40th International Postgraduate Course on Environmental Management for Developing Countries (EM 40)

(10 January - 12 July 2017)
Represented countries of origin in the course:

Botswana	Brazil	China	Colombia	Colombia/Peru	Ethiopia
Honduras	India	Indonesia	Iran	Jamaica	Kenya
Kyrgyzstan	Mexico	Niger	Peru	Sierra Leone	Sudan
		Uganda	Vietnam

Ms Kebaabetswe Keoagile

Country of origin: Botswana
Workfield: Environmental Management
Position while attending the course: Senior Natural Resources Officer at Department of Environmental Affairs
Academic background: B.A. Humanities - Environmental Science and Sociology
Responsibilities: 
►Coordinating the formulation and
monitoring of policies and strategies for environmental conservation and protection in accordance with sustainable development objectives within the framework of the
national development plan.

Profile:

Kebaabetswe Keoagile is currently employed in the Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) at the Ministry of Environment, Natural Resources Conservation and Tourism as a Senior Natural Resources Officer in Gaborone, Botswana. The mandate of the department are among others monitoring of policies and strategies for environmental conservation and protection in accordance with sustainable development objectives within the framework of the National Development Plan (NDP), Districts Development Plans (DDPs) and Urban Development Plans (UDPs) processes, coordination of the implementation of obligations under Multi-Lateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), dissemination of environmental information to stakeholders, implementation and providng professional advice to central government, local authorities and the public on the preparation of environmental impact statements. Kebaabetswe is currently a secondary National Focal Point for the Convention on Biological Diversity and Nagoya protocol and had opportunities to represent her country in different international conferences. She considered studying in the postgraduate course on Environmental management for developing countries as the best way to gain deeper theoretical and practical knowledge, for achieving her career goals, and for taking a step forward for her professional development in this particular field.

Ms Fernanda Silva Martinelli

Country of origin: Brazil
Workfield: Development & Poverty; Sustainable Development Goals; Urban Development; Sustainable Landscapes
Position while attending the course: Project Officer, Solutions Initiatives (SDSN-Youth)
Academic background: M.Sc. in Sustainable Development Practices;  B.Sc. in Biology - Major in Ecology and Botany
Responsibilities: 
► Identifying and supporting youth-led innovations which address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);
► Allowing young change makers to have access to multiple opportunities for funding, technical assistance, mentoring, and networking.

Profile:

Fernanda Silva Martinelli is a sustainable development scientist passionate about generating data and easy-to-understand information to empower society to make responsible decisions about the environment. For the last five years, Fernanda has led science-based projects regarding poverty, deforestation, and urban challenges in Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon region - three years of which she was working for the global NGO Conservation International (CI). She holds a Master from the Global Master Development Program (MDP/UFRRJ) and a postgraduate  certificate in Environmental Management from TU Dresden/BMUB (Germany). With SDSN-Youth, she is currently on charge of identifying oportunities of publication, dissemination and exploitation of the yearly Youth Solutions Report, from organizing events to engaging with local SDSN-Y representatives.

Mr Haibo Liu

Country of origin: China
Workfield: Environmental management
Position while attending the course: Consultant at Ministry of Environmental Protection of China
Academic background: M.Sc. in Environmental Engineering
Responsibilities: 
► Formulating the national environmental technology development plan;
► Acting as a coordinator of the key research and development programme carried out by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China.

Ms Natalia Jimenez Contento

Country of origin: Colombia
Workfield: Water management
Position while attending the course: Water Specialist at Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development
Academic background: M.Sc. Chemistry with specialty in water treatment
Responsibilities: 
► Develop policy and regulation for water management;
► Technical support to regional environmental authorities in the implementation of policy and regulation for water management .

Profile:

Convinced that water is the central axis of life, after graduating from environmental engineering in Colombia, Natalia Jimenez Contento did a Master of Chemistry, Water Treatment in Lille, France. There she acquired the technical knowledge necessary to provide quality water to people and in general to protect this vital liquid and human health. Later, Natalia worked in one of the largest water treatment companies in France developing new technologies and then with this same company she worked in Santiago de Chile, which allowed her to enrich her technical knowledge in these two countries with different political, socioeconomic and environmental situations and Water Resources Management models.
Based on the technical knowledge acquired at the beginning of her professional career, Natalia is currently developing policy and regulations for the Water Resources Management –WRM in the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Colombia. Among the national regulations that she has developed within interdisciplinary groups are: the wastewater disposal standards, the wastewater reuse standard, and the water resource management legislation.
At the time of applying to the course Natalia was working on the development of wastewater disposal policy and the reuse and efficient use and saving of water regulations. Her objective of participating in the course was to connect water management with other natural components (soil, air, non-renewable resources, etc.) as well as the political, cultural, social and economic spheres. She also aimed to learn about the German experience in these environmental issues.

