Biosphere Reserves

Since their creation under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program in 1976, biosphere reserves have provided an international framework for linking protected areas with their associated working landscapes. In Australia, twelve biosphere reserves were added to the World Network between 1977 and 1982. That initial flurry of activity has been followed by twenty‐five years of limited interest and development in biosphere reserves in this country, although evidence suggests that new energies are being directed to it. After sketching the origins of the biosphere reserve concept and its central tenets, we explore those environmental, cultural and institutional factors that may be promoting renewed interest in the program. We then review the initial implementation and current status of the Australian Biosphere Reserve Program. Factors supporting the limited success that exists in the program in Australia are highlighted, and the new form of biosphere reserve is illustrated with reference to Australia's recent and only urban biosphere reserve, at the Mornington Peninsula, in the state of Victoria. We speculate that prospects for biosphere reserves in Australia are brighter because of the provision for biosphere reserves under the Commonwealth of Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (DEH 1999), the conceptual relevance of the biosphere reserve to bioregional and catchment management more generally and the continued success of existing model biosphere reserves.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is the lead United Nations (UN) agency in the field of education. As its website proudly proclaims, UNESCO is: “the only UN body with a mandate in higher education.”1 However, UNESCO’s work in higher education has always operated at the margins of its education program (Daniels 2003, 22). Higher education has long been overshadowed by the organization’s focus on popular access to basic education, especially over the past decade, when UNESCO has made achieving “education for all” the central pillar of its educational activities (Mundy 1999). Nonetheless, a strong argument can be made about the need for a UN presence in higher education, particularly in the context of the globalization and internationalization of higher education. Massification of higher education, the growth of private and trans-border service provision, and new information and communications technologies are each transforming the global organization of higher education. In higher education, these processes of globalization have created new types of within-country inequality, and new regional and interstate forms of competition (Robertson and Keeling 2008; Marginson 2008). UNESCO’s mandate within the UN requires it to defend and promote the idea of equality of opportunity within an increasingly globalized higher education policy arena. Its own constitution also requires UNESCO to promote the sharing of knowledge and to defend cultural diversity. This chapter explores the effort within UNESCO to translate its mandate as the UN body in the field of higher education into an effective program of action. Based primarily on document review, this chapter also draws on private communication with 10 higher education experts either involved in UNESCO initiatives or on staff. The chapter is structured as follows: a historical review of UNESCO activities, suggesting how these activities have been shaped by the changes in the organization and in the wider UN environment; UNESCO activities in higher education over the past decade, assessing inparticular UNESCO’s response to the rapid globalization of higher education and its efforts to define a unique role for itself in the international higher education policy agenda; exploring the challenges posed to UNESCO’s work in higher education by current UN and UNESCO; and concluding with some preliminary thoughts on the key opportunities for UNESCO in the governance of higher education as a policy arena.

Abstract. This article examines the dynamics of Ukraine’s membership in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) over the past seven decades, with special attention paid to the country’s diplomatic efforts in the face of a full-scale invasion. Highlighting Ukraine’s strategic interaction with UNESCO, the article focuses on the role of soft power in the formation of international relations. Through a comprehensive analysis of Ukraine’s historical path within UNESCO, from acquiring membership in 1954 to contemporary challenges such as russian aggression, the article highlights Ukraine’s unwavering commitment to promoting UNESCO’s principles of protecting peace, justice, and the development of education and culture. Beginning with Ukraine’s initial struggles against external influences, particularly within the context of the Soviet Union, the article traces the nation’s evolution within UNESCO, emphasising its commitment to asserting national identity, preserving cultural heritage, and advancing global peace. It elucidates Ukraine’s strategic utilisation of UNESCO as a platform for promoting soft power mechanisms, multilateral cooperation, and coalition-building to address pressing global issues, including the ongoing conflict with the Russian Federation. Against the backdrop of geopolitical challenges, Ukraine’s diplomatic efforts within UNESCO are becoming an important mechanism for protecting sovereignty and strengthening the state’s voice in international affairs. The work highlights Ukraine’s diplomatic achievements within the framework of UNESCO’s operations, the country’s proactive approach to securing key positions in various committees and programs, as well as the implementation of consolidated efforts to ensure peace. Furthermore, the article underscores UNESCO’s key role in promoting Ukraine’s foreign policy goals and in addressing urgent global challenges. Adhering to the principles of multilateral cooperation, Ukraine reaffirms its commitment to promoting peace, justice, and sustainable development. Keywords: Ukraine, UNESCO, soft power, multilateral diplomacy, cultural heritage.

