UNOSAT and ADPC moved swiftly to implement their recently signed strategic partnership agreement. In April UNOSAT delivered a successful intensive course for trainers (ToT) hosted at the campus of the Asian Institute of Technology, in Bangkok.

The training was delivered to GIS and Remote Sensing analysts working for the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC) and The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT). The event was part of the activities being implemented by UNOSAT and ADPC under their recently formed partnership intended to develop capacity and transfer knowledge across the Asian region. The training took place during the celebrations of the 25th anniversary of ADPC which has grown over the years from a training centre providing capacity building to a premier organization working in the field of disaster risk reduction for the entire Asia and Pacific region.

Similarly to other intensive courses developed at UNOSAT, this training included both lectures and practical lab exercises, to provide participants with concepts and GIS methodologies to perform satellite based analysis for emergency response mapping. The content of the training is designed to meet particular challenges faced by GIS experts in assessing the impact and magnitude of a disaster in support of early response operations and decision making and adapted to the specific needs of expert trainers in a ToT format. Luca Dell’Oro, part of the team at UNOSAT that developed the training modules and the expert in charge of the activity in Bangkok said “training of trainers requires high quality standards and the capacity to adapt constantly the format and content to the needs of the beneficiaries. Participants who took the assessment review at the end of the course said that the training course was both relevant and useful for their work”. The overall final feedback received from participants described the course as “very well designed to address our needs and to enhance our technical capacities in the area of emergency response mapping”.

UNOSAT delivers training courses based on modules derived from high level standard training and its unique experience in producing excellence in satellite data analysis. Courses range from dedicated in situ and off-site classes of 7 to 20 to Master level courses hosted in Geneva during three weeks. To know more please contact unosat@unitar.org