CfPs on Science, Technology and Innovation in BRICS and MINT Countries | For special issue of African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation & Development (AJSTID)

Call for Papers for a Special issue of

 

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID):

 

Science, Technology and Innovation in BRICS and MINT Countries

 

The term 'BRIC' (Brazil, Russia, India and China) was coined in 2001 by Jim O'Neill a former Goldman Sachs economist. He anticipated that these emerging economics would be global economic powerhouses in the mid-21st century. A decade later, South Africa was added to this group of countries and the term thenceforth became 'BRICS'. Today, the term has become a very common jargon and is increasingly playing an important role in the global economic landscape. These five countries are now joined in an association to foster mutual development. Jim O'Neill further predicted that Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey (MINT) will be the next economic powerhouses. These countries share common socio-economic and demographic conditions, for example, young population, crucial geographical locations and so on. The huge number of skilled workers is an advantage for these emerging economies. Although, in recent years MINT member countries are undergoing rapid growth and showing potential, they face many issues that are typically not part of the mainstream discourse. One such issue is mutual development in the area of science, technology and innovation (STI). Despite their commonalities, the flow of technology and knowledge among the BRICS and MINT economies still fall far behind the inflows from the global North. Moreover, the origin of these groups of countries is rooted in macroeconomic analyses of national conditions. It remains to be seen, therefore, whether these countries hold similarly strong prospects at the microeconomic level, especially in relation to STI. The BRICS economies have been the subject of many studies but the MINT group is relatively under-studied. Considering the foregoing, this special issue of African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID) is seeking original research contribution in the various aspects of Science Technology and Innovation studies in these two groups of emerging economics.

 

About the Journal

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID) is a peer reviewed, multi-disciplinary international journal. The journal deals with the various issues of science, technology, and innovation in developing economies, with a special reference to Africa. It started in 2009 and publishes 6 issues in a year by Taylor and Francis. This special issue may come as an edited volume after two years of its publication. The journal is recognized by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and is in the process of indexing in globally recognized indexing and abstracting databases.

 

Topics for the Special Issue

This special issue of AJSTID calls for original research papers on, but not limited to, the broad topics outlined below. Individual country cases and cross-country studies from the BRICS and MINT countries are solicited on the following issues:

• National, Regional, and Technological Innovation Systems
• Technological Capability building
• Science Technology and Sustainable Development
• Role of these economics in the globalization of R&D
• University-Industry relations
• Science, Technology and Innovation Policy
• Science and Technology collaboration in and among these countries
• Traditional knowledge systems
• Creative Industries

Perspective authors are encouraged to submit their manuscripts on topics beyond the broad theme of the special issue. However, all submissions must fit within the broader domain of the journal (Science Technology and Innovation Studies) and follow AJSTID's policy statements. Current PhD students and early career researchers are particularly encouraged to make submissions.

 

Submission Information

All manuscripts will go through double blind review. The manuscript should comply with the formatting guidelines of AJSTID. Detailed instructions to authors and manuscript preparation guidelines are available at http://tinyurl.com/qzbxxxe. More information about the journal can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ot4oebr. Manuscript is to be prepared in MSWord format, and to be sent as an email attachment to patrask@tut.ac.za. For more information, please contact the Special Issue Editors.

 

Timeline

Deadline for Submission of Full paper:  April 30th 2016
Feedback to Authors:                              June 30th 2016
Tentative Publication Date:                     December 2016

 

Guest Editors

 

Swapan Kumar Patra (patrask@tut.ac.za), Abiodun Egbetokun (egbetokunaa@tut.ac.za)

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[1] One of the real-world consequences of the BRICS club for the member countries is that it is generally easier for them to reach agreements in their small club than as part of a much larger group. For instance, Brazil and China concluded a currency swap deal in the 2013 BRICS summit.

Source: http://explore.tandfonline.com/cfp/bes/rajs-cfp-brics-mint

CfPs: Panel on Media & Modernity - Conference on Negotiating the Future in Everyday Life in South Asia| 20-22 September| Lund, Sweden

SASNET Conference

Modern Matters: 

Negotiating the Future in Everyday Life in South Asia

20-22 September 2016, Lund, Sweden

SASNET organizes a conference entitled "Modern Matters: Negotiating the Future in Everyday Life in South Asia" from 20 – 22 September 2016 at Lund University. The conference will explore what it means to consider oneself modern or outside the limits of modernity, in an extremely diverse region. It will also examine how the notion of modernity is experienced, contested, and negotiated in South Asia within the broader promise and hope of the 'Asian century'.

The three keynote speakers will be Faisal Devji, University of Oxford, UK; Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago, USA; and Sumi Madhok, London School of Economics, UK.

Aims behind the conference

This workshop will explore what it means to consider oneself modern, or outside the limits of modernity, in an extremely diverse region. How is the notion of modernity experienced, contested, and negotiated in South Asia within the broader promise and hope of the Asian century? South Asian modernity will be considered in terms of regional, national, and global societies by pursuing the following, larger questions:

One of the eight panels accepted at this conference is on interdisciplinary Media Studies

Beyond the Desirable: Critical Perspectives on Media-Modernity

Panel Chairs:

Britta Ohm, Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Bern, Switzerland.

Per Ståhlberg, Department of Media and Communication Studies, Södertörn University, Sweden.

Vibodh Parthasarathi, Centre for Culture, Media & Governance, Jamia Milia Islamia, India. 

Ideas of contemporary modernities and projections of possible futures require a (public) circulation of symbolic forms. In this sense, media and modernity are intrinsically linked; it is not surprising that communication technologies often have a prominent part in promises and expectations of a "South Asian century". The last few decades have also witnessed a fast growth and penetration of various media technologies, forms and genres across the subcontinent and across different sections of society, which have opened up opportunities for popular participation, for protest, and both for transnational and local networking. 

However, both the recent engagements concerning violence against women and the public mob lynching of suspected rapists in India, to name two of many examples, have been heavily dependent on media technologies. This indicates that unlike 'democracy' or 'enlightenment', neither 'modernity' nor 'media' are pre-defined in terms of content or form but encompass a wide and mutually enforcing array of ideologies and practices that also include organised violence, fascism, totalitarianism, censorship, surveillance etc. The increasingly obvious, and public, interpretability of 'modernity' notwithstanding, the positive relation between media and societal modernity, as a desirable state, has remained remarkably unquestioned. This panel seeks to set conflicting meanings of modernity in relation and perspective by understanding media as an increasingly contested resource in different South Asian countries.

