Donna Shalala, a member of the Advisory Council for Americans for UNESCO is to receive the Medal of Freedom.
IN FOCUS
NEWS
INTERVIEW
HORIZONS
IN BRIEF
The International Centre for South-South Co-operation in Science, Technology and Innovation was inaugurated in Kuala Lumpur in May 2008. The centre functions under the auspices of UNESCO. It facilitates the integration of a developmental approach into national science and technology and innovation policies, and provides policy advice. In parallel to organizing capacity-building and the exchange of experience and best practices, the centre conducts research and tackles specific problems in science, technology and innovation policy-making in developing countries.
(a) anchor the research, training, capacity building and demonstration agendas of MAB at the interface between the interlinked issues of conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and socio-economic and cultural well-being of human communities;The plan further defines the vision of the program as follows:
(b) enable the active use of places included in the WNBR as learning sites for sustainable development, i.e. demonstrating approaches to enhance co-operation amongst epistemic (academic), political, practitioner and stakeholder communities to address and solve context specific problems to improve environmental, economic and social conditions for human and ecosystem well-being;
(c) collect, collate, synthesize and disseminate lessons learned from more than 30 years of the work of the MAB Program and the WNBR as well as their planned actions during 2008-2013 to benefit international, national and local efforts to meet global targets such as the MDGs, significantly reducing the current rate of biodiversity loss by 2010 (also referred to as the “CBD 2010 target”) and others that are part of the UNFCCC and Kyoto processes linked to mitigating and adapting to global climatic change; and
(d) contribute to the emergence of a new generation of professionals and practitioners who can serve as ambassadors and managers/coordinators for linking global environmental agendas to national and local development aspirations.
The World Network of Biosphere Reserves of the Man and the Biosphere Program consists of a dynamic and interactive network of sites of excellence. It fosters harmonious integration of people and nature for sustainable development through participatory dialog, knowledge sharing, poverty reduction and human well-being improvements, respect for cultural values and society's ability to cope with change, thus contributing to the MDGs. Accordingly, the World Network of Biosphere Reserves is one of the main international tools to develop and implement sustainable development approaches in a wide array of contexts.It defines the mission as follows:
To ensure environmental, economic, social (including cultural and spiritual) sustainability through:In the meeting of the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO in May the members formally recommended that the State Department reinforce U.S. participation in the Man and the Biosphere program. The American participants in the Congress recommended that the
- development and coordination of a worldwide network of places acting as demonstration areas and learning sites with the aim of maintaining and developing ecological and cultural diversity, and securing ecosystem services for human well-being;
- development and integration of knowledge including science for advancing our understanding of interactions between people and the rest of nature;
- building global capacity for the management of complex socio-ecological systems particularly through encouraging greater dialogue at the science-policy interface, environmental education and multi-media outreach to the wider community.
"U.S. National Commission for UNESCO should reconstitute the U.S. National Committee for MAB to allow a coordinated effort to effectively interact within the national network and internationally in areas of research, ecological monitoring, land use practices and education programs. A united front will allow U.S. agencies and organizations to develop partnerships and funding strategies for national and mission-focused activities."The George Wright Society provides a good website on the Man and the Biosphere program and the World Network of Biosphere Reserves. The GWS is a nonprofit association of researchers, managers, administrators, educators, and other professionals who work on behalf of the scientific and heritage values of protected areas. It is named in honor of George Melendez Wright, the first chief of the wildlife division of the U.S. National Park Service in the early 20th century, who died tragically at the age of 36.
will be elected from an Islamic nation, and the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Faruq Hosni, has been seen as a strong candidate. Minister Faruq is walking a fine line to satisfy the more radical constituents in his own and other Arab nations but also to demonstrate he is sufficiently moderate to suit the rest of the world."If you invite me, if you send me an invitation, I will come," he told Israel's mass-circulation newspaper Yediot Aharonot.
But Hosni warned that such a visit should be "carefully prepared, up to the last detail," because of the outcry it would create in Egypt.
Climate change is affecting our environment, our societies, and our cultures. Finding solutions to mitigate the negative impacts and adapt to changing conditions requires and approach that unites sound, unbiased science with social and cultural considerations. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, with over 40 activities in all program sectors, provides a unique forum for addressing climate change and its impacts on the environment and human society.
The UNESCO Courier 2008 - number 5
