UNEP
Europe Office (Geneva, Moscow, Almaty), Science Division.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Europe Office covers 55 countries in the pan-European region, which includes the Central Asian plains and spans from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. The UNEP Europe Office is located in Geneva, Switzerland. We also have offices in Almaty, Brussels, Moscow and Vienna.
The UNEP Europe Office’s main goal is to provide guidance to national governments at various levels, and to take part in the dialogue on environmental issues between governmental authorities, civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders. It encourage closer cooperation between the main actors in the region, implement projects and provide scientific and legal expertise on challenges facing Europe’s environment. It also undertake awareness-raising initiatives and campaigns, giving Europeans the chance to act towards a greener region while improving the quality of their lives.
The Science Division of the UNEP Europe Office provides timely, scientifically credible, policy-relevant environmental assessments, data and information for decision-making and action planning for sustainable development. It monitors, analyses and reports on the state of the global environment, assessing policies and trends and providing early warning of emerging environmental threats. It spearheads UN-wide monitoring and reporting on the environmental dimension of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs.
MSU
The MSU Faculty of Geography has the world’s largest educational, scientific and student community of geographers. More than 1000 BSc and MSc students and approximately 200 PhD students study in 15 Departments of the Faculty every year. There is a large number of students from China, Iran, France, Germany and other countries, who also study geography here. About 800 employees, including 100 professors/Doctors of Science and 300 Candidates of Science, work in the Faculty. Among them there are: 1 Full Member and 4 Corresponding Members of Russian Academy of Sciences, distinguished scientists, laureates of State and Government Prizes of USSR and Russia in the field of education, science and technology, laureates of the Lomonosov and Anuchin Prizes and many more. Approximately 30% of all dissertations in the field of geography in Russia are defended within the Faculty. The Faculty of Geography has its own publishing facilities and a photo laboratory. The Faculty’s Map Library is a major depository of Russian and Soviet topographic and thematic maps (over 300,000 sheets). The Faculty has collaborated with UNEP, FAO, UNESCO and many other international partners in scientific studies of global environmental issues.
IGRAS
The Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences is already widely involved in international activities connected with environmental governance and thematic reporting applications to different MEA’s. In particular its affiliated experts have contributed to IPCC climate change assessment reports and national reports on the state of the biodiversity to CBD. The Institute of Geography is now a main Science and Technology contributor to the UN Convention to Combat desertification from the Russian Federation’s side. The scientific collective also carries out important work on GIS-technologies, electronic mapping, satellite and UAV’s remote sensing monitoring terrestrial and marine ecosystems. The institute officially have open access to remote sensing data from Russian Space Agency satellites Resurs P and Kanopus B with elaborated skills in their pre-processing and classification. The organization is also a main data and technology contributor to the elaboration of Caucasus Spatial Data Infrastructure under the SCOPES project “Supporting Sustainable Mountain Development in the Caucasus (Sustainable Caucasus)”.