We thus invite contributions that explore the complex and contradictory relationship between media and modernity under diverse historical, political and legal conditions. Suggestions for topics include:

•  Use of media technologies by (Identity & Non-Identity based) social and religious movements and political organisations
•  Visions and construction of techno-mediated futures by government agencies though various campaigns (Smart Cities, UID, eGovernance)
•  Design of media regulation by South Asian governments
•  Relationship between modern media and violence across South Asia
•  Relational & representational dynamics of class, caste, ethnicity, religion and gender across media (employment) in South Asia
•  Location of media in the mainstream, middle-class oriented discourses on modernity
•  Resistance to the modernity spawned/espoused by global media in South Asian contexts

Upcoming deadlines

• April 30, 2016: Deadline for Abstracts | Abstracts should be between 200-300 words and include a bibliography incl. institutional affiliation of max. 100 words, and sent no later than April 30 2016 at conference@sasnet.lu.se. Information about limited travel expenses for exceptional contributions will be announced shortly.
• May 15, 2016: Selection of papers
• August 30, 2016: Deadline full papers

Conference fees

The conference fee for regular participants will be 500 SEK or 55 Euro. For participants that lite to attend the closing dinner on the 22nd of September the total fee will be 1000 SEK or 110 euro. More information will follow.

Further Details

Fwd: FW: Invitation to the UNESCO Distinguished Lecture - Prof Sugata Mitra

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to invite you to the 4^th UNESCO MGIEP Distinguished Lecture by the eminent Professor Sugata Mitra on the "Future of Education" this Wednesday 30^th March at 4pm at IIT Delhi.

 

Please see details of the lecture below - Register your place and send me a message when you have so that I can arrange for my assistant to send you the official invitation.

 

Could we please also ask if you could re-share our social media posts for the Lecture to your vast social network:

1. Facebook - http://bit.ly/fb-Mitra-lecture
2. Twitter - http://bit.ly/tw-Mitra-lecture

 

Look forward to hearing from you.

 

Regards,
Abel CAINE

 

UNESCO MGIEP

 

 

Ethics and Indian Science | Current Science Editorial

Ethics and Indian Science: Editorial
by Sunil Mukhi
Current Science, 25 March 2016, 110(6): 955-956.

On the international scene, the practice of scientific ethics has evolved rapidly in the last couple of decades. Today, one sees a sustained and proactive effort to inform, advise, guide and caution members of the academic fraternity, coupled with a credible investigation and redressal mechanism that operates whenever misconduct is suspected. For our research to command respect in the world outside, we Indian scientists must display a similar degree of evolution in our thinking and actions. While we all agree with the principle that the academic workplace has to be an ethically strong environment, we have been somewhat complacent about its implementation. It is increasingly urgent for us to take this step in a forthright and professional manner.

The global evolution towards proactive monitoring of ethics has many causes, one of which is the increased possibility for committing fraud. After all, the internet is an invaluable resource for an intending plagiarist. The flip side, of course, is that it also provides the resources to detect plagiarism through the use of software. Other reasons for this evolution include a rapid increase in the number of academic researchers, journals and publications, as well as an era of heightened expectations. These have led to intense competition for resources, fame and money, and in the same proportion, to more frequent malpractice. Finally, there has been a welcome improvement in the standards of what constitutes fairness in academia. Less than a century ago, women were banned outright from faculty positions in many universities around the world, but today any sort of discrimination against women is rightly forbidden in several countries.

A search for 'ethics' on the website of world-renowned universities such as Princeton, Oxford, Ecole Normale Superieure, Tokyo University, or just any reputed university in a developed country, readily brings up a detailed ethics document. This sets out what practices the institution considers to be ethical and unethical, and prescribes guidelines to be followed by faculty, staff and students. Some of the issues covered in such documents are laboratory safety, plagiarism and publication ethics, management of data, sharing of facilities, human and animal ethics, conflict of interest and the ethics of science management. Procedures for redressing the complaints as well as appropriate punitive actions are carefully spelt out.

More... 

Electronic Theses & Dissertations: ETD2015 Report
by Anup Kumar Das
Current Science, 25 March 2016, 110(6): 965-966.

This is a report on the 18th International Symposium of Electronic Theses and Dissertations held at New Delhi during 4–6 November 2015, and jointly organized by Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD), and Information and Library Network (INFLIBNET) Centre.

More...

Deepak Kumar (1946–2016): Personal News
by Shankar Prasad Das
Current Science, 25 March 2016, 110(6): 1112-1113.
The morning of 26 January this year came to us with the tragic news that our colleague Prof. Deepak Kumar was no more. On the evening of 25th while driving back from JNU campus to his residence in Noida he had developed uneasiness. His son immediately took him from the road to a nearby hospital where in the early hours of 26th he breathed his last. Even on the day before, he was in his office in the School of Physical Sciences (SPS), JNU where he has been working for last twenty eight years.

More...

SASNET Conference on Modern Matters: Negotiating the Future in Everyday Life in South Asia| 20-22 September| Lund, Sweden

SASNET Conference on Modern Matters: Negotiating the Future in Everyday Life in South Asia
20-22 September 2016
Lund, Sweden
SASNET organizes a conference entitled "Modern Matters: Negotiating the Future in Everyday Life in South Asia" from 20 – 22 September 2016 at Lund University. The conference will explore what it means to consider oneself modern or outside the limits of modernity, in an extremely diverse region. It will also examine how the notion of modernity is experienced, contested, and negotiated in South Asia within the broader promise and hope of the 'Asian century'. The three keynote speakers will be Faisal Devji, University of Oxford, UK; Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago, USA; and Sumi Madhok, London School of Economics, UK. SASNET now invites papers for the eight panels being accepted, see details below. Abstracts should be between 200-300 words and include a short biography including institutional affiliation not exceeding 100 words. Paper submissions should be received no later than Saturday 30 April 2016 at conference@sasnet.lu.se. Information about limited travel grants for exceptional contributions will be announced shortly.

