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UNESCO Tehran Office Organized the first ever gathering of C2Cs.
On June 24, 2024, the UNESCO Tehran Office (UTO) held a meeting themed "Exploring Cooperation and Enhancing Synergy between Category II Centers and UNESCO." The event gathered representatives from eight Iranian Category 2 centers, Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Iranian National Commission for UNESCO and different programme unites of UNESCO Tehran Office.
Ieng Srong, Head of the UNESCO Tehran Office, highlighted the significant impact of Category 2 Centers (C2Cs) in promoting UNESCO's strategic objectives and their potential to make a global difference. He stressed the importance of leveraging the unique privileges of these centers to maximize their impact.
Participants engaged in discussions on common challenges faced by C2Cs and explored potential solutions and opportunities for multilateral collaborations. Key strategies were addressed to strengthen synergy among C2Cs and the UNESCO Tehran Office. Also, a strong emphasis was placed on increasing the visibility of centers' activities on their respective websites and UNESCO's websites. The importance of supporting centers in forming international partnerships and fostering cooperation with other UNESCO networks and universities was also highlighted as critical to achieving UNESCO's strategic objectives and national development goals.
During the meeting, participants were introduced to "The 2019 Strategy for Category 2 Institutes and Centres Under the Auspices of UNESCO" as a guiding framework to align centers' activities with UNESCO's objectives and enhance their overall impact. The meeting marked an important step towards strengthening cooperation among C2Cs and UNESCO Tehran Office, ultimately contributing to the achievement of the global Sustainable Development Goals.
The meeting concluded with Ieng Srong's closing remarks, underlining the importance of networking, international outreach, and digitalizing centers' activities to increase visibility. He also encouraged more experienced centers to take the lead in creating networks and fostering collaborations.
The UNESCO C2Cs in Iran:
- RCECWA-Regional Education and Research Centre on Earthquake Risk Management and Resilience for West and Central Asia (Hosted by International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES))
- IMWBRA- International Centre for the Integrated Management of Watershed and Bio-Resources in Arid and Semi-Arid Regions (Hosted by Natural Resources and Watershed Management Organization)
- ICQHS- (Hosted by the ministry of Energy)
- IRIS- The Regional Centre for Science Park and Technology Incubator Development (Hosted by Isfahan Science and Technology Town (ISTT))
- RCUWM- (Hosted by Ministry of Energy)
- International Centre on Health-Related Basic Sciences and Human Nutrition (Hosted by Ministry of Health and Medical Education)
- RCOWA- Regional Educational and Research Centre for Oceanography for Western Asia (Hosted by Iranian National Institute for Oceanography and Atmospheric Science(
- Regional Research Centre for Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in West and Central Asia
