UNU Annual Report, 2005 - United Nations University

tion. A case study of catastrophic flood riskassessment programmes was implementedViet Nam (in Hanoi), and an InternationalProgramme on Landslides, developed by UNUand the International Centre for Landslides ofKyoto University, was launched in January.Immediately after the Kobe conference,UNU-EHS convened a January expert workshopon vulnerability measurement. A researchbrief was distributed at the 6th Open Meetingof the International Human DimensionProgramme of the Global EnvironmentalChange project (co-organized by UNU), anda book (Measuring the Unmeasurable) based onthe conference presentations and other invitedpapers will be published by UNU Press in 2006.UNU-EHS also developed a questionnaire forpost-disaster assessment of the vulnerability ofaffected households; surveys were started inseveral nations with particular reference to theIndian Ocean tsunami, hurricanes Katrina andRita, and other recent flood events.Environmental governance andinformationThe Innovative Communities Initiative seeks toidentify the innovative elements in communitylevelenvironmental management initiatives,and to develop applicable concepts and methodologies,primarily for countries of the Asia–Pacific region. The long-term objective is todevelop a framework of innovative communitiesand community-based education forsustainable development. A book and a researchbrief summarizing several case studieswere published.The Zero Emission Forum (ZEF), whichbrings together representatives from business,government, and the scientific community forresearch, capacity development, and networking,held two major symposiums at UNUCentre: one in May (in conjunction with theZEF Annual Meeting) to mark the coming intoeffect of the Kyoto Protocol, and another inOctober on the theme “Climate Change andZero Emissions”.The Globally Integrated EnvironmentalAssessment Modeling (GLEAM) projectundertook a multi-disciplinary study in SriLanka on the climate change impacts of atmosphericbrown cloud and greenhouse gases onwater resources, crop yields, and nationaldevelopment. A Graduate Research Programmewas launched to support UNU research effortsin the region.The Information Society and EnvironmentalIssues project cooperated with ZEF to developan initiative on Solving the E-waste Problem.This initiative, which focuses on the growingproblem of disposing of end-of-life electronics,has broad participation by other UN agenciesand receives cooperation and support fromHewlett Packard and Dell.The Inter-linkages Initiative of the GlobalEnvironment Information Centre (GEIC, a jointinitiative of UNU and the Japan Ministry of theEnvironment) focuses on the synergies andcoordination among multilateral environmentalagreements (MEAs). The Inter-linkagesInitiative concentrated in 2005 on strengtheningmulti-stakeholder partnerships at national andregional levels and on developing and conductingintegrated capacity development andknowledge management activities for MEAimplementation. Training workshops were heldin Sri Lanka (in February and April) and at UNHeadquarters in New York (in March).Capacity developmentNumerous UNU capacity development activitiesin 2005 were focused on Environment andSustainability.• The first UNU Summer School for Bird’s-eyeView Experts on Environment, a two-weekcourse attended by 19 postgraduate environmentalstudies majors, was held at UNUCentre in August/September.• A module of environmental managementand policy studies courses developed byUNU-INRA was piloted as part of the M.Sc.(Environment) programme at Ghana’sKwame Nkrumah University of Science andTechnology (Kumasi). Eleven studentscompleted the courses in June, while 18 moreenrolled for the 2005–2006 academic year.• UNU-INWEH’s flagship distance educationinitiative, the Water Virtual Learning Centre,welcomed its first groups of students at three24UNU ANNUAL REPORT 2005