USM to get Right Livelihood College

The ground-breaking Right Livelihood College was launched at the International Centre for Public Policy and International Studies (CenPris), University Sains Malaysia (USM) yesterday.

Unlike a traditional college, the Right Livelihood College will not offer diploma and degree courses. Instead, it will offer workshops, internships, scholarships, community projects, and lectures by 133 Right Livelihood Awards laureates from 57 countries, all of whom are pioneers in their respective fields.

The Right Livelihood Awards, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prizes” were established in 1980 by Swedish journalist and philatelist Jakob von Uexkull in recognition of inidividuals and organisations who have made immense contributions to humanity through practical solutions.

The prizes, now worth US$260,000 (RM936,000) are traditionally awarded to four recipients at the Swedish Parliament annually. Unlike the Nobel Prizes, however, there are no fixed categories for which laureates are awarded and the nomination process is open to everyone.

The college will be open to candidates from all over the world, and they can expect opportunities such as taking part in ecological conversation projects with environmental conservation organisations, or working with human rights activists on developing peace-building programmes.

Candidates will also get to participate in international courses organised by the college in collaboration with partner institutions around the world.

‘We resonate with USM’

“Each Right Livelihood Award laureate is a human library. Each of them is a human action machine. This college will enable us to harness, share and multiply their experiences and expertise by making their practical solutions accessible to the general public,” says professor Anwar Fazal, who will direct the college and was himself a former laureate in 1982.

A Memorandum of Understanding on the Right Livelihood College was signed between Jakob von Uexkull and professor Dzulkifli Razak, vice-chancellor of USM.

Von Uexkull thanked University Sains Malaysia for “kindly and generously offering to host the global secretariat” . He added: “We resonate with USM and its commitment to transforming higher education for a sustainable tomorrow.”

Dzulkifli responded by stating that USM would be fully supportive of the venture.

Among other things, the college plans to launch the “Alternative Nobel Prize” series of books, documentary, films, “days of action” series to promote such United Nations days as World Biodiversity Day, World Peace Day and World Health Day.

USM is the first tertiary education institution in Malaysia to be recognised as an Apex (Accelerated Programme for Excellence) centre.

Apart from professor Anwar Fazal, two other Malaysian laureates, Sahabat Alam Malaysia-Sarawak (SAM) and social activist Irene Fernandez were recipients of the award in 1988 and 2005 respectively.