Ms Andrea Amelia Vera Arabe

Country of origin: Peru (Colombia) 
Workfield: Climate Change and Carbon Adviser
Position while attending the course: Forest and Land Use Expert
Academic background: B.Sc. Forestry engineering
Responsibilities: 
►Implementation of the global
assigned projects: development of REDD+ projects and AFOLU (agriculture, forestry
and other land use) projects under VCS, CCBS standards and gold standard;
►Development of local stakeholders consultations, Climate change and carbon advisory.

Profile:

Andrea Amelia Vera Arabe is a Forestry Engineer specialized in social development, land use planning and management of natural resources and an expert on forestry carbon projects and payments for ecosystem services, with experience in international carbon markets and projects under different standards such as VCS, CCBS and Gold Standard. Her experience includes the implementation and development of REDD+ and AFOLU (Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use) projects, assessment of carbon methodologies, coordination of carbon projects and Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) mechanisms.
Due to her previous work and social focus, Andrea has developed the stakeholder consultation for several carbon projects as well as the analysis of the agents and causes of deforestation, which have served for the project’s baseline establishment and the validation of the projects.
Key skills: CDM/VER Project Implementation. REDD+ and AFOLU Project Implementation. PoA Implementation. CDM/VER Methodologies. Climate Change and Carbon Advisory.

Mr Ahmed Said Sulaiman

Country of origin: Ethiopia
Workfield: Environmental Protection (Regional administration)
Position while attending the course: Core-Process owner at Environmental Protection, Mines and Energy Development Agency
Academic background: B.Sc. Natural Resource Management
Responsibilities: 
► Overseeing planning, implementation and monitoring of projects under environmental protection branch;
► Coordinating private, civil and public projects so as to ensure that they comply with regional environmental standards and regulations ;
► Lead the climate resilient green economy (CRGE) unit and ensure a close collaboration with similar units from other sectors.

Ms Marle Patricia Aguilar Ponce

Country of origin: Honduras
Workfield: Governmental Institution: Ministry of Energy, Natural Resource, Environment and Mines
Position while attending the course: Environmental Analyst
Academic background: M.Sc. in Water Engineering; Bachelor in Biology with aquatic orientation
Responsibilities: 
► National Focal Point of Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization from the Convention on Biological Diversity;
► Technical responsible in department of biodiversity to supporting the implementation of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, working with the national focal point of the Agriculture and livestock Ministry ;
► As well as the participant of the processes of FPIC of indigenous peoples and community protocols, according to the Convention No.169 and ABS measures;
► As technician participant and support, in the process of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the execution of public or private projects potentially polluting or degrading; Participating in biological monitoring of species .

Ms Jaya Upadhyay

Country of origin: India
Workfield: Community based Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods
Position while attending the course: Project officer
Academic background: M.Sc. in Forestry
Responsibilities: 
► Prepare and Implement natural resource management plans in Community based forests and in High-altitude wetland areas;
► Improve and Implement sustainable livelihoods programmes in conservation areas;
► Network, liaison and organize capacity building programmes with CBOs, Government agencies and relevant stakeholders.

Ms Yulia Mariska

Country of origin: Indonesia
Workfield: City Government
Position while attending the course: Staff of Planning Division
Academic background: M.Sc. Water Science Engineering
Responsibilities: 
► Supporting my head section to set up programs related to the jobs and functions of public work and spatial planning office such as to construct and to do operation and maintenance of streets and roads, flood control structures (urban drainage, retention ponds, pumping station.etc).

Ms Ramshid Rashidpour

Country of origin: Iran
Workfield: Organic farming
and waste management
Position while attending the course: Founding member and member of board directors at Women Association of Clean Food( regional NGO)
Academic background: B.Sc. in Marine Biology
Responsibilities: 
► Decision with other board members
about priorities, and planning projects;
►Planning and coordinating raising awareness and environmental
education program for the public.