Contents of volume 195

International travel has the potential to expand one's learning horizons exponentially, especially with the abundantly enriching experiences of adult, continuing, and lifelong learning conferences. You, the reader, are invited to virtually consider new horizons (deeper, broader, higher, and wider) without leaving your home. CONFINTEA VI (The Sixth World International Conference in Adult Education) sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and organized by the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) was held in Belem, Para, Brazil, December 1-4, 2009. UNESCO conducts an International Assembly on Adult Learning every 12 years. CONFINTEA V was held in Hamburg, Germany, July 14-18, 1997. All of the documents developed as background for Assemblies, and those produced by the Assemblies as the Official Documents, are available for viewing and printing: http://www.unesco.org/en/confinteavi/. Thus, you may begin virtually expanding your adult education horizons. Participation and Adult Education Definition CONFINTEA VI had 144 UNESCO member states represented in Belem, with nearly 1200 participants from civil society organizations, social partners, United Nations agencies, intergovernmental agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and the private sector. This was the first out of six times since 1949 that UNESCO was holding this International Assembly (now labeled CONFINTEA) in the Southern Hemisphere. A Civil Society Pre-Conference, entitled The International Civil Society Forum (FISC), sponsored by the International Council of Adult Education (ICAE), was held in Belem, Para, Brasil, November 28-30, 2009, just prior to CONFINTEA VI, the first time FISC was held prior to the Assembly. Having conducted adult education activities in the city of Belem (at the mouth of the mighty Amazon River, although not well known like Rio de Janiero and Sao Paulo) numerous times over a 25 year period through the Partners of the Americas, made it especially exciting for me that UNESCO chose Belem for CONFINTEA VI and FISC. I arrived in Belem on May 5, 2009 to conduct seven adult education workshops, prior to what was to be my participation in FISC and CONFINTEA VI later in May. On May 8, however, the Brazilian Government made the official announcement that FISC and CONFINTEA VI were postponed because of the H1N1 concern that was making its presence felt around the globe. FISC and CONFINTEA VI were to be scheduled later in 2009. Notwithstanding the postponement, the rescheduled FISC Pre-Conference in November, 2009 had nearly 800 enthusiastic participants. There were two very important aspects of the FISC Pre-Conference: (a) this was an extended time period providing the opportunity for people to discuss in-depth a variety of issues considered in the numerous concurrent sessions, along with the expression of overarching themes presented in a couple of plenary sessions, that would be recommended to CONFINTEA VI for inclusion in the culminating documents and final report, and (b) this was also a time prior to CONFINTEA VI for people and groups to consider elements they felt were overlooked during FISC and perhaps would need to be included in the overall reporting of FISC. Most disappointing, however, was the overlooking and exclusion, by FISC (at the Pre-Conference and in subsequent reporting of that event), of a civil society contribution by the Partners of The Americas (POA) people-to-people program,(Companheiros das Americas in Brasil), that since 1966 has been integral to North-South relations in the Western Hemisphere (North America, Central America, and South America). Moreover, this includes part of the Southern Hemisphere where this UNESCO Assembly was being held for the first time. Partners of the Americas was started in 1966, growing out of President Kennedy's Alliance for Progress, with specific states or cities in the USA partnered with a specific state or city in Central or South America. …

The activities of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) in the educational sphere have been researched. The article as well focuses on the important program «Education for All». At the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000), the governments pledged to achieve «Education for All» and identified six goals to be met by 2015. Threfore the study examines these goals. Special attention has been paid to the results of this program. According to the World Report on Monitoring «Education for All», the statistics has been presented to achieve the goals set. The study outlines the problems of this sphere that need to be solved in the future. It is emphasized that a number of goals, namely the right of all to education, gender equality, improvement of the education system, etc. are extremely important. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization organizes different conferences, forums for solution problems of education, gives important recommendation for improvements educational sphere. The views of the General Directors of UNESCO on the role of education in UNESCO’s activities, on implementation of the provisions of the «Education for All» have been given. The author as well emphasizes on the high importance of educational sphere of the activities of UNESCO. In accordance with the new declaration, the study outlines the perspective of educational sphere of UNESCO’s activities (from 2015 to 2030).

