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Maria Eugenia Arreola - E-learning and the Environment

Maria Eugenia Arreola is a Programme Officer in the Division of Early Warning and Assessment. She is the team lead for the design and implementation of a web-based platform called MENTOR (Marketplace for ENvironmental Training and On-line Resources) to disseminate appropriate tools, guidelines, methodologies and best practices in data collection, analysis, monitoring, integrated environmental assessment, early warning and observation, information networking, and support online training in the use of these tools and methodologies. more...

Further Resources

UNEP Division of Early Warning and Assessment

UNEP's eLearning MENTOR

UNEP Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean

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Number of questions: [5]

	Posted on 09/05/2008 13:23:37
Hello Maria, PS: How can we make people feel the dangerous encouter our environment therefore they will care it of course? is there any courses to improve my knowlodge in environment ?
Abdelghani ZITARI (from Algeria)

Dear Abdelghani, Thank you very much for question. I think environmental education and raising awareness play a key role in pursuing the kind of development that would respect and nurture the natural environment. Over the years, the consensus of the international community is that education is crucial to the achievement of sustainable development. Environmental education and technology supported learning has been addressed in a number of international environmental fora dating back to the 1972. International conferences such as the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment (1972); United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED, 1992); the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), 2000); the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD; 2002); the World Summit on the Information Society (WSID, 2003, 2005), the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD) (2005). At regional level, say Africa, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN), Second Decade for Education in Africa among others, state the education in environmental matters is essential in order to develop an informed opinion and responsible conduct in protecting and improving the environment. There are different eLearning courses available on environmental issues. Depending on the level of the course or training you are looking for there are eLearning courses on environmental issues available at different Universities, Non governmental Organisations and UN agencies as well. For example: the United Nations University, RMIT University, and the UNEP have developed an open educational resource on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) The link is http://eia.unu.edu/course/?page_id=173 The International Research Institute for Climate and Society has interesting courses on climate, environment monitoring, agriculture, water and so on. You can find them in this site http://portal.iri.columbia.edu/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=625&PageID=0&cached=true&mode=2&userID=2 United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) has courses on Environmental Law, Environmental Governance and Climate Change. The site is http://www.unitar.org/ Course on Greenhouse gas management. URL http://www.ghginstitute.org/courses.htm Understanding Climate and Climate Change URL: http://www.cont-ed.cam.ac.uk/courses/coursedetails.php?id=766 Climate Change Education URL: http://www.climatechangeeducation.org Water and Climate Change URL: URL: http://www.unesco-ihe.org/education/short_courses/online_courses/water_and_climate_change I hope you find this information useful. Good luck and greetings from Kenya, Maria Eugenia

	Posted on 09/05/2008 11:49:34
Hello and Congratulations to your eLearning Project and the "Expert of the Day" status! What are the the next steps in UNEPs eLearning activities? Greets, Arndt
Arndt Bubenzer (from Austria)