Profile:

Ramshid Rashidpour is working as a board member of a regional NGO regarding waste management, education, and sustainable development. She is involved in planning and coordinating raising awareness and environmental education programs for the public. In 2015, Ramshid has been awarded a CrossCulture scholarship by ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) to do a three months internship regarding biodiversity and habitat conservation with the NABU International office in Berlin.
As an environmentalist who is involved in local community empowerment and its administrations, Ramshid feels the necessity to study how physical and biological processes maintain life, and how humans affect nature which requires a broad interdisciplinary perspective. This motivated her to apply for the UNEP/UNESCO/BMUB course with the aim of deepen her knowledge, gain skills and build technical capacity in environmental management. Since environmental management is an interdisciplinary study, the course helped her a lot to gain knowledge in a very broad scope from solar energy to soil, and from waste management to marine ecosystems, and project management; it covered all aspects which are needed for environment management.

Mr Sean Everard Townsend

Country of origin: Jamaica
Workfield: Natural Resources Management and Environmental Planning (NRMEP)
Department
Position while attending the course: Manager at Urban Development Corporation
Academic background: PhD Marine Sciences
Responsibilities: 
►Manage the day to day operations of the NRMEP Department at the UDC;
►The work of the department ensure sustainable development and environmental compliance.

Ms Joyce Wamaitha Kiruri

Country of origin: Kenya
Workfield: Environmental Management / Sustainable Tourism
Position while attending the course: Eco-rating Program Officer at Ecotourism Kenya
Academic background: B.Sc. Environmental Studies - Community Development
Responsibilities: 
► Project management and team lead in managing Ecotourism Kenya’s (EK) Eco-rating & Tour Operators’ Certification schemes for tourism accommodation facilities and tour operators aiming at promoting sustainable tourism;
► Conducting environmental audit assessments countrywide in accordance with globally recognized ecotourism standards;
► Monitoring and evaluation of all EK’s certified facilities and tour operators within the country and periodical training of EK’s external environmental auditors; ;
► Implementing community-based tourism projects.

Profile:

Joyce Kiruri is working as an Eco-rating Program Officer for Ecotourism Kenya, a Non-governmental organization whose mandate is to promote responsible tourism in Kenya through its mission-linking communities, tourism and conservation. To achieve this Ecotourism Kenya (EK) works with government bodies, private sector, civil society, tourism facilities and communities living within conservation and protected areas. Core to EK’s work is stakeholder liaison, more so through the Standards and Best Practice Program in which Joyce serves. Part of her roles include project management of EK’s certification schemes aimed at promoting responsible tourism, conducting environmental audit assessments, and other activities related to ecotourism development.
Joyce applied to the UNEP/UNESCO/BMUB course with the aim to improve her knowledge, gain skills and build her technical capacity in environmental management issues which is within her career and professional interests. In retrospect, she gained a great deal of knowledge and skills on various environmental topics and issues through the lectures, case studies and shared experiences with fellow participants, which she is confident that the lessons learned will be quite practical in addressing challenges, as well as being applicable towards environmental conservation in the Kenyan context.

Ms Aliia Orozakunova

Country of origin: Kyrgyzstan
Workfield: Environmental Protection
Position while attending the course: Specialist of International Cooperation Department of the State Agency on Environment Protection and Forestry of the Kyrgyz Republic
Academic background: M.Sc. in International Relations
Responsibilities: 
► Organization and carrying out missions of international organizations;
► Assistance to the Working Group in the practical implementation of environmental conventions of UNECE;
► Maintenance activities in the field of environment within the framework of cooperation between countries;
► Implementation of the agreements reached during the official visit of heads of State and heads of Government to foreign countries;
► Conducting negotiations on the preparation of joint projects with partners and participation in the negotiation process, protocol records of meetings;
► Preparation of meetings of the Coordination Group for monitoring of environmental projects and conventions;
► Provide reports on the plans of the State agency in the field of foreign policy and environmental projects to Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Finance of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Mr Augusto Mosqueda Solis

Country of origin: Mexcio
Workfield: Renewable energy
Position while attending the course: Associate of UNDEEX A.C. (Local NGO)
Academic background: M.Sc. International Management of Resources and Environment
Responsibilities: 
► Preparation of project proposals for the development of renewable energy projects of isolated and marginalized communities;
►Monitor and advise developers on the preparation of environmental assessments and audits, the environmental management plans forinfrastructure projects in the energy sector, prior to their submission to MINEPDED.

Profile:

Augusto Mosqueda Solis has been working on the field of renewable energy projects since 2009 and has a vast experience in the fields of incorporating such technologies in isolated and marginalized regions. He is co-founder of a local NGO in Mexico. Since 2015 the fund raising and preparation of proposals are his main tasks. Moreover, with tonámix renovables (local renewable energy consultancy) has been working since 2012 and has participated in diverse kind of projects such as: water drinking provision for isolated communities, powering of eco-touristic centers with solar modules, development of energy innovation projects and providing services also to private householders and industry.  Through his participation at the EM40th course he was able to share international experiences with other experts from developing countries and acquired the tools for developing future projects related to the environmental management. The course provided him with additional and valuable knowledge related to the fields ranging from conservation and restoration ecology to sustainable urban and regional development.

