitting with anotherperson to share a meal and brainstormnew ideas.” Steps are under way torepeat the program next year and it isindependent Lebanese social and civicorganizations. They thrived on theopportunity to get to know Beirut better,as well as applying their knowledge andskills to a range of projects.Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli, AdamPhillips, and Hirumi Nanayakkara wereall seconded to the SET group wherethey teamed up with Yasmine Karaand Mohammad Chehab, studentsfrom the FAFS agribusiness program.Working together and separately, thestudents tackled a catalog of foodrelated issues.One of Danberg-Ficarelli’s projectswas to devise a zero waste garbagesystem for SET’s sister restaurantTawlet. Now that the system—a possiblefirst for Beirut—is up and runningand yielding 95 percent organic waste,she is exploring ways to expand thewaste system into a network for Beirutrestaurants and is considering turningthe project into the subject of hermaster’s thesis.Environmental. “We’ve also done acrash course in quality assurance,” heexplains, “which includes making surethe food safety rules and regulations atSET and Tawlet are maintained.” Thisemphasis on quality assurance necessitatedspot check site visits to farmsin various regions to guarantee SETstandards of quality and production.For Kara the summer has beenan eye opener. She visited parts ofLebanon she had never seen before.Her work included conducting and writingup interviews with producers all overthe country. “I learned about places andthings I never knew existed,” she says.“And I got to know people I would neverotherwise have met.”Kara and Phillips worked togetherto structure Cooking 101, a Tawletcooking class; then Phillips put his mindto work on a bicycle-sharing scheme.Both he and Kara, along with threestudents from FEA’s Graphic DesignDepartment researched and helpedwww.aub.edu.lb/maingate |MainGate Fall 2011 21