2014: Tlcan-Alena-Nafta

 

North America. Image courtesy of wikimedia commons.

January 1, 2014 marks the 20th anniversary of the North American free trade agreement, joining Canada, Mexico and the United States in partnership. While the original accord focused on economics, now it may be time to expand the focus to shared resources including, but not limited to: water, energy, transport, public health, communications, employment and education. Charlemagne has been called by some the father of the European Union because of early efforts to draw people together through shared systems respecting the richness of diverse languages. Who is the Charlemagne of the North American continent?

Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

 

The Charlemagne Scholarship

University of Aachen, from young-germany.de.

On June 1, 2000, the Rheinisch-Westfalische Technische Hochschule Aachen, of Aachen University, awarded the Charlemagne Prize to the President of the United States. To continue the association, the university instituted the Charlemagne Scholarship, awarded annually to a U.S. student of engineering who is placed in an industry-oriented research unit with the option of attending advanced courses. Tuition is free, and there is also a period of German language training customized for the winner’s needs. The goal of the program is to continue to bridge and share the highest technological standards for both the United States of America and the Federal Republic of Germany to develop “young scientists and engineers with a strong international orientation.”

The spirit of learning exchange is also reflected in the ERASMUS program that invites EU students to take a year of study at another university within the Eurozone, promoting shared understanding among a fresh cadre of multi-lingual young professionals. The program fosters expanding the vision of a new generation who will think of themselves first as Europeans and second as nationals of a particular country.

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Building the World Blog by Kathleen Lusk Brooke and Zoe G Quinn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.