GRID-Arendal: 30 Years of Making a Difference

The UNEP Shelf programme , a partnership of international organizations with expertise in marine geoscience and maritime law, was established to assist developing States and small island developing States in defining the outer limits of their continental shelf and preparing their submissions for assessment by the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. During the year the programme focused its activities on building internal expertise, initiating cooperation with the University of Sydney and the World Data Centre in the USA, and starting the process of developing a One Stop Data Shop . GRID-Arendal’s visual communication expertise was highly recognized in the production of Vital Waste Graphics for COP 7 of the Basel Convention. The Global Virtual University (GVU) and the Agder University College jointly developed a Master’s degree programme in Development Management. A second Master’ degree programme in Environmental Information Management was also developed in collaboration with the University of Pretoria, South Africa. In order to enhance the community of relevant tutors, GVU developed a course in international online tutoring. The course was designed to prepare educators, lecturers and subject professionals to develop, manage, implement, support and moderate online learning. The Earth Council, GVU and GRID-Arendal launched an introductory course entitled Greenhouse Effect and Climate Change . Based on the comprehensive reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the course provides an understanding of what the world’s scientists think about the greenhouse effect and climate change.

2004