Nairobi, 29 March 2010
- More than 100 people
attended the launch today of a new and interactive
Training Package for Integrated Environmental
Assessment (IEA). The launch of the Training
Package took place alongside the First Global
Intergovernmental and Multi-stakeholder
Consultation on the Fifth Global Environment
Outlook Report (GEO-5), at the UNEP headquarters
in Nairobi. The GEO report is UNEP's flagship
assessment on the state of the global environment,
and it has pioneered and championed the
IEA methodology. The diverse range of materials
and products in the training package will
be used by the authors of GEO-5 to improve
the assessment process.
IEA is a process of
gathering and analyzing information on the
key interactions between the natural environment
and human society that can be useful for
policy-making and future planning. The multi-dimensional
Training Package, developed by the United
Nations Environment Programme and the International
Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD),
is designed to build capacity at a national
and regional level for Integrated Environmental
Assessment to become an integral part of
policy-making. It represents an important
step towards meeting one of UNEP's core
strategic objectives to help build country-level
capacity.
The launch introduced
the audience to the new and improved products
of the training package which include a
training manual, a community platform, interactive
e-learning modules and a trainers data base.
The training manual is available in the
six official UN languages of Arabic, Chinese,
English, French, Spanish and Russian. The
Community Platform promotes information-sharing
and networking among IEA practitioners at
a global, regional and national level. The
e-learning modules offer interactive online
training designed for learners through the
internet. The trainers database provides
access to an international network of experts
who are qualified to deliver IEA training.
Welcoming the IEA Training
Package, UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner
said that "the ability to monitor and
assess changing environmental trends and
their interactions with human development
is at the heart of building environmental
considerations into decision-making. The
pioneering of the IEA process through UNEP's
GEO Report represents a model that can be
replicated at a national and regional level."
Dr László
Pintér, Director of Measurement and
Assessment at IISD said "I hope the
training package will be used extensively
around the world and contribute to the development
of many regional and national IEAs that
directly improve decision-making. IISD is
committed to contributing to the achievement
of urgent environmental sustainability goals
through better environmental information
and assessment."
UNEP's Fifth Global
Environmental Outlook Report will be published
in 2012.
Note to Editors:
To access the IEA Training Package and materials
visit http://www.unep.org/ieacp
For more information on UNEP's GEO Report
visit http://www.unep.org/GEO/
For further information, please contact:
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of
Media, Nairobi
