This was the sentiment expressed by a delegation of UNESCO which
visited AIT on 27 June 2011. “UNESCO is keen that educational
curriculum includes climate change and sustainability,” Ms. Vimonmas
Pam Vachatimanont, Programme Assistant, Education for Sustainable
Development Unit (ESD) remarked.
She added that the UNESCO Bangkok office is also working on impact of
disaster on the education sector, apart from promoting the idea of
sustainable education and sustainable society. Ms Katie Vanhala,
Associate Expert, ESD stated that the concept of Green Schools and
community learning is a focus area.
Ms. Lay-Cheng Tan, Programme Officer, Asia-Pacific Programme of
Educational Innovation for Development (APEID) delved on
the issue of teacher training, and was interested to learn about AIT’s
experience on training of trainers. She was also keen to know about the
education offerings at AIT, particularly the dissemination of online
courses. Ms. Tan sought AIT’s participation in the fifteenth APEID
conference to be held in Jakarta, Indonesia in December 2011. Ms.
Jiaming Ju, a student intern from Columbia University at UNESCO also
joined the meeting.
Prof. Joydeep Dutta, Vice President for Academic Affairs, while
welcoming the delegation highlighted the new AIT Charter and
undergraduate program at AIT. He stated that AIT is engaged in
knowledge areas which are of interest to UNESCO. “UNESCO is an
international hub, while AIT is a regional hub,” he remarked. Prof.
Ajit P. Annachhatre, Director, UNAIT highlighted the work done by AIT
in the field of environment, climate change and sustainability.
Others who participated in the meeting included Dr. Abdul Salaam of
School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD); Dr. Fazle
Karim,Head, Information Technology and Engineering at AIT Extension;
Dr. Pritam Krishna Shrestha, Head, External Relations and
Communications Office (ERCO); and Ms. Tiamkare Thitithamtada, Program
Officer, ERCO.
