Adaptation to climate change has emerged as one of the most important concerns in the global development agenda. However, the knowledge gap on adaptation is vast; knowledge and expertise remains primarily at the international level, and is not reaching those in the developing world who need it most. Higher education institutions can play a critical role…

This UNU-EHS policy brief provides an overview of the global urbanization process and analyses the development and complexity of modern megacities.

The report “In Search of Shelter: Mapping the Effects of Climate Change on Human Migration and Displacement”, by Dr. Koko Warner (UNU-EHS) and Dr. Charles Ehrhart (CARE International), highlights that climate change is already contributing to migration and displacement and predicts that there will be tens of millions of migrants within the next few years.

These findings…

At a UNU-WIDER seminar on the impact of the global recession on the poorest countries, UNU-WIDER Senior Researcher Wim Naudé painted a grim portrait of the consequences of ignoring Africa.

This UNU-WIDER book, published by Oxford University Press, is the first to systematically document the extent of the distribution of personal (household) wealth across the world.

In recognition of World Environment Day 2009, UNU has collaborated with YouTube Japan to support a special channel called Think Green.

More than 15 million viewers access YouTube each month in Japan. In order to help this community find videos that encourage them to think about environmental topics, YouTube has collaborated with some of its premium partners…

In the last week of May, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon paid a visit to UNU-WIDER in Helsinki as part of his first official mission to Finland. After greeting members of the UNU-WIDER staff, the Secretary-General was formally welcomed by UNU-WIDER Deputy Director and Officer-in-Charge Professor Augustin Fosu. Following a briefing on the work of UNU-WIDER, the Secretary-General expressed his thanks and pointed out that the institute has a key role to play in the current global turndown.

Secretary-General Ban added that he was looking to research institutes like UNU-WIDER to use their analytical capacity to promote understanding of the multitude of crises facing the world and to stimulate debate on how to assist the poorest and most vulnerable people, particularly in Africa.

The paper “Designing plans for organizational development, lessons from three large-scale SME-initiatives”, derived from the UNU-MERIT Strategic Innovation project, was selected as the IIE’s 2009 Best Track Paper in Engineering Management.

On 18 May, renowned mexican scientist and educator José Sarukhán delivered a lecture at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo on the benefits and chaallenges of preserving biodiversity.

UNU-MERIT research fellows present a report on measuring creativity, design and innovation at the national level at an international conference in Brussels in May.

Professor Finn Tarp of Denmark has been appointed as the next Director of the UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). Director-Designate Tarp will take up the post on 1 September 2009. He succeeds Prof. Anthony Shorrocks, who served as UNU-WIDER Director from 1 January 2001 through 30 April 2009.

UNU-WIDER, based in Helsinki, Finland, undertakes…

“The Financial Crisis and Its Impact on Africa” was the subject of this year’s UNU Africa Day Symposium, held May 25 at UNU Headquarters in Tokyo. These symposiums are organised annually by UNU and the African Diplomatic Corps in Tokyo with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. This year we celebrated the tenth…

The 2009 six-week session of the UNU International Courses commenced on 11 May, attended by 51 postgraduate students and young professionals from 40 countries.

What were the key activities and achievements of the UNU in 2008? You can read about them, and more, in the United Nations University 2008 Annual Report.

The UNU report examines higher educational in Africa, including pedagogy and teaching tools; it further presents a synthesis of research on education in Africa and offers recommendations for innovative reform.

A seminar held on 22 April at UNU-IAS in Yokohama examined the intersection of peacebuilding, environmental change, and natural resources, and their linkage to conflict.

This UNU Press book explores the role of early warning systems in defending against the adverse effects of climate, water, weather and geologic hazards.