UNU-GTP receives the Victor de Sola awards in El Salvador
On November 1st, a representative of the UNU-GTP was presented with the Victor de Sola award at an annual awards ceremony held within LaGeo S.A. de C.V. in El Salvador. The award, which is named after one of the pioneers of geothermal exploration in El Salvador, is granted to a person or institution that has given substantial support to geothermal development in El Salvador and especially to those who have contributed to the technical and scientific capabilities of LaGeo.
Evelyn de Velis, head of Human Resources at LaGeo, presented the award to Ingimar G. Haraldsson, the Project Manager at UNU-GTP.
The ties between the UNU-GTP and El Salvador date back to the inception of the programme in 1978 when Gustavo Cuéllar, a Salvadoran geothermal expert, attended an international Workshop on Training Needs in Geothermal Energy, organized by the United Nations University and Orkustofnun in Iceland. At this workshop, it was recommended that the UNU Geothermal Training Programme be established in Iceland and the Geothermal Institute would be established at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. The first Salvadoran Fellow came for 6 month studies in Iceland in 1980, the Programme's second year of operation. Since then, 36 Salvadorans have graduated from the 6 month studies, and 30 of those are currently working for LaGeo. In addition, 5 Salvadorans have completed their MSc studies at the University of Iceland on a UNU-GTP Fellowship and the sixth has recently commenced his studies. In addition, the UNU-GTP has held Millennium Short Courses for the Latin America region in El Salvador since 2006, in cooperation with LaGeo.
The UNU-GTP team is sincerely grateful for the acknowledgement shown to the programme, encompassing permanent staff, lecturers and project supervisors.
Thank you LaGeo!