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Last week the UNU-LRT fellows went on an excursion to the south and south-eastern part of Iceland. The theme of the trip was climate change and its consequences. The retreat of glaciers for the last century is very vivid in this part of Iceland and the fellows got a comprehensive view of glacial changes in Iceland as an effect of climate change. Those changes were very clear in the visit to Vatnajökull National Park which encompasses Europe’s largest glacier. The trip also gave the fellows an opportunity to link the issues taught in the classroom earlier with real experiences on the ground.

Last week the UNU-LRT fellows were taken on a 4-day field trip to the West and North of Iceland. The purpose of the trip was to expose them to some of the restoration work done in the region and the challenges faced in respect to land degradation and implementation of restoration projects. The Icelandic weather played a significant role during the trip as it was raining heavily at times but that made the black wet deserts in the highlands of Iceland all the more evident.

The UNU-LRT fellows visited the Icelandic Institute of Natural History recently in the Institute’s impressive new facilities in Gardabaer. The Director of the Ecology Department, Dr Borgþór Magnússon, and his staff welcomed the fellows and introduced the cartography work at the institution and research on rangeland condition, effect of climate change on vegetation and the distribution of the introduced Nootka lupine in Iceland.

The Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Ms Monique Barbut, was in Iceland this week. During her stay she had a meeting with fellows, staff members and the Studies Committee of UNU-LRT. This was an honour for the programme, especially because it is rooted in the Convention and works towards the same objectives: to combat land degradation and desertification.

The Brussels based ambassador of Niger to Iceland, Mr Adani Illo, paid the UNU-LRT programme a visit earlier this month. Mr Illo was introduced to the six-month training programme as well as to the fellows of this year´s programme. Among this year´s fellows are two men from Niger Republic which also discussed shortly with the ambassador the benefits of the programme to their institutions in Niger.

The UN Association in Iceland hosted a seminar in cooperation with the UNU programmes in Iceland, Institute of International Affairs, and Ministry for Foreign Affairs at the University of Iceland this week. The theme of the seminar was on performance management in the development sector, focusing on the UNU programmes in Iceland. Fellows from all four UNU Iceland based programmes gave a talk about their experiences and expectations of the training. Presenting on behalf of the UNU-LRT programme was Ms Irene Jemilatu Yenuyet Yaro from Ghana. She described the challenges she faces as a Programme Officer at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Eastern Region in Ghana with the mining sector.