Aims behind the conference

South Asia has been described as in a state of flux. While it is part of the soaring 'Asian century' led by China and India, it remains on the periphery of its promising future. India is celebrated as an attractive investment destination for its impressive growth rate, and for moving out of what has been called the waiting room of history and into the modern era at an accelerated pace. However, large parts of South Asia, including some regions within India, are still defined by the development agendas and interventions of a previous era. The region which is home to one-fifth of the world's population has its largest youth demography, is celebrated for its demographic dividend. But this also raises concerns about the low investment in education, job training and public health. The uplifting narratives of call centers, shopping malls, new modes of leisure, and the global lifestyles of technologically–adept consumer-citizens contrast with shortages in material goods, services, and employment opportunities.  Everyday life in South Asia is typified by these wide gaps in wealth, abundance and consumption.
This workshop will explore what it means to consider oneself modern, or outside the limits of modernity, in an extremely diverse region. How is the notion of modernity experienced, contested, and negotiated in South Asia within the broader promise and hope of the Asian century? South Asian modernity will be considered in terms of regional, national, and global societies by pursuing the following, larger questions:
1. Can we discover regional understandings of modernity in South Asia? If so, how do they differ, and what do they have in common?
2. What are the specific discourses related to global modernity in South Asian societies?
3. How are class, caste, ethnicity, religion, and gender related in contemporary South Asian societies?
4. What resistance to modernity can we find in South Asian contexts? What categories are involved, and which arguments are raised?
5. How might violence relate to South Asian modernity?