Sterols and triterpenols present in sedimentary cores from 12 stations along the Cananéia-Iguape estuarine-lagoonal system were investigated by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). Ten sterols and three triterpenols were identified and quantified, indicating both natural and anthropogenic sources. The relative distributions of sterol and triterpenol showed that the study area is submitted to organic matter (OM) from the Ribeira de Iguape River, seawater, surrounding vegetation, and plankton production. The contribution of these sources depends on the region of the estuarine-lagoonal system and the depth of sediment. Regarding anthropogenic sources, only the samples submitted to freshwater flow from the Ribeira de Iguape River presented concentration of coprostanol higher than the threshold value and diagnostic ratios, coprostanol/(coprostanol + cholestanol) and coprostanol/cholesterol, that indicate moderate contamination by domestic sewage in that area of the estuarine-lagoonal system. Therefore, the approach used herein identified the OM sources and its transport along the Cananéia-Iguape estuarine-lagoonal system (Brazil), which is a complex of lagoonal channels located in a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Biosphere Reserve.

Cat Ba is one of the most well-known islands located in North Vietnam, which has been recognized as a biosphere reserve by United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2004. Despite the large potential carbon stocks in mangrove forests of Cat Ba, the mangrove ecosystem of this island has suffered severe deforestation and forest degradation due to the conversion to shrimp aquaculture. Monitoring mangrove forest changes plays an important role for effective mangrove conservation and management. The objectives of this study were to map the spatial distribution of mangrove forest and to assess their changes between 2010 and 2015 in Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve, Hai Phong city of Vietnam using ALOS PALSAR data and a GIS-based support vector machine algorithm. For this purpose, ALOS PALSAR imagery for the above period and GIS data were collected. Then, spatial distributions of mangroves were derived using the support vector machine classifier. The results showed that the ALOS-2 PALSAR for 2015 achieves the overall accuracy of 85% and the kappa coefficient of 0.81, compared with those of 81% and 0.77, respectively from the ALOS PALSAR for 2010. The mangrove forest areas in the Cat Ba Biosphere Reserve, Vietnam decreased by 15% from 2010 to 2015. This research shows the potential use of ALOS PALSAR data combined with machine learning techniques in monitoring mangrove forest changes in tropical and semi-tropical climates.

The polypore genus Tomophagus was created to segregate one peculiar species, Ganoderma colossum, from the genus Ganoderma. Recent molecular studies have established the validity of this monotypic genus. Here we report the discovery of a second species of Tomophagus, T. cattienensis sp. nov., from Cat Tien National Park in southern Vietnam, a lowland forest that has been designated as a Biosphere Reserve by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Recognition of this new species is based on combined evidence from morphology, cultural characteristics, and ITS rDNA barcodes. The discovery of this new species may have implications for the discovery of novel bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical use and/or for the pulp industry.

Kapota Island is part of the Wakatobi region, Southeast Sulawesi, which is one of the ten best tourist destinations in Indonesia and has been recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a biosphere reserve that has underwater natural beauty. Tourism potential on Kapota Island includes Lake Taelaron Nto'o Oge, Cave of the Gods, Kolofofa Beach, Togo Molengo Fort, and Manohara Bridge. The population of Kapota Island is entirely Muslim, but there is an imbalance in terms of halal tourism development due to the lack of optimal tourism management by the local community and the absence of assistance from the Regional Government. This study aims to analyze the problems in the halal tourism development policy on Kapota Island from the maqasyid sharia perspective. The research method uses soft system methodology with analytical network process model. The type of data used is primary data directly obtained from the first source. Data collection techniques were carried out by interviews, themed discussions with the village head and the community, and documentation. Then the research data is described in depth. Data analysis used analytical network process (ANP). The results showed that the development of halal tourism on Kapota Island has not been optimal in implementing the five core points of maqasyid sharia and certification standards of cleanliness, health, safety, environmental sustainability of the Regulation of the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia Number 13 of 2020. The Kapota Island halal tourism development model needs to be designed to overcome the problems of transportation access, living and worship facilities, as well as the development of local community resources in managing halal tourist destination areas.

Adult education policies around the world during the post‐World War II period owe a debt to UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) both in their conception and implementation. Four UNESCO‐sponsored world conferences on adult education (UNESCO, 1949; UNESCO, 1963; UNESCO, 1972; UNESCO, 1985) and several other conference reports and surveys (Bhola, 1989b; Lowe, 1982; UNESCO, 1976) have contributed to adult education as an area of study, as a progressive movement in its own right and in developing adult education throughout the Third World, an area of special, but not exclusive, interest in this paper.

