Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands

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UNIVERSITY OF THE INDIAN OCEAN -TRAINING, RESEARCH AND COMMUNICATION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT
Masséande Allaoui, University of the Indian Ocean, Réunion (France)

A PILOT PROGRAMME OF THE COMMISSION OF THE INDIAN OCEAN AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

The ‘University of the Indian Ocean’ (UIO) was launched in January 1998, following a survey and evaluation carried out on the higher education and research capacities existing in the five Member States of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). The fields in question were the environment, management of companies, and new technologies. The conclusion was that in the member countries - Comoros, France (Réunion), Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles - the identified training needs could be met.

Guiding principles of UIO:

• To exploit and enhance the existing potential, rather than create new structures, and
• To promote regional cooperation in higher and technical education as a means of facilitating regional integration.

How it functions

With its head office located in Réunion (France), UIO is a regional programme financed by the European Union (EU) and implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC). Its Administrative Board, with a rotating presidency, also serves as a scientific advisory board. The Board’s members are representatives from the participating higher education and research institutions of the Member States plus representatives of the EU. As well, national correspondents are designated in the IOC Member State institutions to be responsible, in their respective countries, for coordinating and representing UIO’s programme activities and for providing the necessary expertise.

Cooperative nature:

The endeavours of UIO in the field of environment will further synergies with other programmes, for instance the IOC’s Regional Environment Programme (PRE-COI), as well as with other regional programmes and NGOs such as Environment and Development in the Third World (ENDA). Cooperat ive activities also involve environmental databases developed with the support of the Association des Universités Partiellement ou Entièrement de Langue Française, Université des Réseaux d'Expression Française (association of universities partially or entirely francophone; university belonging to French expression network, AUPELF-UREF) and with French cooperation.

Programme objectives

General

• Contribute to the development of the member countries by enhancing human resources;
• Improve the competence of both the providers and the recipients of training.

Specific

• Develop a network of training and research institutions cooperating in the domains of the environment, management of private enterprise, and new technologies.

Results expected in

UIO’s three-year pilot phase

• Improvement in the information exchange between existing establishments.
• Promotion of access for students and the private sector to information on regional training programmes, to be accomplished particularly through exchanges of students, teaching staff and researchers.
• Hopefully, the reinforcement of less-favoured institutions’capacities.

Planned activities

Based on a transversal analyses of needs in the five countries and at the request of the latter, specialized and advanced training is being planned by UIO, in its initial phase and in partnership with the cooperating institutions, as follows:

• environmental impact studies
• waste water treatment
• management of small and medium-sized firms
• MBA, bilingual (English and French)
• university degree in energy and the environment

A special tasking

While results from the afore-mentioned survey and evaluation indicated that the training capacities existed in the region, an effort was deemed necessary to develop training programmes corresponding to the sub-region’s specific needs. UIO is embarking on a programme of actions based on certain criteria. The efforts should:

• be applicable to at least three if not all five countries,
• concentrate on the development of existing institutional and human resource capacities,
• consider potential future employment as a priority factor,
• focus on activities that can be developed dynamically and carried out in the medium term and
• be realistic vis-a-vis the budget (approximately two million Euros) and time limits (three years).

Training envisaged

Short and specialized courses

• Waste water treatment: 3 weeks, under the guidance of the University of Mauritius.
• Environmental impacts: 3 weeks, guided by the University of Antananarivo.

Long-term training

• Degree in environmental impacts
• University diplomas in energy environmental management, including urban environment; under the guidance of Réunion University.

Inter-programme training

Between two IOC programmes: Regional Environment Programme and Regional Tourism Programme. Subjects to be included are coastal erosion, sampling of coastal materials, integrated coastal zone management (ICZM), coastal pollution etc.

Special research priorities:

renewable and alternative energies; environmental economy and compatibility.

Study grants: available for a limited number of candidates.

Language: Instruction etc. is essentially in French, sometimes in English (especially for the Seychelles and international institutions).

Communication plan

In addition to the traditional communication means (e.g. information bulletin), UIO is developing a regional database that will become an important source of information on regional training and research institutions. This essential tool, developed using Nouvelles Technologies de l’Information et de la Communication (new information and communication technologies, NTIC), will eventually be used to monitor the regional demand for training and research. IOC is developing a website where some information about UIO is available.

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