Panelists discuss Maine in the world's economy

The Harward Center for Community Partnerships hosts the second installation of its Civic Forum series at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 16, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave., with a panel titled Reimagining Globalism: Maine in the World’s Economy.

The event is free and open to the public. For more information, please contact the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at 207-786-6202.

The event features four panelists. They are Matt Schlobohm, Bates Class of 2000, public policy and political mobilization director of the Maine AFL-CIO and the founder of the Maine Fair Trade Campaign; Peter Riggs, executive director of the Forum on Democracy and Trade, which works with state and local governments to ensure that international trade agreements support local decision-making and economic innovation; Charles Lawton, newspaper columnist, senior economist with Planning Decisions, Inc., and author of the report commissioned by the Maine State Legislature on the impact of NAFTA on Maine; and Cathy Lee, former chair of the board for the Maine International Trade Center and managing director of Lee International, which focuses on the international trading of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Harward Center’s Civic Forum series explores issues of significance to the Bates community, Maine and beyond.  The final panel for this academic year is Reimagining the North Woods: The Changing Environment of Maine on Feb. 27.

The Harward Center leads Bates’ efforts in community involvement, including programs in service-learning, community volunteerism and environmental stewardship. The center works with community partners to meet community needs and, in the process, to integrate civic engagement with the Bates educational experience.