second one of its top professional executives to serve as the Director
of AIT's Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RRC.AP) for
a term of three years.
In addition, MOEJ will fund more than US$ 1.2 million worth of projects
in 2015, including capacity building activities under the Asia-Pacific
Adaptation Network (APAN), of which RRC.AP has been a core technical
partner since its inception. Other partners of APAN include the
Institute for Global Environmental Studies (IGES), the Stockholm
Environment Institute (SEI) and UNEP.
Set up in 1989 as a collaboration between AIT and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP), RRC.AP has served for 25 years as a
cost-effective outreach center of the United Nation’s specialized
agency.
It has developed and disseminated environmental and statistical
datasets and prepared quantitative assessments, state of the
environment reports, scientific reports and reports for policy matters
linked to environmental issues.
Starting in July, RRC.AP will be integrated into AIT operations at the
same level as its other institute centers such as AIT Extension, AIT
Consulting, the Nanotechnology Center of Excellence and the
Geoinformatics Center.
The new RRC.AP Director funded by the MOEJ will assume office on July
20, after completing an official overseas posting at the UN
Secretary-General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation (UNSGAB)
based in New York City.
“We should be thankful to AIT Vice President for Resources Development,
Professor Kazuo Yamamoto, who spearheaded the deal leading to this
landmark agreement,” said AIT President Prof. Worsak
Kanok-Nukulchai.
“Not only it will bolster operations at the RRC.AP, now operating as an
AIT institute-wide center, but it serves as a significant starting
point for renewed partnership with the Government of Japan,” the
president added.