News

This spring, UNU-LRT ran a training course in Mongolia for the second time on “Communicating Knowledge for Sustainable Rangeland Management under Climate Change – Improving Analytic and Reporting Skills”. The goal of the course is to provide training to communicate and synthesize knowledge on environmental monitoring, so that it can be translated into effective policy making for sustainable rangeland use.

Mr Abdul-Salam Mahamud Baba, a UNU-LRT fellow in 2017, has just published the results of his individual research project at UNU-LRT as a short communication article in the journal Icelandic Agricultural Sciences. Baba conducted a field experiment in Iceland to assess how insect pests, in combination with reduced water availability, can influence crop production. Insect pests are a main constraint to vegetable production in Ghana, Baba’s home country. The incidence of pests is also likely to be exacerbated by ongoing environmental changes, like the increased frequency and intensity of droughts, so an understanding of the combined effects of pest damage and environmental conditions can help in mitigating crop losses.

Once again we welcome a new group of fellows for our six-month training programme. The 2019 UNU-LRT fellows will stay for six-months at UNU-LRT to advance their knowledge and skills on halting land degradation, restoring degraded land and managing land in a sustainable way. The fellows are 21 this year, 10 men and 11 women, and come from 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Central-Asia: Ghana, Malawi, Uganda, Niger, Lesotho, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The fellows are all experts in their respective countries working on issues related to land use and land management.

Last week, UNU-LRT received a visit from six Mongolian specialists from three partner institutions of UNU-LRT in Mongolia. The purpose of their visit was to prepare for a course that will be held in Mongolia in May, with specialists from UNU-LRT, the Agricultural University of Iceland and the Soil Conservation Service of Iceland. The seven-day course entitled "Communicating knowledge for sustainable rangeland management under climate change – improving analytic and reporting skills” was taught for the first time last year. The course is co-organized and held by UNU-LRT and three Mongolian partner institutions. Besides working on preparation for the course, the visitors gave presentations for the staff and students at the Agricultural University of Iceland. Furthermore, UNU-LRT held an open seminar at the National Museum of Iceland where Dr Bulgamaa Densambuu, rangeland ecologist and former UNU-LRT fellow, gave a talk on means to improve land health and livelihoods of nomadic herders in Mongolia.

UNU-LRT has created a massive open online course (MOOC) on Business Model Innovation for Sustainable Landscape Restoration, with its partners in the ENABLE consortium. The course is open for all and free of charge. This is the second MOOC co-created by UNU-LRT and the ENABLE consortium members. It builds upon ENABLE’s first MOOC, which offered comprehensive knowledge of landscape degradation and restoration from the perspectives of natural sciences, economics and business administration. This new MOOC is inter- and transdisciplinary, designed for environmental- and business students and professionals, as well as anyone with an interest in landscape restoration based on sustainable business models. The course addresses the challenges of large-scale landscape restoration with a partnership approach and reflects the interconnectedness of nature, society and economy in landscape management.

Dear friends of UNU-LRT. The year 2018 will soon come to an end. On that occasion we would like to thank everyone we have collaborated with during the year and we look forward to a continuing collaboration. We send our best wishes for the festive season ahead and wish you a Happy New Year.