Work LocationHome-based
Expected duration15 Sep 23- 14 Mar 24
Duties andResponsibilities
The United Nations Environment Programme is the leading global environmental authority that sets the global environmental agenda, promotes the coherent implementation of the environmental dimension of sustainable development within the United Nations system and serves as an authoritative advocate for the global environment. UNEP has the mandate to keep the state of the global and regional environment under review, in order to inform decision making on the state and trends of our changing environment, and to foresee emerging environmental problems and threats, particularly those of a transboundary nature. The Vienna Programme Office was established in 2004 with the main purpose of acting as the Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention. Moreover, the Office is UNEP’s European focal point for environmental cooperation with Central and South-Eastern European countries. It coordinates the delivery of UNEP’s programme of work in this part of Europe and liaises between UNEP and organizations based in Vienna and in the sub-region. The Carpathian Convention Secretariat promotes ratification and facilitates cooperation between signatory states, as well as other relevant international bodies and conventions. It furthermore encourages and supports research, communication and information exchange between partners, coordinates the preparation and implementation of the Convention’s work programme, prepares relevant documentation and supports further institutional development. The importance of mountain ecosystems and sustainable development of the mountainous areas as well as the challenges faced by mountain communities have been recognized in a number of international policy documents, such as Chapter 13 of Agenda 21 (1992), the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2003), and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (UN 2015), as well as numerous scientific publications. A number of processes and mechanisms for cooperation on protection and sustainable development of the mountainous regions have emerged, including regional cooperation efforts in the Caucasus and the Carpathian Mountain region. The Carpathian Convention, ESD and Science-Policy-Practice interface: The Carpathian Convention parties agree on the importance of awareness raising and public participation, reflected in the Article 13 of the convention “Awareness raising, education and public participationâ€. This is a cross-sectional issue, meant to contribute to capacity building in all aspects of sustainable development, and is in line with the Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Strategy of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the global process led by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), including the recently adopted ESD 2030 Framework. The implementation of the Convention provisions related to ESD requires cooperation between the many actors working in the field of science, policy and practice. Science-policy-practice interface in the Carpathians, another important aspect of implementing the Convention, is implemented via cooperation of the CC Secretariat, and other CC partners with the Science for the Carpathians (S4C) – a scientific network which connects/involves to scientists both from the Carpathian region and from around the world, who are engaged in research focused on the Carpathians. During the first Carpathian ESD seminar, which took place in April 2019, and where for the first time ESD experts from all seven countries met, exchanged knowledge, and expressed interest, as well as the need to continue regular cooperation on the regional level. They have recommended establishing “a Convention Working Group / network of experts to coordinate activities related to education and Education for Sustainable Developmentâ€. In order to facilitate the establishment of a Carpathian ESD expert network, the project “Carpathian ESD: Strengthening the ESD network in the Carpathian Convention via science-policy-practice interface†has been developed by the Secretariat with support from several partners, and funded by the German Federal Environment Ministry’s Advisory Assistance Programme (AAP) for environmental protection in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia and other countries neighboring the European Union. It is supervised by the German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation and by the German Environment Agency. The initial project activities included strengthening exchange on ESD and science-policy-practice interface at the 6th Forum Carpaticum, organized by the S4C network in close collaboration with the Convention Secretariat on 21-25 of June 2021, as well as the Second Carpathian ESD Seminar, which took place in September 2022. The Caucasus Region: Regional co-operation for sustainable development in the Caucasus Mountain region dates to the elaboration of the Mountain Convention in 2000. While inter-governmental processes were suspended in 2009, key actors reunited in 2012 to continue regional collaboration. With support from UNEP and the University of Geneva (UniGE), a process of establishing a regional scientific network was initiated; similar to the S4C in the Carpathians. In July 2014, representatives of the six Caucasus countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, the Russian Federation and Turkey) formally created the Scientific Network for the Caucasus Mountain Region (SNC-mt). Currently SNC-mt, through its Coordination Unit (Sustainable Caucasus), is implementing the project “Strengthening the Climate Adaptation Capacities in the South Caucasus†with financial support from the Swiss Co-operation Office-South Caucasus. One of the central activities of the project is the elaboration of an updated and extended second edition of the Caucasus Environmental Outlook (CEO), the first edition of which was produced in 2002 by GRID-Geneva, together with the UNEP Regional Office for Europe (ROE). The updated CEO will form an integrated environment assessment (IEA) and sub-regional examination and synthesis of the current environmental situation in the Caucasus mountainous region that includes Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and parts of Iran, the Russian Federation and Turkey. The aim is to provide a key reference document for assessing the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the Caucasus region. Caucasus-Carpathian Scientific Cooperation A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed between the S4C and SNC-mt networks in June 2021 with support of the UNEP Vienna Office. The aim of the MOU is to support cooperation, exchange of information and experience, sharing success stories as well as elaboration, financing, and implementation of joint activities, with the aim of reaching these objectives for both S4C and SNC-mt networks. The next step for both networks is to facilitate collaboration between their members. This position is in the Vienna Programme Office, Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (SCC) of the Regional office for Europe at the Vienna Duty Station and reports to the Head of Vienna Programme Office of UN Environment Programme. The Consultant will undertake the following duties and responsibilities under the overall guidance and direct supervision of the Associated Programme Management Officer of the UNEP – Vienna Programme Office – SCC together with the Head of UNEP Vienna Programme Office to whom the consultant will report to. • Implementation of the project “Carpathian ESD: Strengthening the ESD network in the Carpathian Convention via science-policy-practice interfaceâ€, as necessary, including: – Collaborating with the ESD Experts in planning and developing activities to strengthen the Carpathian ESD Expert Network, including the Carpathian Day / Carpathian Week activities and the ESD Workshop and Session at the Forum Carpaticum Conference; – Providing guidance to the Convention ESD experts and focal points planning of activities contributing to Convention ESD Expert Network; – Coordination of UNEP Vienna with S4C, including organization and implementation of the Forum Carpaticum 2023 Conference. – Coordination of activities related to ESD and Science-policy-practice interface at the COP 7 of the Carpathian Convention. Moderation of the Market Place fair at the COP7. – Preliminary reporting for the reporting on the Carpathian ESD project initiated. • Follow up on the SARD Working Group discussion provided, as necessary • Development of the updated Caucasus Environmental Outlook and collaboration with Sustainable Caucasus and the Scientific Network for the Caucasus Mountain Region (SNC-mt) • Provided inputs into SCAC 2.0 project development • Fomentation of cooperation between S4C and SNC-mt
Qualifications/special skillsA Master’s degree in sustainability sciences, environmental policy, environmental sciences, or a similar field is required. A PhD in a similar field is an asset. Minimum of seven years of experience in the field of environmental policy / sustainable regional development / nature protection / science-policy-practice interface is required. Substantive Project management experience is required. Working experience in academic institutions, particularly experience in writing and editing peer reviewed publications in an interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary setting is desirable. Working experience with organizations in the Carpathian and Caucasus countries is desirable.
LanguagesEnglish and French are the working languages of the United Nations Secretariat. For the post advertised, fluency in oral and written English is required. Knowledge of a Carpathian and/or a Caucasus language is an asset.
No FeeTHE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CHARGE A FEE AT ANY STAGE OF THE RECRUITMENT PROCESS (APPLICATION, INTERVIEW MEETING, PROCESSING, OR TRAINING). THE UNITED NATIONS DOES NOT CONCERN ITSELF WITH INFORMATION ON APPLICANTS’ BANK ACCOUNTS.