This chapter deals with the protection of the right to education by legal instruments adopted by the United Nations Specialised Agencies. The Specialised Agencies implicated are the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The discussion commence with some introductory remarks concerning UNESCO. The focus is on the mandate and organisational structure of UNESCO, the role of UNESCO in the context of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the setting of international educational standards by UNESCO and the monitoring of such standards by UNESCO. Primary consideration is given to the Convention against Discrimination in Education of 1960.Keywords: International Labour Organisation (ILO); legal instruments; right to education; UNESCO; United Nations Specialised Agencies

The “cultural landscape” has been a fundamental concept in geography and was first defined as “landscape modified by human activity” by the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel in 1890. It was introduced to American geography in the 1920s by Carl O. Sauer (American geographer). Since the 1960s, the concept has been widely used in human geography, anthropology, environmental management, and other related fields. One of the major factors that contributed to the recent popularity of its use, on a global scale, was the adoption of cultural landscapes in the International Convention for the World Heritage Convention by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1992. In this chapter, the basis of this concept, its emergence, and its relationships with other scientific disciplines, particularly geography, will be discussed. Moreover, the place of cultural landscapes within protected areas and UNESCO world heritage sites will be more specifically addressed.

A number of meetings sponsored by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) were held or scheduled during the period under review: I) the newly-formed International Advisory Committee on Marine Sciences met for its first session in Tokyo on October 24 and 25, 1955 to discuss international cooperation in the field of oceanography; 2) biologists from nine countries attended a meeting in Paris from December 12 to 16, 1955, and recommended a plan of action to UNESCO which would encourage international or regional research on normal and abnormal cell growth; 3) a five-day meeting of experts from thirteen countries was held in Paris beginning February 6, 1956 to study the possible need for new international arrangements governing the exchange of publications to replace the existing Brussels Convention; 4) a group of educators met in Atlantic City, New Jersey from February 13 to 21, 1956, under the joint sponsorship of UNESCO and the American Educational Research Association, to discuss problems of educational research and international exchange of research information; 5) a group of scientists was scheduled to meet in Ceylon beginning March 19, 1956 to study problems of humid tropical regions; 6) a ten-day regional conference on the teaching of social sciences was held in Rio de Janeiro beginning March 5, 1956; and 7) the first international conference devoted exclusively to the question of the professional training of journalists was scheduled to be held in Paris from April 9 to 13, 1956.

History of Tertiary Level Education spans many centuries and has its own way of development. However, its role in the lives of nations and countries has drastically increased during the last century. Taking into consideration strategic importance of education, countries have gradually paid more attention to its development.Higher education of the Republic of Armenia is in line with the manifestations of international higher education. Thus, higher education and continual growth of its quality and quantity are of great significance in Armenia.In the international arena the role of education has been more emphasized since November 1945, when UN specialized agency - UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) started its activity. The World Declaration on Higher Education for the Twenty-First Century: Vision and Action, adopted by UNESCO's World Conference on Higher Education on 9 October 1998with the aim of setting global standards on the ideals and accessibility of higher education, became the forerunner for new changes and development of higher education. A number of issues peculiar to the development of higher education are focused on in the World Declaration adopted by UNESCO and their manifestations are also existent in Armenia. One of these issues deals with strengthening of interstate cooperation in the sphere of education, and it is peculiar to the higher education of Armenia, too. After gaining independence, Armenia signed numerous interstate agreements and came closer to the international standards through reforms. Computerization of higher education is another peculiarity. Though the level of computerization of the higher education is not sufficient in Armenia yet, serious and active steps are made towards it. In the international arena the establishment of scientific and work-study institutions has become a unique form of integrity of science, education and work. In Armenia the evidence of a successful attempt to establish such institutions is cooperation of IT sphere with the leading universities of the country over the past few years.Democratization of education, i.e. existence of opportunity for every citizen of the country to receive education, is also one of peculiarities of international higher education. In Armenia higher education also tends to democratization. With this aim a number of measures have been undertaken and certain laws have been adopted. The slogan «Lifelong learning» is closely connected with democratization of education. This international slogan is also relevant to higher education of Armenia.The last significant peculiarity is humanitarization of higher education, implementation of which is evident worldwide; still, in some countries including Armenia it is expressed faintly.Thus it can be concluded that over the last three decades higher education of the Republic of Armenia has undergone drastic changes. It demonstrates peculiarities and trends of development which are in line with the international developments and they lead to integration with the international higher education.