Cornell faculty have a long history of involvement with colleagues in Central and Eastern Europe. From 1974 to 1992 with support from the Alfred Jurzykowski Foundation, 45 Polish scientists worked with Cornell colleagues on a variety of scientific problems. Since the late 1980s, academic and research relationship with several countries have been broadened. Over the past five years, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell (CALS), with organizational support from International Programs (formerly known as International Agriculture Program), has operated successful Mellon Foundation projects with the Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, Slovak Republic, and with the University of Agricultural Sciences in Godollo, Hungary. International Programs-managed professional development programs for Slovakian and Hungarian faculty have been central to these institutional strengthening initiatives.
The University of Agriculture in Nitra, Slovakia has established the Institute of Economic Studies (IES) with Cornell assistance. The Institute provides a study program equivalent to a professional Master’s degree, with a special certificate awarded upon completion. Included in the program are courses in trade, policy, marketing, and other subjects that can foster a working knowledge of a market economy. With support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, faculty in Cornell’s Department of Agricultural, Resource and Managerial Economics, together with colleagues at Nitra, organized the new Institute, developed curriculum, and taught more than 20 courses in Slovakia.

The Mellon Foundation also recently funded a three-year project on economic and management development for the Hungarian agricultural sector. A four-way partnership involving the University of Agricultural Sciences, Gödöllö (Hungary), the University of Limerick (Ireland), TEAGASC, the Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Ireland), and Cornell University organized for human resource development, curriculum development, technical assistance, strategic planning for agricultural extension, and a study of rural development options.

A faculty committee provides guidance for a Central and Eastern European Program, and in collaboration with overseas colleagues, develops initiatives for this region. In 1998 the Committee initiated a strategic planning exercise to consider a future course of action in the region. From that strategic planning initiative came a plan to re-establish collaborative relationships with former partners in the Slovak Republic and Hungary. In addition new partnerships with key Polish institutions (universities, research institutes, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations) were conceived.

A “Planning Workshop on Agricultural and Rural Development: Restructuring Modernization Competitiveness” was a catalyst for future work around five themes. These include: Rural Development; Environmental Issues Related to Land and Water Management; Quality and Safety Assurance of Agricultural and Food Products; Agricultural Market Economics; and Biotechnology. Around these focus areas emerged multi-institutional working groups and action plans for future collaboration.