The United Nations University (UNU) is the academic arm of the United Nations (UN). It
bridges the academic world and the UN system. Its goal is to develop
sustainable solutions for current and future problems of humankind in all
aspects of life. Through a problem-oriented and interdisciplinary approach it
aims at applied research and education on a global scale. UNU was founded in
1973 and is an autonomous organ of the UN General Assembly. The
University comprises headquarters Tokyo, Japan, and more than a dozen Institutes
and Programmes worldwide.
UNU-EHS has founded the College of Associated Scientists and Advisors
(CASA) where selected scholars from across the globe find a
multidisciplinary forum for networking and academic cross-pollination.
Prominent natural and social scientists and humanists from all the walks
of life assemble to dedicate their efforts primarily, in a first stage,
to the research and measurement of human vulnerability to hazards of
natural origin with the aim of canvassing the resulting findings into
capacity-building, early warning programmes, and policy relevant
recommendations.
The exchange of ideas between the CASA scientists and UNU-EHS takes place through continuous dialogue as well as in joint symposia, workshops and publications. Their contributions to the two Expert Working Group meetings staged by UNU-EHS in 2005 in Kobe, Japan, and Bonn, Germany, as well as to the multi-source preparation of a book entitled ‘Measuring Vulnerability to Hazards of Natural Origin’, authored by
Jörn Birkmann
, Academic Officer at UNU-EHS, are showcases of this fellowship’s accomplishments so far.
CASA is proud to count among its fellows the following
distinguished scholars:
Dr. Eng. Günter Klein
is
Senior Academic Advisor at
the UN-University, Bonn, and Director and Professor at the
German Space Agency. He is working with a focus on support to the UN-Decade Water for life.
From 1995 until 2005 he was Director
for Environment and Health at WHO, Regional Office of Europe, Copenhagen and Bonn.
As Director of the Water Hygiene
Department and Head of the Biological Laboratories at the Federal Health
Office, Berlin, he has been in charge of water
resources and water supply for Germany
(1979-1995). Studies of Marine Biology at
the Institute of Marine
Research in Bremerhaven, Biology and Sanitary Engineering (Bochum and DarmstadtUniversity) were followed
by six years of practical engagement at Dortmund Water Works and in developing
countries (1966–1979).
Prof. Dr.-Ing. habil. Heinz Patt
is a consulting engineer in the area of hydraulic engineering and water resource management. Until October 2008 he headed the institute for hydraulic engineering and water resource management at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Today, he chairs different working groups in the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) and serves as scientific advisor to UNW-DPC. Prof. Patt authored more than 120 publications, including three standard educational monographs.