Dear Arndt, Thank you very much for your question and greetings. Since December 2006 a good deal of progress has been made by UNEP/DEWA in establishing an eLearning programme. An eLearning workflow and strategy was developed including a project plan, target group(s), strategic partners, and participating capacity building institutions. An eLearning Team within DEWA (Management, Instructional Designers, Tutors, and Administrators) was set-up and trained on eLearning management, instructional design, content production and eLearning administration, flash, animation, hot potatoes and so on. Requirements for a LMS were defined and different LMS tools have been testes. The next steps include the following: 1. Setting-up the platform with UNEP resources including eLearning courses and modules with good Metadata attached to them. Particular emphasis will be put to include those resources and courses related to the 6 focal areas of UNEP’s Medium Tem Strategy (Climate change; Disasters and conflicts; Ecosystem management; Environmental governance; Harmful substances and hazardous waste; and Resource efficiency – sustainable consumption and production). 2. Content development: DEWA’s eLearning team is currently producing eLearning courses based on UNESCO/SCOPE six Policy Briefs (Indicators of Sustainability: Reliable Tool for Decision Making, The Global Carbon Cycle, How to Improve the Dialogue Between Science and Society - The Case of Global Environment Change, Human Alteration in the Nitrogen Cycle - Threats, benefits and opportunities, Hidden Assets: Biodiversity Below-Surface, and Global Food Supply: The Livestock Challenge in the 21st Century). We expect to pilot them by June 2008. We are also producing UNEP’s GEO Resource Book (UNEP, IISD & other experts) in a CBT/WBT format. We will pilot it in the GEO Panama training in July 2008. The latest version (in Spanish) of The GEO Cities Methodology will be put into an eLearning course as well. We are expecting to pilot it by the end of 2008 3. Follow-up on the results of the next African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (June 2008 Johannesburg). UNEP will help identify partnerships involving international organizations, the donor community, the private sector, and centres of excellence that will support the implementation of a strategic approach to mainstreaming environmental education and the development of an action plan for technology supported learning (including eLearning) in follow up to the strategic approach. 4. UNEP/DEWA will keep fostering collaboration on eLearning through the implementation of: • eLearning courses (eLDI and eLIP) with InWEnt. • Producing new Policy Briefs jointly with SCOPE and UNESCO. • Promote new partnerships with EHTZ, Microsoft, CISCO, etc. • Support the establishment of eLearning centers such as KeLC • Engage in international cooperation and networking to raise awareness of technology supported learning and training with focus on environment. Best regards, Maria Eugenia

	Posted on 09/05/2008 11:24:12
What is UNEP doing to sensitise African/Kenyan government(s) to introduce elearning in both education and government institutions? Is/will UNEP concentrate on the environmental aspect of elearning or will we to venture in other aspects such as health etc?
Sheila Koskeis (from Kenya)

Dear Sheila, Thank you for your question. UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) is currently supporting different eLearning initiatives in Africa. 1. DEWA has engaged in the establishment of the Kenya eLearning Centre (KeLC) which was born out of the partnership between Directorate of e-Government, Office of the President and the Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative. At present, approximately 40 Kenyan organizations are engaged in the development of KeLC under three sectoral pillars – education, health and environment. Within each sector, working groups have been established to focus on four priority areas: Content Development; Human Capacity Development; Quality Assurance & and Monitoring & Evaluation; and ICT Infrastructure & Connectivity. Since its inception, KeLC has since brought on board other strategic partners including UNEP, UNESCO, InWEnt, NOLNet and Cisco Systems, among others. 2. In a collaborative effort, UNEP staff and eLearning experts from different countries prepared a working document for the next African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (June 2008 Johannesburg). The objective of the paper is to encourage AMCEN to consider the issue of mainstreaming technology supported learning (which includes eLearning) into the work of national environmental authorities and mainstreaming environmental education and education for sustainable development programmes across other relevant ministries and educational institutions. UNEP will help identify partnerships involving international organizations, the donor community, the private sector, and centres of excellence that will support the implementation of a strategic approach to mainstreaming environmental education and the development of an action plan for technology supported learning (including eLearning) in follow up to the strategic approach. 3. eLearning in Practice (eLIP) In 2007 UNEP/DEWA engaged with InWEnt (Capacity Building International) in a collaborative eLearning programme in order to organise a set of new blended learning format “eLearning in Practice”- courses (eLIP) developed by InWEnt´s international eLearning experts. The course program introduces educators, instructors and managers implementing training programmes in African environmental authorities to the concept of eLearning through the medium of eLearning. In October 2007 UNEP/DEWA and InWent organised the first eLIP course for Kenyan institutions including the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA). In April 2008 a second eLIP course for environmental institutions (governmental, scientific and non governmental) in East Africa was launched. Participants from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda participated. The eLIP course for environmental institutions in West Africa will start with a workshop in Accra, Ghana 26 and 27 May. The course program builds on the workflow of an eLearning implementation process, from an initial course idea, through course concept, module production to course implementation and support of online learners. 4. UNEP is organising a Pre-conference seminar on Mainstreaming eLearning for Environment, at the 3rd International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training (eLearning Africa Ghana) May 28-30, 2008, Accra International Conference Centre. The overall objective of this seminar is to mainstream eLearning into the work programmes of environmental authorities in Africa and other relevant organisations that, collectively, have the responsibility to keep the environmental situation under review in their respective countries. The expected outcomes of the seminar are: • Promote UNEP/DEWA eLearning activities and learn from other environmental institutions experiences with eLearning tools. •Better exchange of expertise and experience across Africa on the benefits of technology-supported learning in the area of environmental protection and sustainable development (experts and practitioners will present and discuss their experiences in building eLearning capacities and services). • Increased take-up of technology-supported learning by environmental institutions in their work programmes and operational activities. • Increased awareness by decision makers of the benefits of technology-supported learning to support environmental education and awareness raising programmes, and a better appreciation of the challenges to be faced in implementing eLearning programmes. • Increased technical capacity among practitioners working in the field of technology-supported learning and training; • Mobilisation of further donor support and funding for African ICT-based capacity-building initiatives. All the best, Maria Eugenia

