News

This week GRÓ LRT fellows went on a three-day excursion to the south and southeast of Iceland. The focus was on climate change and its effects on ecosystems and societies. The fellows visited Visitor Centres of the Vatnajökull National Park and learned about the parks natural and cultural heritage. They walked up to the Skaftafellsjökull outlet glacier and observed how the glacier has retreated for last 100 years and how the rate of retreat and thinning has increased in the last decades.

GRÓ LRT welcomed today Ms Nína Björk Jónsdóttir, the new Director General for GRÓ, and Mr Jón Karl Helgason, the chairman of the GRÓ Governing Board, to Keldnaholt campus.

GRÓ LRT fellows celebrated the start of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration with a workshop on capacity development needs for ecosystem restoration. In the workshop, the fellows came up with recommendations on how their home institutions can effectively support the goals of the Restoration Decade.

The Virtual Launch Gala welcoming the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration starts today (4 June) at 13:00 GMT. GRÓ LRT is an official Supporting Partner of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration 2021-2030.

This morning, GRÓ LRT and the Icelandic Red Cross signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a strategic collaboration between the two parties. The MOU expresses an interest in sharing of expertise, capacity training and collaborating in development projects focusing on land restoration and environmental sustainability.

Today we welcomed Mr Friðrik Jónsson, the Director of GRÓ International Centre for Capacity Development, to Keldnaholt campus. In his visit he met with the 2021 cohort of GRÓ LRT fellows and learned about the activities ahead in the six-month training programme. He also met with GRÓ LRT staff and Academic Committee, and the Rector of the Agricultural University of Iceland.