Eight panels accepted

For the SASNET 2016 conference Modern Matters: Negotiating the Future in Everyday Life in South Asia SASNET the following panels are accepted:
Panel 1. Religion and Modernity in South Asia
Chair: Clemens Cavalin, Associate Professor in Religious Studies at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden
Abstract: Few themes concern the core of modernity as religion. Traditional religiosity constituted the significant Other for those championing the emerging new era of reason, individuality and equality. In Colonial India, the negotiation between Western Enlightenment values and the beliefs and practices of Hindu and Muslim traditions was intimately connected to the formulation of Indian nationalism in the 19^th century. The development of a particular form of Indian Secularism; the partition into India and Pakistan, and the present political force of Hindutva and Muslim revivalism are all vital to the future of South Asian modernity. In this panel, we would like to discuss the role of religion and modernity in South Asia, the present situation and possible futures, from the perspective of the notion of multiple modernities.
Panel 2. Mapping Subaltern Modernities in Neoliberal India 
Chairs: Alf Gunvald Nilsen & Kennth Bo Nielsen, Department of Sociology, University of Bergen, Norway
Abstract: Narenda Modi's triumph in the general elections of 2014 seemed, to many observers, to suggest that a distinct project of modernity had come to prevail in India – one characterised by globalising economic reforms and a thinly veiled Hindu majoritarianism, or what Christophe Jaffrelot has referred to as "saffron modernity". However, as we enter 2016, this project has witnessed a series of significant electoral setbacks – in Delhi, in Bihar, and indeed in Gujarat itself, the BJP juggernaut has ground to a halt. Significantly, in each of these cases, the setback can be traced to subaltern discontent with Modi's "modernisation offensive". Clearly, then, "saffron modernity" is a contested project.This scenario begs a series of important questions: How and why do dominant narratives and imaginaries of modernity fracture and crumble – and what does this tell us about the nature of hegemonic projects in contemporary India? How do subaltern groups – for example, the urban and rural poor, Dalits, Adivasis, women, and religious or sexual minorities – negotiate modernity in neoliberal India? Through what practices, meanings and categories do India's subalterns stake a claim to a space within the modern – and how do their claims shape Indian modernity? What are the prospects of subaltern modernities – for example, contemporary Dalit visions of emancipation, rural vernacular rights-cultures, insurgent citizenship in urban peripheries, Maoist insurgency, queer pride, and new forms of feminist activism – in India today? This panel will bring together theoretically informed and empirically grounded interrogations of these questions, with a view to understanding how India's modernity is animated and moulded through multiple, conflictual encounters between "modernisation offensives" from above and below. We particularly welcome papers from younger scholars and from researchers with recent fieldwork experience on these or related themes.
Panel 3. Beyond the Desirable: Critical Perspectives on Media-Modernity
Chairs: Britta Ohm, Institute of Social Anthropology, University of Bern, Switzerland, Per Ståhlberg, Department of Media and Communication Studies, Södertörn University, Sweden & Vibodh Parthasarathi, Centre for Culture, Media & Governance, Jamia Milia Islamia, India. 
Abstract: Ideas of contemporary modernities and projections of possible futures require a (public) circulation of symbolic forms. In this sense, media and modernity are intrinsically linked; it is not surprising that communication technologies often have a prominent part in promises and expectations of a "South Asian century". The last few decades have also witnessed a fast growth and penetration of various media technologies, forms and genres across the subcontinent and across different sections of society, which have opened up opportunities for popular participation, for protest, and both for transnational and local networking. However, both the recent engagements concerning violence against women and the public mob lynching of suspected rapists in India, to name two of many examples, have been heavily dependent on media technologies. This indicates that unlike 'democracy' or 'enlightenment', neither 'modernity' nor 'media' are pre-defined in terms of content or form but encompass a wide and mutually enforcing array of ideologies and practices that also include organised violence, fascism, totalitarianism, censorship, surveillance etc. The increasingly obvious, and public, interpretability of 'modernity' notwithstanding, the positive relation between media and societal modernity, as a desirable state, has remained remarkably unquestioned. This panel seeks to set conflicting meanings of modernity in relation and perspective by understanding media as an increasingly contested resource in different South Asian countries.We thus invite contributions that explore the complex and contradictory relationship between media and modernity under diverse historical, political and legal conditions. Suggestions for topics include:
- Use of media technologies by (Identity & Non-Identity based) social and religious movements and political organisations
- Visions and construction of techno-mediated futures by government agencies though various campaigns (Smart Cities, UID, eGovernance)
- Design of media regulation by South Asian governments
- Relationship between modern media and violence across South Asia
- Relational & representational dynamics of class, caste, ethnicity, religion and gender across media (employment) in South Asia
- Location of media in the mainstream, middle-class oriented discourses on modernity
- Resistance to the modernity spawned/espoused by global media in South Asian contexts
Panel 4. Staging Marriage and Modernity among the Middle classes in South Asia
Chair: Ajay Bailey, University of Groningen, The Netherlands & Dr. Anindita Datta, Univeristy of Delhi, India
Abstract: In this panel we invite papers that seek to explore expressions of modernity through changing marriage practices among the middle class in S Asia. While modernity might involve the renegotiation of the gendered scripts within marriage, we focus here on the actual event and the ways in which this is being staged to express an aspirational modernity among the middle classes.  We argue that the boom in ICT has created new spaces of meeting and whetting potential partners and long distance relationships. Similarly the modernizing versus appropriating influences on marriage rituals and ceremonies through the hegemonising influences of media and popular culture cannot be overstated. We are interested also in the manner in which this staging of marriage as a spectacle has fueled a local political economy related to the marriage event. Within these broad themes we are interested to map the various regional or gendered marriage practices, the spaces over which marriage related modernities are enacted or contested and the meaning these hold for middleclass households and their kin networks. Finally we ask if these exaggerated and ostentatious displays of tradition could be read as hybridization of modernity and equally also as an implicit form of cultural resistance associated with the adoption of so called western lifestyles in everyday life.Sub themes thus include
(i) changing views on marriage as a life event among young people
(ii) social media and matrimonial sites as new spaces for partner selection
(iii) marriage as a spectacle, commodification of marriage rituals and emergence of designer marriages
(iv) erosion of regional practices, homogenization and bollywoodisation  of marriage ceremonies
(v) political economy of the marriage industry
(vi)gendered readings of middle class marriage ceremonies
Panel 5. The Transformation of Caste
Chairs: Winnie Bothe and Staffan Lindberg, Lund University
Abstract: In 2016 the Indian civil and political society mobilized itself around the suicide of a Dalit activist and PhD, Rohith Vemula, who in his suicide note asserted: 'My birth is my fatal accident'. Caste is still an organizing principle of Indian society. But it is also the most contentious and contested category in Indian politics. It begs the question as to how we should understand and analyse caste in 'modern' times. Caste is usually viewed as a 'traditional' category ascribed to India's ancient history. Tradition, however, takes on new meanings when reproduced in a 'modern' context. Although caste hierarchies find an amorphous legitimacy in Hinduism, these change dramatically as they melt together with 'modern' institutions of capitalism and democracy. These institutions have not, as predicted, eradicated caste, but their forms and expressions change. Caste, it is argued, is increasingly becoming a 'modern' political identity category. However, identities are not free of a material reality. The resilience of caste in contemporary India can be ascribed to struggles over the symbolic value in the social field, which provides the individuals with access to professional networks, educational opportunities and economic resources. As caste becomes part of the symbolic and material battles over identity politics, it is transformed and finds new expressions and meanings. This raises the pertinent question: Is caste, despite predictions to the opposite, consolidated as an organizing principle of social order? Presenters are expected to address one or more of these issues:
1)     How are caste identities reconfigured by 'modern' identity politics. Eg. political struggles over the meaning of Hinduism – such as Vemula's suicide or the ban of Doninger's book (attached).
2)     How is caste reproduced to fit the structures of the neo-liberal economy. Eg. how the symbolic value of the caste name is used to advance economic, social and cultural capital.
3)     How do Dalits seek to advance their symbolic value? Eg. by asserting their pride in their historical background (Ambedkar, saints, gurus and heroes) and symbolism (icons) - or by concealing their identity.
Panel 6. Youthful modernities: negotiating with the past, the present and the future
Chairs: Ravinder Kaur, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, Sanolde Desai,University of Maryland, USA & Rajni Palriwala, University of Delhi, India
Abstract: India is poised to become the world's youngest country by 2020, with an average age of 29 years.  Other countries in South Asia, too, are demographically 'young'.  Thus, a significant proportion of the population consists of young people who are negotiating 'traditions' of various sorts in various domains of social life - sexuality, family, marriage, education, work, caste, religion and political beliefs and practices - on an everyday basis.  Equally, ideas around trust, faith, loyalty, duty, money and love are being questioned and reworked.  The  experience of colonialism is abstract, but not that of  identity-based and other violence.  Simultaneously, the availability of modern mediated technologies allows people greater exposure to the rest of the world, giving rise to new dreams and imaginings and yet these are often constrained by what are extant but shifting systems of caste, class, ethnicity and gender. Modernity is thus being experienced in diverse and multiple registers and fashioned through appropriation, domestication and contestation of technologies, ideas and practices. The panellists will explore how modernity is selectively understood and deployed by Indians in building their futures.
Panel 7. Women and Gender in South Asian Modernity: Vulnerabilities and Violence
Chair: Ulrika Andersson, Lund University, Nishi Mitra, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Anna Lindberg, Lund University 
Abstract: There are momentous changes in geographies ,economies ,societies , law, politics, and popular culture that define gender and its expressions in modern day South Asia . Globalisation  and resistance to these changes  are one set of factors defining the women's movements in  the region. Others are  our persistent struggles with caste, class, religion and other traditional patriarchies that intersect with gender to define women's  lived experiences of interlocking vulnerabilities and violence. For women and other marginalized genders   in many parts of South Asia, the experience of  modernity   even when  extraneous, colonialist ,non compatible with indigenous social structures  and culture, is  attractive .  It makes  for new possibilities  of contestations, negotiations and adaptations in re-articulating gender relations  in private and public domains. Women are breaking boundaries and enhancing their representation in all aspects of public life. Contestations are inherently violent and negotiations  imply critique, complicity and counter-violence . New adaptations make for complex interpretations of women's agency and impotency. Fragments of  tradition and selectively appropriated elements of western modernity define the cultural landscape on which the drama of new gender relations is played out. This period on the one hand  expands the possibilities for women and other suppressed genders but simultaneously makes for new discriminations, marginalization and struggles . The varied demands made on  women from co-existing  traditions and modernity, old and new world views make for unease and tension and new forms of violence . Fragmentation of the domestic and the community,  increased commodification and objectification,  expanding markets and new forms of political governance,  all make for many changes in lifestyles and consciousness but patriarchy is resilient. Hybrid and more fluid forms of social and public reorganization  mask their conflict ridden genesis  in such aspects still highly marked by tradition as for example gender roles and gender relations in families ,children's socialization in schools and homes, media representations ,sexual divisions of labour  and leadership in workplaces, increasing inequalities of wealth and resources  and male dominated social networks, ideologies  and politics. This panel invites papers reflecting on rapid social changes in South Asia: how these are impacting vulnerabilities of men, women and other genders and how they make for new transgressions, freedoms –-or new forms of violence .  