	Posted on 09/05/2008 09:04:36
Dear Maria! Who is your target group for the MENTOR program and do you plan to adress a public audience in the future? Kind regards, Julia PS: What can I personally do to safe the environment and make this world a better place? ;-)
Julia Jaeger (from Austria)

Dear Julia, Thank you very much for your question. The eLearning component of MENTOR platform aims at developing a set of eLearning resources for a diverse group of professional clients who are engaged in global, regional and national programmes aimed at keeping the environment under review. The target group includes staff in national environmental ministries, scientific institutions and non-governmental organizations. Geographically it includes clients in developed countries, developing countries and countries with economies in transition with different levels of knowledge, experience and time availability. However general public interested in environmental issues are also welcome to access the platform and undertake our courses. Here are some tips to save to the environment: • Turn off unneeded lights even when leaving a room for a short time. • Use compact fluorescent light bulbs to save money and energy. • Buy items in bulk from loose bins when possible to reduce the packaging wasted. • Avoid products with several layers of packaging when only one is sufficient. About 33 of what we throw away is packaging. Good luck and all the best! Maria Eugenia

	Posted on 09/05/2008 08:17:22
What are the best practices and methods for eLearning considering the different tools that are out there on the internet, and what is the future of eLearning in the UN as a whole
Edward Gaitho (from Kenya)

Dear Edward, Thank you very much for your question. eLearning comes in many variations and often a combination of the following: Purely online (no face-to-face meetings); Blended Learning (combination of online and face-to-face); Synchronous; Asynchronous; Instructor-led group; Self-study; Self-study with subject matter expert; Web-based; Computer-based (CD-ROM); Video/audio tape. Selecting the best practice or method for eLearning depends on what your objectives are. You might need to ask yourself some key questions: What is the objective of the course? What is the purpose? How should the course be integrated in a larger context of working and learning? Where will the learning take place and what media you would like to use? Which financial, personnel related and material resources do you have at your disposal to design and implement the course? Answers to these questions will give you the frame conditions of your course and the method you will use. In regard to your second question many United Nations agencies have been designing and implementing distance courses e.g. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC), UNESCO and UNEP. Computer-based technologies hold great promise both for increasing access to knowledge and as a means of promoting learning especially when the target group is geographically diverse. For instance eLearning can reduce costs for students by enabling them to learn from where they live or work and can also facilitate cross-cultural communication and networking. It also presents a good opportunity for reaching more people not only to gain access to relevant training and information, but also to get to know the different technology tools that are available. For instance it is also a major tool for environmental institutions such as ministries and protection agencies in Africa to use in building the capacities of their extensive network of officials at the national level for effective monitoring and management of the environment. We believe eLearning can contribute to environmental information becoming more readily available and also enhance networking and participatory exchange on environmental issues worldwide. The UN has recently appointed an Assistant Secretary General and Chief Information Technology Officer and his ICT strategy addresses many issues and is likely to include eLearning at the UN. All the best, Maria Eugenia

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