Salem State Professor Invited by Bulgarian Ambassador to Present to the United Nations on Sustainability Model

Salem State assistant professor and Marblehead resident Julie Kiernan, MFA, of the theatre and speech communication department, presented at the United Nations in New York City on the Sustainable Project Model her organization, Stone & Compass, created to help develop and implement sustainable projects.

The presentation, entitled “Partnership, Peace, and Development: A Sustainable Project Model,” explains Stone & Compass’ model for creating sustainable partnerships working toward achieving the UN’s 2030 sustainable development goals. Invited by the Permanent Mission of Bulgaria to the United Nations and the United Nations Ambassador H. E. Georgi Panayotov, Kiernan presented the model to delegates and ambassadors as part of the partnership forum.

“This is an important recognition of our international partnership work and sustainable model,” said Kiernan. “This forum allowed us to share these ideas with a large and targeted audience of ambassadors and delegates who are committed to accomplishing what we have been able to achieve, but on a larger worldwide scale by 2030.”

The mission of Stone & Compass is to serve as an incubator and driving force for global partnerships and projects based on a model for sustainability. Stone & Compass is a global education, ecotourism, and cultural retreat center in Stolat, Bulgaria. The 2,000 acre retreat center encourages people of all ages and backgrounds to come together to create cultural understandings and connections.

The Marblehead students and Young Woman’s Internship program interns, Anna Tyrrell, Maeve Caldwell, Gabriella Mark, and Annie Hollister traveled with Kiernan to the UN in December for preliminary meetings for the UN presentation and worked with her to draft the proposal to the Bulgarian Ambassador. Three of the four interns were able to attend the talks in New York City in March. The students will also join Kiernan this summer in Bulgaria to work on Stone & Compass projects there, as well as projects being undertaken by the organization around the world. Currently, Stone & Compass is working on 13 projects in 9 different countries including: Bulgaria, Dominica, Nigeria, and others.