Upcoming deadlines

• April 30, 2016: Deadline papers (abstracts) | SASNET now invites papers for the panels listed above. Abstracts should be between 200-300 words and include a bibliography incl. institutional affiliation of max. 100 words. Paper submissions should be received no later than April 30 2016 at conference@sasnet.lu.se. Information about limited travel expenses for exceptional contributions will be announced shortly.
• May 15, 2016: Selection of papers
• August 30, 2016: Deadline full papers

Conference fees

The conference fee for regular participants will be 500 SEK or 55 Euro. For participants that like to attend the closing dinner on the 22nd of September the total fee will be 1000 SEK or 110 euro. More information will follow.
Further Details

UNESCO and L’Oréal Foundation launch manifesto to promote gender parity in the sciences

 

UNESCO Press Release No.2016-45

UNESCO and L'Oréal Foundation launch manifesto to promote gender parity in the sciences

Paris, 25 March—A manifesto for women in science was launched in Paris at the close of Thursday's L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science award ceremony, which recognized five outstanding scientists and 15 your researchers. The Manifesto aims to draw attention to the need to ensure gender parity in science.

The Manifesto sets out to improve women's access to science at all levels and in all disciplines. Its first signatories were Irina Bokova, the Director-General of UNESCO, Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of L'Oréal and head of the L'Oréal Foundation, and Elizabeth Blackburn, President of the L'Oréal-UNESCO Jury.

"The UNESCO Science Report shows that the disparities between men and women are still very considerable," said Ms Bokova. "More equality and parity in the sciences would create more opportunities to attain scientific excellence, which is part of UNESCO's mission."

"Women and their discoveries are needed in our fast changing world as never before," said Mr Agon. "With the For Women in Science programme, the L'Oréal Foundation is committed to promoting women scientists who will change the world. We are determined to fight on their side, for science, to build a better world."

The Manifesto @4womeninscience promotes a six-point agenda:

1. Encourage girls to explore scientific career paths,
2. Break down the barriers that prevent women scientists from pursuing long term careers in research,
3. Prioritize women's access to senior positions and leadership positions in the sciences,
4. Celebrate with the general public the contribution that women scientists make to scientific progress and to society,
5. Ensure gender equality through participation and leadership in symposiums and scientific commissions, such as conferences, committees and board meetings,
6. Promote mentoring and networking for young scientists to enable them to plan and develop careers that meet their expectations.

Over the past 18 years, the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme has been celebrating women scientists from all over the world. Each year, it distinguishes five women researchers from every part of the globe for their exceptional discoveries and awards 250 fellowships to women researchers from 112 countries who are in the early stages of their careers.

To sign the Manifesto: http://www.fwis.fr/en/manifesto

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Media contacts:

L'Oréal Foundation: Ludivine Desmonts-Mornet, ludivine.desmonts-mornet@loreal.com, +33 (0) 1 47 56 77 47

Agence Matriochka, Delphine Hilaire, delphine.hilaire@mtrchk.com, +33 (0) 6 22 68 29 64 or Carly Newman, carly.newman@mtrchk.com, +33 (0) 6 65 00 41 66.

UNESCO: Agnès Bardon, a.bardon@unesco.org, +33 (0) 1 45 68 17 64.

 

 

Information Session on CMGGA at UChicago Center in Delhi on March 29 | The Haryana CM's Good Governance Associates

The Haryana Chief Minister's Good Governance Associates (CMGGA) programme (http://cmgga.in) | Call for Applications http://cmgga.in/Apply.aspx

Please Register here UChicago Center in Delhi, DLF Capitol Point, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, New Delhi-110001

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Anup Kumar Das
Centre for Studies in Science Policy
School of Social Sciences
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi - 110067, India
Web: www.anupkumardas.blogspot.com
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UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme names laureates of Young Scientists and Michel Batisse awards

UNESCO Press Release No.2016-42

UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme names laureates of Young Scientists and Michel Batisse awards

 

Paris, 22 March—The International Coordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO has named the recipients of the 2016 Young Scientists Awards and the Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management, during its meeting in Lima, Peru. The meeting took place from 18 to 20 March.

 

The MAB Programme has been granting awards of up to $5,000 each since 1989 to encourage young researchers to undertake work on ecosystems, natural resources and biodiversity. This year it is recognizing:

Disaorn Aitthiariyasunthon (Thailand): Gender role in Ranong Biosphere Reserve management,

Ina Aneva (Bulgaria): Conservation and sustainable management of medicinal plants in biosphere reserves in Pirin and Slavyanka Mountains, southwestern Bulgaria,

Ajat Mohd Mokrish (Malaysia): Assessment of zoonotic disease awareness among primary and secondary schools students in Malaysia,

Fatimatou Sow (Guinea): Assessment of chemical and bacteriological pollution in the waters of the Haut Niger Biosphere Reserve,

Anna Yachmennikova (Russian Federation): Study of infectious diseases of the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), one of key carnivore animals in tundra ecosystems at the territory of Kronotsky Biosphere Reserve,

Belarbi Zohir (Algeria): Compatibility between conservation and tourism at UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The US$6,000 Michel Batisse Award for a case study concerning the management of a biosphere reserve goes to Qu Shuguang (China), Director of the Wudalianchi Biosphere Reserve, for his study on the Wudalianchi ecomigration project to protect the environment and improve the population's means of subsistence.

 

Biosphere reserves are areas that promote innovative solutions to issues of conservation, ecology and sustainable development recognized as such by UNESCO's MAB Programme. There are currently 669 MAB biosphere reserves in 120 countries.

