GRÓ Alumni Network Mongolia Officially Established
The first official GRÓ alumni association, GRÓ Alumni Network Mongolia, was established at an inaugural meeting on the 4th of July in Ulaanbaatar. The meeting brought together 28 GRÓ alumni, including 22 participants that attended online and 6 in-person attendees.
All of the three GRÓ training programmes that have worked with Mongolia had representatives at the meeting. Most of them, or 24 were alumni of the GRÓ Land Restoration Training Programme (GRÓ LRT). The GRÓ Geothermal Training Programme (GRÓ GTP) had two representatives at the meeting and the GRÓ Gender Equality Studies and Training Programme (GRÓ GEST) another two. In total there are 57 GRÓ Mongolian alumni. 40 of them attended the GRÓ LRT, 16 the GRÓ GTP and 2 GRÓ GEST.
The meeting was opened with warm remarks by Mr. Bold Magvan, Honorary Consul of Iceland, who emphasized the importance of the GRÓ training programmes and the vital role this new association will play in fostering continued collaboration among alumni.
During the meeting, three key decisions were made:
- Unanimous agreement to establish the association as a platform to connect, collaborate, and support each other’s professional journeys.
- Formation of a 9-member Steering Committee, with members serving a two-year term. The committee will convene an annual meeting involving all members once a year.
- The first official meeting of the Steering Committee will be held as soon as the GRÓ Geothermal Training Programme alumni (GRÓ GTP) finalize the selection of their two representatives. This meeting will define the association’s first annual action plan.
GRÓ is proud to see alumni in Mongolia take this significant step forward and looks forward to the positive impact the alumni association will have on collective goals and future collaborations. The formation of the alumni association takes place following a networking reception hosted by the Embassy of Iceland in Beijing in June where the alumni were informed about the opportunity to form alumni associations.
GRÓ Alumni Network Mongolia is the first GRÓ Alumni Network to be formally established. GRÓ alumni in Uganda are also preparing the launch of a GRÓ alumni network and efforts are starting in other GRÓ partner countries at the initiative of the GRÓ alumni themselves, with the support of the GRÓ Centre. GRÓ alumni interested in starting an alumni network in their home countries are invited to contact the GRÓ Centre.