UNU-EHS Newsletter No. 4/2007

Dear UNU-EHS newsletter subscriber,
We are happy to present a new issue of our quarterly Newsletter.
_____________________________


UNU-EHS Newsletter No. 4/ 2007

* PROF. OSTERWALDER OF SWITZERLAND NEXT RECTOR OF UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY

UN Secretary-General appoints Prof. Konrad Osterwalder of Switzerland
as Rector of United Nations University. Following consultations with
the Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Koichiro Matsuura, and with his
concurrence, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has
appointed Professor Konrad Osterwalder of Switzerland as the next
Rector of United Nations University.

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:346



* 13 - 15 OCTOBER 2008 - CONFERENCE ON MIGRATION AND VULNERABILITY -
CALL FOR PRE-REGISTRATION

The International Conference on Migration and Vulnerability is
conceived to explore the inherent scientific issues by particularly
addressing the aspects environmental drivers of migration; migration
as a coping strategy to reduce vulnerability; temporary and permanent
migration; environmentally forced migration; assessment of migratory
fluxes due to environmental drivers; and geographical distribution and
trends in vulnerability and migration. The conference will take place
in Bonn, Germany.

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:343


* PROF. KWADWO ASENSO-OKYERE HAS BEEN APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF ISNAR

Member of the Advisory Committee of UNU-EHS, Prof. Kwadwo
Asenso-Okyere has been appointed the Director of the Washington-based
International Service for National Agricultural Research, (ISNAR) of
the International Food Policy Research Institute (lFPRI).

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:339

* IHDP BECOMES AN INTEGRAL PART OF UNU

Effective from 1 January 2007, the Secretariat of the International Human
Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IHDP), Bonn,
is being hosted by the UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY Institute for Environment
and Human Security(UNU-EHS) as a new project, having become
an integral part of our organisation.

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:337

* UNU-EHS INVOLVED IN NEW WISDOM PROJECT

The Water-related Information System for the Sustainable Development Of
the Mekong Delta in Vietnam (WISDOM) project is a German-Vietnamese
initiative comprising eighteen institutions based in Germany and Vietnam
and coordinated in Germany by the German Aerospace Centre and in Vietnam
by the Southern Institute of Water Resources Research. The main objective
of WISDOM is to overcome gaps in the water-related information flow among
research institutions of different disciplines and between these
information generating agencies and decision making authorities.
UNU-EHS is involved in the PhD programme, research of vulnerability
assessment of communities and of pesticide contamination and modelling
of surface waters as well as in capacity development activities.

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/category:46


+++ NEW UNU-EHS PUBLICATIONS AVAILABLE +++

* INTERSECTIONS NO. 5/2007 OUT NOW!

The present issue of InterSecTions is a special one. Control, Adapt
or Flee: How to Face Environmental Migration? is the first issue
which is written by a team: Fabrice Renaud, Janos J. Bogardi, Olivia
Dun and Koko Warner. All authors are staff members of UNU-EHS. The
interdisciplinary characteristics of InterSecTions are well emphasized
when one looks at the academic background of the authors having
degrees in so different areas as soil science, civil engineering,
refugee studies and economics. The complex subject of this
InterSecTions on environmental migration underlines the need to access
it from different viewpoints, to follow up the chain of environmental
deteriorations like land degradation, climate change, or sudden onset
of hazard events. Potential control measures to contain the damage or
rehabilitate ecosystems and the physical environment, the attempt of
society as a whole and individuals to adapt to changed realities are
the next steps. Once these measures did not come forth or failed
nothing is left but to flee.

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:345

* SOURCE NO. 6/2007 EDITED BY KOKO WARNER OUT NOW!

Perspectives on Social Vulnerability is a selection of
papers from the First Summer Academy on Social Vulnerability, that
took place from 22-28 July 2006 in Hohenkammer, Germany. This title
suggests some of the fundamental aspects of the multidisciplinary,
debate-filled, and policy relevant research surrounding the impact of
shocks groups at risk from multiple stressors. This publication is the
first SOURCE dedicated to examining the state of research and emerging
perspectives on social vulnerability. The volume is part of a larger
effort by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and
Human Security (UNU-EHS) to consolidate research on social
vulnerability and facilitate science that increases the understanding,
and proposes possible solutions to manifestations, of social
vulnerability to environmental and social stressors. In response to a
growing need for knowledge about social vulnerability UNU-EHS began
forging new partnerships to fill knowledge gaps and foster a corps of
scientists to address complex questions surrounding the multiple
aspects of vulnerability, including social vulnerability.

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:336


+++ VACANCIES AT UNU-EHS +++

* PHD SCHOLARSHIPS AVAILABLE AT UNU-EHS

The United Nations University, Institute for Environment and Human
Security (UNU-EHS) in close cooperation with its
WISDOM project partners kindly invites applications
for 14 PhD scholarships spanning the fields of social sciences and
natural sciences. Read more

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:329

* JUNIOR RESEARCHER POSITIONS AT UNU-EHS

UNU-EHS is recruiting two young scientists for the
WISDOM project to work on (1) pesticide monitoring
and pesticide fate modelling and (2) vulnerability assessment of
communities facing various hazards.

Read more: http://www.ehs.unu.edu/article:330