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Media contact: Agnès Bardon, UNESCO Media Section. Tel: +33 (0) 1 45 68 17 64, a.bardon@unesco.org

 

 

 

L’Oréal et l’UNESCO celebrate the work of women scientists

UNESCO Media Advisory No.2016-09

L'Oréal et l'UNESCO celebrate the work of women scientists

Paris, 22 March—UNESCO will showcase the exceptional contribution to science of the five laureates of the 18^th edition of the 2016 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women In Science Awards and the 15 recipients of the L'Oréal-UNESCO Rising Talents Grants. The event will take place at UNESCO Headquarters on 23 March (Room IV, 3.30pm to 6.30pm).

It comes one day before the ceremony, at the Mutualité Hall in Paris, in which the five laureates of the L'Oréal-UNESCO Prize will receive their awards. The session at UNESCO will open with a presentation of the For Women in Science Programme, which every year recognizes the work carried out by exceptional women researchers and supports the work of promising young talents.

The five laureates will take part in a panel discussion entitled "Promoting Gender Equality in Science".

Later, starting at 5pm, each of the 15 rising talents' grants receivers will present their work in a programme entitled "three minutes to change world". The L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Rising Talents are promising young women, three from each world region, Africa and the Arab States, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America. They are selected among the best National and Regional fellows.

Rising Talent fellowships are awarded in four categories:

Technology and Engineering: Innovations that could change the face of medicine

Eszter Farkas, Hungary, targets for new therapies to lessen stroke-related brain injury,

Jasmeen Merzaban, Saudi Arabia, research on the migration of stem cells to understand better how they may be used to treat disease,

Yi-Lun Ying, China, using tiny holes to sequence DNA.

Physical sciences: A profound impact on our world

Elisa Orth, Brazil, development of nano-catalysts for multi-purpose sensors,

Dorthe Ravnsboek, Denmark, development of new battery technologies for more efficient, economical energy use and greater energy storage capacity,

Sabrina Stierwalt, United States, the study of galaxy mergers with implications for a new understanding of how galaxies evolve.

Life and environmental sciences: critical issues for the future of our planet

Maria del Rocio Vegas Frutis, Mexico, studying the role of soil fungi in the conservation and sustainable development of Mexico's high altitude cloud forests,

Irina Didenkulova, Russian Federation, studying tsunamis, rogue waves and storm surges to improve the forecast of maritime hazards and mitigate their effects on land and sea,

Anaïs Orsi, France, the study of historical weather patterns in the interior of Antarctica to enable improved predictions for future climate change.

Solutions in health science through modern medicine

Habiba Alsafar, United Arab Emirates, Identifying genetic and environmental risk factors associated with diabetes-induced obesity and heart disease,

Maria J.Buzón, Spain, the study of new therapeutic strategies to cure HIV,

Hiba El Hajj, Lebanon, developing new strategies to treat acute myeloid leukaemia,

Risa Mukai, Japan, researching the underlying viral aetiology of adult T-cell leukaemia,

Bernadeta Szewczyk, Poland, boosting the effectiveness of antidepressants with zinc supplements,

Elena Tucker, Australia, understanding the genetic basis of early menopause.

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Press contact: Agnès Bardon, UNESCO Media Service, +33 (0) 1 45 68 17 64, a.bardon@unesco.org

 

Complete List: Do you take one of these 344 Banned Drugs Combinations?

Complete List: Do you take one of these 344 Banned Drugs Combinations?

A Gazette Notification by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has banned over 300 medicines of fixed drug combinations.

By: Indian Express | New Delhi | March 21, 2016

A gazette notification by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has banned over 300 medicines of fixed drug combinations.

The Health Ministry banned 344 fixed drug combinations through a gazette notification issued over the weekend. These include several common cough syrup solutions, analgesics and antibiotic combinations, many of which are sold over the counter.

The ban, which comes into effect immediately, follows recommendations of an expert committee formed to examine the efficacy of these drug combinations. The industry, though, may question the basis of the ban and seek judicial intervention.

Fixed drug combinations have mushroomed in the market as companies in their quest for newer products — and often to beat price control — mix and match ingredients into a single molecule to market them as newer remedies.

Here is the complete list of all drug combinations banned by the ministry.

Source: http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/do-you-take-one-of-these-300-banned-drugs/

20 sites added to UNESCO’s World Network of Biosphere Reserve

UNESCO Press Release N°2016-39

20 sites added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserve

Lima, 19 March—The International Co-ordinating Council of the Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme of UNESCO added 20 sites to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves during its meeting in the capital of Peru on 18 and 19 March. The newly adopted sites include 18 national site and one transboundary site shared between Spain and Portugal. The Council also approved nine extensions to existing Biosphere Reserves. Following the withdrawal of 2 sites at the request of Austria, this brings the total number of biosphere reserves to 669 sites in 120 countries, including 16 transboundary sites.

The Man and the Biosphere Programme was created by UNESCO in the early 1970s as an intergovernmental scientific endeavour to improve relations between people around the world and their natural environment. Biosphere reserves are places for learning about sustainable development aiming to reconcile the conservation of biodiversity with the sustainable use of natural resources. New reserves are designated each year by the International Co-ordinating Council of the Programme, which brings together elected representatives of 34 UNESCO Member States.

The following site joined the network this year:

Monts de Tlemcen (Algeria)—The 8,225 ha reserve is situated in the Province of Tlemcen, an area of great biodiversity, which also has major archaeological sites, cultural landscapes and caves and covers the same area as the Tlemcen National Park.

 

Beaver Hills (Canada)—Located in the province of Alberta in western Canada, this morainic landscape developed its characteristic Boreal-zone features of abundant wetlands, shallow lakes and rock formations during the progressive retreat of glaciers some 12,000 years ago. Today, the reserve comprises a mixture of lands modified by agricultural activity, mixed wood forests, grasslands and wetlands. The diversity of forest and upland habitats provided optimal conditions for bison, deer, elk and moose, as well as diverse and abundant waterfowl, and an abundant beaver population. Thirty-six plants and six plant communities within the moraine are considered sensitive due to low distribution within the province. Agriculture provides a livelihood to most of the biosphere's 12,000 permanent inhabitants

Tsá Tué (Canada)—Located in Canada's Northwest Territories, the area is the homeland of the Sahtúto'ine (The Bear Lake People). It includes Great Bear Lake, the last pristine arctic lake, and part of its watershed. The Taiga that covers much of the site is important to wildlife species including the muskox, general moose and caribou. The only human residents in the site are the traditional First Nation Dene Déline (whose name means "where the water flows"). Their community of 600 is established on the western shore of the lake, where they live off harvesting and limited tourism activity.

