​In collaboration with the Department of Philosophy at the American University of Beirut, IFI held a talk on July 26 with Loubna El Amine, Associate Professor of Political Science at Northwestern University titled “Thinking Beyond the Modern (Western) State.” El Amine reimagines the frameworks of non-Western states by looking back at the histories of two ancient Eastern empires, suggesting that if political theorists “think beyond” the Western state, unrestricted ideals and aspirations would be tapped into.

IFI’s Climate Change and Environment Program (CC&E), in collaboration with the Water Sanitation and Conservation (WSC) project, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), organized a refresher course on Water Safety Plans for regional water establishments in Lebanon on July 5-6, 2023. The two-day event gathered 26 participants from the Litani River Authority and Lebanon’s four Regional Water Establishments (Beirut and Mount Lebanon, Beqaa, North Lebanon, and South Lebanon), who were trained on the development of water safety plans for their respective establishments. The training’s main focus is to help the water establishments improve their planning capabilities and the management of their systems in a way that ensures a safe delivery of water to beneficiaries.

​IFI in collaboration with the London School of Economics (LSE) Middle East Centre held a workshop and interactive discussion titled “Lebanon Unsettled: The October 2019 Uprising as a Product of Urban Space” on July 3, 2023. The panel was composed of LSE Visiting Fellow in Human Geography and Environment Deen Sharp, Visiting Associate Professor in the Faculty of Architecture and Design Lebanese American University May Farhat, Landscape Architect and Urbanist Sarah Lilly Yassine, Policy Advisor, Writer and IFI Associate Fellow Camille Ammoun, who also acted as moderator. Professor of Politics and Urban Studies at the American University of Beirut Mona Harb participated as the discussant. The workshop presented the Lebanon Unsettled project, led by Deen Sharp and Dr. May Farhat that created a USEK student-led archive of the October 2019 uprising, placing this moment in its geographical and historical context.