GRÓ particpated in the UNESCO day in Iceland
GRÓ participated in the UNESCO day organised by the Icelandic National Commission for UNESCO on the 1st of September, where all UNESCO associated entities in Iceland gathered to get to know one another, learn about each other’s activities and share ideas. The meeting was held at Þingvellir National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
GRÓ presented its work, with a focus on the four training programmes, and ongoing and future cooperation projects with UNESCO. Nína Björk Jónsdóttir, Director-General of GRÓ, presented the ongoing work on finalising a Theory of Change for GRÓ, as well as a results framework and strategic priorities for the centre for the next years.
Dr. Sjöfn Vilhelmsdóttir, the Director of the GRÓ Land Restoration and Training Programme presented new cooperation with UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme. GRÓ will annually sponsor two young professionals working for institutions and organisations that are a part of the UNESCO MAB network of biospheres to participate in GRÓ’s six months training programme in Iceland in the period 2022-2026. Sjöfn also informed participants about GRÓ-LRT‘s participation in a side event at the 34th session of the International Co-ordinating council of the MAB project at UNESCO HQ in Paris in June.
Dr. Irma Erlingdsdóttir, the Director of the GRÓ Gender Equality and Studies Programme, informed about ongoing cooperation with UNESCO on the making of an edX online training course on Men, Boys and Masculinities. This will be the fourth online course that GRÓ-GEST produces within the edX network and it is expected to be launched in August 2023. The edX online courses give people with limited access to education new opportunities and have been very popular, particularly in developing countries.
Among the other presentations given at the UNESCO day was a talk on Iceland‘s participation in UNESCO‘s Executive board in the period 2021-2025, by Ms. Auðbjörg Halldórsdóttir, Minister Counsellor at the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs. There were also presentations on the Thingvellir National Park and the World Heritage List, the Vigdís Finnbogadóttir International Centre, that is, like GRÓ, a Category 2 Centre, the activities of the two UNESCO Geoparks in Iceland and the UNESCO schools in Iceland.
