Projects

The Division of Science Policy & Sustainable Development supervises the implementation of a number of multi-disciplinary projects that aim at harnessing science and technology for sustainable development. These projects are either national or regional endeavours in nature. Many of these projects are funded through the various funding mechanisms available to UNESCO.

Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS) - A virtual dynamic library equivalent to 200 volumes
The Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS) is an integrated knowledge base dedicated to the health, maintenance, and future of life on planet Earth, focusing on sustainable development in all aspects from ecological issues to human security. Coordinated and developed by the UNESCO-EOLSS Joint Committee, and sponsored by Eolss Publishers of Oxford, UK, this Internet-based archive is regularly updated, with contributions from thousands of scholars in over 100 countries, and edited by nearly 300 subject experts. More
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The Avicenna campus, involving a consortium of 15 Mediterranean universities, is being supported jointly by UNESCO and the European Commission.
The Avicenna campus aims to construct a network capable of transfering knowledge between entry points in each participating country known as Avicenna Knowledge Centres. This implies that all the Centres respect a common norm with regard to technology.
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This project started in 2000 and works on providing science based policy recommendations for sustainable resource use in those regions of Central Asia stricken by the Aral Sea crisis. Integrated research will provide blueprints for restructuring land and water use in the irrigated lowlands of the Amu Darya River in the Aral Sea Basin.
The project scientists are developing concepts to optimize them with sustainable resource use; these concepts are necessary to interrupt the vicious links between rural poverty and the misuse of natural resources. Initial results show that the ecology and agricultural livelihoods in the region can be preserved and improved with judicious approaches based on transdisciplinary research results.

The third phase of the project started in January 2007 and shall continue for another three years (2007-2010).
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The Great Man-Made River Authority (GMRA) was created in October 1983 and invested with the responsibility of extracting water from the aquifers in the South and conveying it by the most economical and practical means for use in the Libyan coastal belt. Water from the desert wellfields (up to 5.7 million m3/day) is planned to be used for municipal and industrial, but principally for agricultural purposes.
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Within the framework of the Libyan five-year Human and Economic Development Plan 1980-1986, it has been decided that the building of the Faculty of Engineering at Garyounis University should be incorporated in the University campus at Benghazi. To facilitate this integration, the University has requested UNESCO assistance. In 1981, an Agreement was signed between UNESCO and the Garyounis University. Both institutions agreed that UNESCO caries out specific activities on behalf of the University on a fund-in-trust basis. The entire cost of the project is estimated at US$21,588,255 including overhead cost. (More)

This UNESCO Project on "Central and Eastern European Virtual Universities "(CEEVU) launched at NationalTechnical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute" in partnership with Universities of Central and Eastern European countries, Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania and Armenia.
The core activities of CEEV include:
1) Creation of the joint infrastructure backed by the appropriate legal, methodological, informational, technical and economic resources. 2) Elaboration of jointly approved educational programmes and materials for the chosen specializations with consideration of the requirements; of the European Credit Transfer Systems. 3) Elaboration of the unified requirements towards the quality of e learning. 4) Development of the e learning courseware based on the e learning for educational process.
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The need to promote a world community of scientifically literate and educated young people is recognized as urgent by the national and international scientific communities. In order to promote the involvement of younger generation of scientists in the dialogue between government authorities, parliaments, educational institutions and to develop national science policies taking into consideration needs, opportunities and perspectives of young researchers UNESCO has supported, as a continuation of the International Forum of Young Scientists (World Conference on Science, Budapest, 1999) the creation of the World Academy of Young Scientists. (More)
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Recognizing that different civilizations over the ages have contributed towards Science and in the belief that Science is a powerful means of dialogue and mutual understanding, the UNESCO has undertaken activities aimed at strengthening co-operation between Israelis and Palestinian scientific institutions. In this context and in the wake of UNESCO's ESCO's Round Table on Science for Peace in the Middle East (Paris, November 2002). UNESCO gives its support to the Israeli-Palestinian Science Organization (IPSO). (More)

Division for Science Policy and Sustainable Development

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