Collaborating Centres

Credit: UNEP

Member States requested in Resolution 5/3 that UNEP’s Executive Director facilitate partnerships with collaborating centers. It is expected that GEO collaborating centers will support the core GEO-7 process by focusing on science and capacity building at various levels.

These strategic collaborations strengthen the Global Environment Outlook's (GEO) geographically, gender and expertise balanced and cost-effective scientific assessment process, governance and administration, supporting the credibility and relevance of GEO findings by enhancing its reach and impact. 

GEO-7’s innovative and solutions-focused approach requires a broad range of expertise. UNEP has established a network of collaborating centres from all regions of the world, specifically, but not limited to, the following technical areas: 

  • Developing scenarios and modelling of solutions pathways for the three interdependent systems, energy, food and materials/waste and their supporting economic and financial models; 
  • Providing scientific information and expertise for respective regional/sub-regional and/or thematic areas relevant to the analysis conducted in GEO-7 
  • Providing support for capacity-building, knowledge generation and policymaking at global, regional and national levels; 
  • Supporting UNEP’s outreach and communication efforts to disseminate GEO findings.  

The following organizations have been selected as collaborating centres and will work alongside the Secretariat, providing support on actions as varied as developing the GEO glossary, managing the GEO-READ review platform, making technical staff available to assist in expert reviews, modelling future scenarios and outlooks, and mobilizing resources. 

  • Centre for Environment and Development for the Arab Region and Europe (Egypt) 
  • Universidad de los Andes Centro de los Objectivos de Desarrollo Sostenible para America Latina (Colombia)
  • The University of Agriculture Peshawar - Department of Agronomy (Pakistan) 
  • Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico El Programa de Investigación en Cambio Climático   (Mexico)
  • Environmental Pulse Institute  (USA)
  • GRID-Arendal (Norway)
  • Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC) -Institute for Environmental Assessment and Water Studies (Spain)  
  • Institute for Global Environmental Strategies  (Japan)
  • Institute of Landscape Ecology, Slovak Academy of Sciences (Slovakia)
  • Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) (Netherlands)
  • Society of Entrepreneurs & Ecology (China)
  • The Energy and Resources Institute (India)
  • Korea Environment Institute  (Republic of Korea)
  • Universidad Veracruzana (Mexico)
  • Arabian Gulf University (Bahrain)

For further information on GEO collaborating centres, please contact unep-ewad-geohead@un.org. 

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