GEST joins GRÓ - Centre for Capacity Development, Sustainability and Societal Change

After many years of collaboration, the United Nations University and the GEST programme are parting ways. They do so along with the other three Icelandic UNU programmes (FTP, GTP and LRT). The four programmes and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Culture Organization (UNESCO) have recognised the potential for collaboration based on their strong focus on capacity development and their global presence.

GEST is happy to announce that on Monday 16 December 2019 the Icelandic minister of foreign affairs and the director-general of UNESCO signed an agreement to form the UNESCO category 2 centre GRÓ – Centre for Capacity Development, Sustainability and Societal Change in Iceland, which will be operational as of January 1, 2020.

The new category 2 centre, in collaboration with the programmes’ respective host institutions, will continue to run the GEST, FTP, GTP, and LRT training and scholarship programmes in 2020 and in the coming years. Through these four joint programmes, GRÓ will aim to strengthen organisational, institutional and individual capacities by promoting gender equality, women’s empowerment and social justice, sustainable use and management of living aquatic resources, the utilisation and sustainable management of reliable and environmentally sound geothermal energy resources, and the restoration of degraded land and sustainable land management.