GRID-Arendal: 30 Years of Making a Difference

GRID-Arendal won the prestigious Princes’ Award 1999 for its multimedia product State of the Environment Reports Sampler CD-ROM and Cookbook. It features national reports from 16 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and the Newly Independent States, and a “cookbook” providing methodological guidance for developing electronic environmental status reports on the Internet. The Princes’ Award is initiated by the European Environment Agency in Copenhagen and named after its patrons, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Felipe of Spain. The objective of the award is to emphasise the importance of public participation in solving Europe’s environmental problems and public involvement in the move towards sustainable development across the continent. EarthWire Norway, Miljønytt , an environment news service that provides a daily overview of environmental news from Norway, was launched. Vital Climate Graphics , a collection of graphics, was produced for the 5th Conference of the Parties (COP 5) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Bonn. The graphics were created in co-operation with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), UNFCCC and the Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo (CICERO). Earthprint , the official online bookstore of UNEP, jointly developed by GRID-Arendal and SMI (Distribution Services Ltd, was launched. GRID-Arendal was designated as UNEP’s Key Polar Centre for early warning and assessments with particular focus on the Arctic.

1999