Mr Moussa Lamine

Country of origin: Niger
Workfield: Implementation of international conventions of chemicals, organic persistent pollutants, Environmental Impact Assessment, Climate change
Position while attending the course: Programme officer in the Direction of environement and risks prevention
Academic background: Master in Development (Environmental Management); B.Eng. Water Resources and Environmental Engineering
Responsibilities: 
► Contributing to the promotion environmentally sound management and the monitoring of wastes and chemicals;
► Define and ensure the application of environmental standards and sustainable development;
► Support public and private institutions for the appropriation of best available techniques (BAT) and best environmental practices (BEP);

Profile:

Moussa Lamine is working in the direction of environment and risk prevention of the General Directorate of the Environment and Sustainable Development as a programme officier. The General Directorate of the Environment and Sustainable Development is under the authority of the Secretary General of the ministry of environment and sustainable development. It is charged of the implementation of policies, strategies , conventions and environmental and multilateral agreements and action plans for environmental conservation, climate change, urban sanitation, environmental economics, sustainable development, environmental standards, pollution and nuisances and disasters risks . Moussa applied for the CIPSEM Course to learn more about environmental issues, to build his capacity in order to understand how environmental problems are handled at international level through excursions, lectures by lecturers from different universities and institutions. At the end of the course Moussa was really satisfied because the course was able to cover his expectations.
 

Mr Adrian Lauer

Country of origin: Peru
Workfield: Federal/National administration
Position while attending the course: Assistant, Climate Change and International Agenda
Academic background: B.Sc. in Political Science and Government
Responsibilities: 
►Assisting the Climate Change Division in the work on markets and climate finance;
► Organising the overseas agenda of the Minister of Environment of Peru

Ms Benrina Demoh Kanu

Country of origin: Sierra Leone
Workfield: Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources, Government of Sierra Leone
Position while attending the course: Deputy Head Fish Processing and Control Unit
Academic background: Bsc. Marine Biology and Oceanography
Responsibilities: 
► Ensure relevant fisheries laws and regulations are obeyed,
Inspect fishing gears and processing establishment to ensure compliance;
► Provide assistance in research programmes;
► Promote marine management programmes and policies.

Ms Reem Gasim Omer Fadlelseed

Country of origin: Sudan
Workfield: Environment
Position while attending the course: Projects Coordinator assistant at the Sudanese Environment Conservation Society (SECS)
Academic background: M.Sc. in Environmental Sciences
Responsibilities: 
► Develop a filing system to keep records of previous and ongoing projects;
► Monitor ongoing projects;
► Coordinate training programs targeting Volunteers at SECS.

Mr Bendicto Kabiito

Country of origin: Uganda
Workfield: Teaching and community Environmental work
Position while attending the course: Assistant Lecturer (Uganda Martyrs University) and Partner in charge of environmental justice and social development (The Eco-earth Environment for Peace- Initiative)
Academic background: M.A. Sustainable Peace and Conflict Management
Responsibilities: 
► Teaching;
► Research in conflict and natural resource management
► Tree propagation and planting
► Coordination of environmental rehabilitation and awareness activities

Mr Anh Le Hoang

Country of origin: Vietnam
Workfield: Air pollution; Air quality monitoring and modeling; Emission inventory; Bioaerosol; Catalyst
Position while attending the course: Head of Department of Environmental Management; Lecturer in Faculty of Environmental Sciences
Academic background: Ph.D. Environmental System Engineering
Responsibilities: 
► Giving lectures on environmental field such as: environmental science, environmental monitoring, EIA;
► Implementing and taking part
in some scientific projects mostly air pollution topics.

Profile:

Dr. HOANG Anh Le obtained his Master degree at VNU University of Science (Hanoi, Vietnam) in 2002 and another one at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT, Bangkok, Thailand) in 2007 on Environmental Engineering Management. He went on to earn his Ph.D. in Environmental System Engineering from the Korean Institute of Science and Technology (KIST, Seoul, Korea) in 2012. Recently he is working as a lecturer, holding the Head position at the Department of Environmental Management at Faculty of Environmental Science, VNU University of Science, the largest member of Vietnam National University (VNU) in Hanoi. His research interests include atmospheric pollution, air quality monitoring and modeling, emission inventory, climate change, catalyst synthesis, and indoor air quality.