VIENNA, 6 May (UN Information Service) — The United Nations Office for
Outer Space Affairs (OOSA), within the framework of the United Nations
Programme on Space Applications, is holding a six-week International
Training Course on Remote Sensing Education for Educators in Stockholm and
Kiruna, Sweden. The Training Course, which began this week and will last
until 11 June 2004, is being held in co-operation with the Swedish
International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and hosted by the
University of Stockholm and Metria, a Swedish company specialising in land
surveying, mapping and geographic information techniques.

The Training Course is the fourteenth in a series of successful courses
held by the same organizers and will provide representatives of various
academic institutions from developing countries with basic training in
remote sensing technology. It aims to familiarise participants with both
the theoretical aspects and practical uses of remote sensing in order to
enable them to integrate the subject into their institutions’ curricula.

United Nations-sponsored space-technology related training courses and
long-term fellowship programmes are intended to help countries develop
national capacity to benefit fully from the growing international body of
know-how derived from space research. Participants at this Training Course
will be instructed in how to use satellite data in a variety of development
activities such as natural resource management, agriculture and
environmental protection. By the end of the course, participants are
expected to have gained enough training and skills to begin conducting
introductory courses on remote sensing in their respective institutions.

Twenty-seven participants are attending the current course from the
following countries: Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia,
Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Malawi,
Mongolia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Senegal, Sri Lanka,
Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Uruguay and Viet
Nam.

Instructors from the European Space Agency, Sida, Stockholm University,
Uppsala University, the Swedish Royal College of Technology, the Swedish
National Space Board, the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation, L&L
Monitor AB, Metria and OOSA will lend their expertise at the Training
Course.

The United Nations Programme on Space Applications is implemented by the
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and works to improve the use
of space science and technology for the economic and social development of
all nations, in particular developing countries. Under the Programme, the
Office conducts training courses, workshops, seminars and other activities
on applications and capacity building in subjects such as remote sensing,
communications, satellite meteorology, search and rescue, basic space
science, satellite navigation and space law.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (OOSA) implements the
decisions of the General Assembly and of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses
of Outer Space and its two Subcommittees, the Scientific and Technical
Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee. The Office is responsible for
promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space,
and assisting developing countries in using space science technology.
Located in Vienna, Austria, OOSA maintains a website at
http://www.oosa.unvienna.org.

United Nations Information Service Vienna (UNIS)
P.O.Box 500, A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: (+43-1) 26060 4666, FAX: (+43-1) 26060 5899
Email: UNIS@unvienna.org

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