Tomorrow, Tuesday, 10 November 2009, the 6th Bonn Dialogues event will take place at Deutsche Welle, Bonn. In the name of all organisers, DKKV, IHDP, and UNU-EHS, we would like to invite you cordially to join us at 6 pm at Deutsche Welle to discuss with experts the topic of "Energy & Food Security. Much Ado About Nothing?"

Facing climate change, the world needs to reduce drastically the dependence on fossil fuels to limit greenhouse gas emissions, therefore the debate will surround, amongst others, the expansion of bio-energy production and arising problems like land use conflicts or increasing food prices.

Please visit for more information the Bonn Dialogues website.

From 28 September – 3 October 2009, the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), in co-operation with the University of Novi Sad, Serbia, Faculty of Technical Sciences, organises a Block Course entitled “From Vulnerability to Resilience in Disaster Risk Management”, for PhD candidates starting, or about to start, their PhD studies.

The course will be held in Novi Sad. Interested institutions/mentors are welcome to delegate one or two students. Participants will be chosen through a selection process based on their background and field of research.

A delegation of three interdisciplinary experts from Congo Brazzaville was dispatched to South Africa from 4th – 11th June where they attended, amongst others, the training course on “Disaster Risk Reduction and Vulnerability”, a United Nations University Vice Rectorate in Europe (UNU-ViE) initiative organized by the UNU-EHS and the Disaster Risk Management Training and Education Centre for Africa (DiMTEC) of the University of the Free State (UFS). The ultimate goal of the trainings is to establish a center for disaster risk management and prevention in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.

Scientists of UNU-EHS were among the international experts presenting their research findings at the disaster risk reduction conference focusing on water related disasters at DiMTEC (Disaster Management Training and Education Centre for Africa) at the University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. The conference took place on 26 and 27 May 2009.

UNU-EHS has partnered with DiMTEC through its Cooperation Unit in Southern Africa (UNU-CUSA). The goal of this partnership is to offer professional training courses for mid-career professionals on vulnerability and risk assessment. The 2009 seminar was the second one to be held, the first took place in 2008.

Official website of DiMTEC and its Water Related Disasters Conference 2009.

Prof. Dr. Janos Bogardi gave his “Last Lecture” at the University Club (UNICLUB) Bonn, on 30 April 2009. The event was organised to commemorate the end of his tenure as Vice-Rector a.i. in Europe of the United Nations University and as the Director of the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS). On this occasion, he and the President of the UNICLUB, Prof. Dr. Max Huber, signed an agreement of scientific cooperation, initiating a new annual public event series addressing different aspects of vulnerability. A successor for Prof. Bogardi has not been appointed yet and for the next months, Prof. Bogardi will continue to support the institute´s work as director.

"This “Last Lecture” event is not to simply celebrate the end of the tenure of Prof. Bogardi with UNU, but also the opportunity, in true Prof.-Bogardi-fashion, to start something new”, said Dr. Fabrice Renaud, Associate Director, UNU-EHS, referring to the agreement signed between the UNU and the UNICLUB Bonn.

For the launch of the new innovative expert book, “Facing Global Environmental Change”, eight of the international editors and authors came together and shared their thoughts and ideas on global security issues of the 21st century. They suggested cooperative policies for peace, and proactive solutions to global problems. The launch was organized by UNU-EHS and IHDP and took place on 29 April 2009 during the 7th international Open Meeting 2009 in Bonn.

See photos of the book launch by scrolling down here.

A new Expert Security Handbook will be presented on 29 April 2009 at a side event at the international conference “7th Open Meeting of International Human Dimensions Programme (IHDP) on Global Environmental Change” in Bonn.

In the newly published book titled “Facing Global Environmental Change”, more than a hundred experts from 50 countries present new ideas on how to face environmental threats. At the book event, eight specialists will showcase their research results to the audience.

The official launch of the book will take place at 2:00 pm at the World Conference Centre, 53113 Bonn, Görresstr. 15, room “Süßmuth”.

The book presentation will be open to the public, please register using the contact details provided in the press release.