Lake Bosomtwe (Ghana)—Situated in the Ashanti region of Ghana, Bosomtwe comprises one of six meteoritic lakes in the world. The southernmost section of the site overlaps with the northern section of the Bosomtwe Range Forest Reserve creating a combination of forest, wetland and mountain ecosystems. The biosphere reserve sustains 35 tree species, including some used for timber. The site is also home to a great diversity of wildlife and to a human population of over 50,000 inhabitants whose main economic activities are farming, fishing and tourism as the lake is a major national tourist destination. The area is widely used for research focusing primarily on climate change, as well as environmental education for schools and universities.

La Hotte (Haiti)—Located in the south-east of the country the biosphere reserve encompasses both terrestrial and marine areas. The region is considered a biodiversity hotspot due to its wide climate range: from humid to subtropical dry. The reserve covers six mountain peaks culminating at 2,347m, as well as a coastal and marine ecosystem in the north (Iles Cayemites) and south (Ile-à-Vache). It is home to more than 850,000 inhabitants, whose main economic activities are farming, agroforestry, fishing, commerce, and handcrafts.

Agasthyamala (India)—Located in the Western Ghats, in the south of the country, the biosphere reserve includes peaks reaching 1,868m above sea level. Consisting mostly of tropical forests, the site is home to 2,254 species of higher plants including about 400 that are endemic. It is also a unique genetic reservoir of cultivated plants especially cardamom, jamune, nutmeg, pepper and plantain. Three wildlife sanctuaries, Shendurney, Peppara, Neyyar and Kalakad Mundanthurai Tiger reserve are included in the site. A number of tribal settlements with a total population of 3,000 are located in the biosphere reserve. They largely rely on biological resources for their sustenance and recent projects have been set up successfully to reduce their dependence on the forests.

 

Balambangan (Indonesia)—The biosphere reserve in the province of East Java encompasses three national parks (Alas Purwo, Baluran and Meru) and one nature reserve (Kawah Ijen) with terrestrial and marine ecosystems featuring karst landscapes, savannah, and forests that are alpine/subalpine, upper, dry and lower montane (mountain), lowland, coastal and mangrove. The site also features seagrass beds, and coral reefs. Food crops and horticultural are among the main economic activities of the biosphere reserve alongside agroforestry (teak and mahogany).

Hamoun (Iran) – Located in the southeast of the country, the biosphere reserve includes terrestrial and wetland ecosystems with a total of seven habitat types, including desert and semi-desert areas, as well as Hamoun Lake, with its marshlands and watersheds. The three wetlands of the biosphere reserve are the most important in the region. The area is a hot spot for migratory birds (183 species) and home to 30 mammal species, and 55 plant species. The site is also valuable culturally due to the presence of important historical monuments and ancient temples such as Mount Kooh Khajeh and Shahr-e-Soukhteh.

Collina Po (Italy)—The biosphere reserve is located in the north Italian Piedmont Region and covers the whole Turin stretch of the River Po with its main tributaries and the Collina Torinese hillside. The river Po is the main reservoir of biodiversity in the Turin plain, partly due to the numerous wetlands along its course. Its physical and geological characteristics have led to the formation of numerous gravelly shores, oxbows and riparian woods hosting various species. These natural features are particularly valuable in a densely populated environment close to the city of Turin with its 900,000 inhabitants and other towns nearby.

Barsakelmes (Kazakhstan)—The biosphere reserve is situated in the Sahara-Gobi Desert zone of the Aral Sea basin. The Aral Sea region is a priority area for wetland conservation and several bird migration routes converge over the region. The territory of the proposed biosphere reserve is a valuable site to preserve the biodiversity of the Aral Sea. It numbers approximately 2,000 species of invertebrates, 30 mammal species, 178 bird species, and 20 reptile species. The reserve also includes four nomadic Kazakhs medieval archaeological sites that were part of the Silk Roads.

Belo-sur-Mer—Kirindy-Mitea (Madagascar)—Situated on the western coast of the island, the site includes watershed upstream and marine and coastal ecosystems downstream. It presents a mosaic of rich but fragile ecosystems such as dry forests, thickets, thorn forests, savannahs, salty swampy depressions known as "tannes", mangroves and coral reefs. The reef is a feeding area of spectacular marine megafauna of whales (humpback), dolphins, dugongs and marine turtles. People in the area rely on these natural resources for their livelihood and income. The site's marine biodiversity, islands and two sacred salted lakes that are home to the Lesser Flamingo (Phoenicopterus minor), are valuable assets for tourism. Aquaculture, pelagic fishing and salt production complement the development potential of the biosphere reserve.

Isla Cozumel (Mexico)—Situated off the south-eastern coast of the country, Cozumel Island encompasses diverse marine and terrestrial ecosystems rich in amphibian and reptile species. The main terrestrial ecosystems are medium semi-deciduous forests and mangroves. The biosphere reserve forms part of the second largest reef system in the world, the Mesoamerican Reef, which is home to 1,192 marine species. Nearly 80,000 people live in the biosphere reserve, mainly in the city of San Miguel. Tourism is the most developed sector on the island, which numbers close to 40 Mayan archaeological sites.

Atlas Cedar (Morocco)—Situated in the central Atlas Mountains, the biosphere reserve is home to 75% of the world's majestic Atlas cedar tree population. This part of the Atlas Mountains is rich in ecosystems and its peaks, reaching up to 3,700 metres, provide the region with critically important water resources. Fruit plantations, modern agriculture and tourist activities, which have replaced semi-nomadic pastoral traditions, are taking their toll on scarce water resources. The rich local Berber culture is particularly strong in this area.

