Water Virtual Learning Center at AIT
AIT is to take part in the United Nation's Water Virtual Learning Center (WVLC). This was the subject of the discussion during the visit to AIT of Dr. Colin Mayfield and Dr. Velma Grover from the International Network for Water, Environment and Health (INWEH) of the United Nations University (UNU) on 19-21 July 2004. The Center will serve as a regional base for UN's 'Virtual Academy'.
The 'academy' was initiated to impart the fundamentals of water management on a global level. Created with materials from 60 international sources, the 10-subject, 250-hour program offers graduates an academic diploma from UN, the first ever authorized by the Tokyo-based United Nations University.
INWEH, a Canadian-based programme of UN University developed the course in partnership with the University of Waterloo over three years with US$1.6 Million UN fund. The program will be offered through affiliated institutions in Africa, Asia and the South Pacific.
The activity is a direct collaboration of AIT's MoU with UNU. Signed in March 2004, under the framework of this agreement, INWEH designated AIT as its affiliate institution in Asia directly responsible for operating the Virtual Center and conducting several modules of the program. To do this, UN is expected to grant AIT a seed fund amounting to US$50,000.
Designed for practicing professionals, the program curriculum will be of greatest immediate benefit to engineers, district managers, and government administrators who are responsible for water management at the national and regional levels.
The visit gave the INWEH officers an opportunity to assess AIT's capabilities in implementing distance learning educational programs, formalize collaborative endeavors, and define operation modalities. The Center at AIT is expected to operate beginning
November 2004.