Gran Pajatén (Peru)—Located in the Central Cordillera, the biosphere reserve is characterized by high altitudes and a pristine ecosystem. It encompasses the National Park del Río Abiseo, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The reserve is home to fauna and flora of rainforests characteristic of this part of the Andes and has a high level of endemism. It is the only place on earth where the yellow-tailed woolly monkey, previously thought extinct, is to be found. Gran Pajatén also lends its name to an archaeological site in the Andean cloud forests of Peru, which provides insight into pre-Inca society. More than 170,000 people live in the biosphere reserve whose main economic activities are agriculture (cacao, coffee), livestock and mining.

Albay (Philippines)—Located at the southern end of the Luzon Island, the biosphere covers some 250,000 hectares. The terrestrial elevation of the site culminates at 2,462 metres and its marine part reaches a depth of 223 metres below sea level. The site's high conservation value is constituted notably by its 182 terrestrial plant species, 46 of which are endemic. Its marine and coastal ecosystems number 12 species of mangrove, 40 species of seaweed or macro-algae, and 10 species of sea grass. Five of the world's seven species of marine turtles are to be found in Albay. Agriculture is the main source of income in this area.

Fajãs de São Jorge (Portugal)—The biosphere reserve covers the entire Island of São Jorge, the fourth largest in the Azores Archipelago. At 1,053m, the Pico da Esperança is island's highest elevation. The site's rugged coastal cliffs form a unique landscape of highland meadows, peat bogs and scrubs. The combination of high altitude and coastal ecosystems has resulted in a wealth of endemic terrestrial flora. It is also the habitat of diverse invertebrate, terrestrial arthropod, mollusc and bird species. Close to 9,000 people live on the Island.

Tejo/Tajo (Portugal and Spain)—The biosphere reserve is located in the western part of the Iberian Peninsula shared between Spain and Portugal with the Tajo River as its main axis. It is characterized by low altitude and sharp relief. Vegetation in the site consists largely of cork oak formations and patches of scrub, as well as cultivated areas and pastures. The fauna is typically Mediterranean and includes many rare species. Most important among them are the European imperial eagle, Bonelli's eagle, the black stork, the black vulture and the otter. Livestock and forestry are the main sources of income for the Island's small population.

Jozani-Chwaka Bay (Tanzania)—The biosphere reserve encompasses the only national park on the island of Zanzibar. Its landscape consists of mosaics of mangroves, tropical forests and coral rug forests as well as groundwater, salt marshes, and both agricultural and residential areas. The site is a biodiversity hotspot area including inter alia reef fish species, dolphins, the Zanzibar leopard (Panther pardus adersi), 168 species of birds including 30 of global and regional relevance. The site's 291 known plant species include 21 considered to be threatened. Inhabitants mainly live from activities relating to tourism, fishing, bee keeping, butterfly rearing and crab fattening

Isle of Man (United Kingdom)—Located in the Irish Sea, the Island is home to more than 80,000 people. Its coastline features cliffs, stacks, islets, and long beaches. The hills hold important peat reserves and are deeply cut by wooded glens in the east. The coastal plain in the north is covered by grasslands, pools and wetlands. The site's marine environment is rich in biodiversity and harbours important populations of European eel, Atlantic cod and basking sharks, among others. In the countryside, farming activities centre on sheep and cattle livestock, as well as arable areas. The sea is harvested for shellfish. The Island has been a popular tourist destination since the late 19^th century and has experienced a notable development in its services and manufacturing sectors over recent decades.

Extensions to existing biosphere reserves:

Trifinio Fraternidad (Honduras)—The extension concerns the Honduran part of the Tri-national Trifinio Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve between El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. It contains an important water catchment shared by the three countries and covers a surface area of 278,762ha including six national protected areas.

Toscana (Italy)—Designated in 2004 as the Selve Pisana Biosphere Reserve, the site is situated along the Mediterranean coast of Italy, west of Pisa. The addition of more than 43,000ha, comprises two plain zones, a hilly area and lands in Monte Pisani. The extension should pave the way for the implementation of sustainable activities in agriculture, sylviculture and tourism.

Mount Hakusan (Japan)—The extension represents a four-fold increase of the site, which was designated as a biosphere reserve in 1980 and comprises alpine, subalpine, and montane zones around the 2,700 metre-high Mount Hakusan. The extended reserve now includes the Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama World Heritage site. Seventeen-thousand people live in the biosphere reserve.

Yakushima and Kuchinoerabu Jima (Japan)—Designated in 1980 under the name of Yakushima, the biosphere reserve, 60km south of the Island of Kyushu, is known for its Yaku cedar primeval forest. It encompasses the area inscribed on the World Heritage List, also under the name of Yakushima, and now covers the entire island, as well as the island of Kuchinoerabu and the marine area surrounding both.

Mount Odaigahara, Mount Omine and Osugidani Biosphere Reserve (Japan)—Designated as Mount Odaigahara and Mount Omine Biosphere Reserve in 1980, the site in the Kii Peninsula of Honshu Island is a mountainous area in which forestry is more developed than agriculture. The extension increases the surface area of the site to 120,000 ha, compared to its initial 36,000ha.

Noroeste Amotapes – Manglares (Peru)—The biosphere reserve, off the northern coast of Peru was designated in 1977 under the name of Noroeste Bisophere Reserve. It now includes the Cerros de Amotape National Park, Coto El Angolo and Tumbes Mangroves Protected Area. The extension covers a surface area of 1,115,947ha.

Mont Sorak (Republic of Korea)—Designated in 1982, the reserve is located in the centre of the Baekdudaegan Mountain Range, which includes the highest peak in the country. With its extension, the biosphere reserve covers an area of 76,000ha and now encompasses inhabited areas, forests, and agricultural lands around Mount Sorak National Park.

Shinan Dadohae (Republic of Korea)—One thousand islands have been added to the archipelago biosphere reserve, situated in the south west of the country, which was designated in 2009. The extension comprises tidal flats and other natural protected areas.

Wester Ross (United Kingdom)—Formerly known as Beinn Eighe, the site, situated in the northwest of Scotland, was designated in 1976. With the addition of 530,000ha, the site now includes Loch Maree, which is of international importance due to its black-throated diver population.

 

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More about the Congress

Contact: Lucia Iglesias Kuntz, l.iglesias@unesco.org

 

Videos of the new biosphere reserves:  http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/multimedia/news-videos/b-roll/mab-2016/

 

Photo gallery: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/multimedia/photos/mab-2016/