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University Consortium of Small Island States

The University Consortium of Small Island States (UCSIS) was officially launched in 2005 at the Mauritius International Meeting to Review of Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS. There are five universities currently participating in UCSIS:

1. the University of Malta;
2. the University of Mauritius;
3. the University of South Pacific;
4. the University of Virgin Islands;
5. the University of West Indies.

Mission

The mission of the Consortium is to enhance the capacity of graduate education institutions in small island states by facilitating the development of the institutional and systemic capacity needed to implement the Barbados Programme of Action.

Virtual Training and Education for Sustainable Development

The SIDS Unit, in collaboration with the UCSIS Secretariat and the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is currently undertaking a project to establish a common Information and Communication Technology (ICT) platform to run a pilot virtual training programme in sustainable development. This endeavor is one of two components of the project "Capacity Development through Education for Sustainable Development and Knowledge Management for Small Island Developing States (SIDS)," a follow-up project of the 2005 Mauritius International Meeting on further implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, with Funds in Trust from the Government of the Kingdom of Spain. Together with the second component - the revitalization of SIDSnet, the project aims to establish solid foundations for capacity development for the sustainable development of SIDS through enhanced institutional, human resource, and technological capacities in the areas of knowledge management and education for sustainable development.

The inception workshop for the UCSIS virtual training component was held at the University of the West Indies in Mona, Jamaica on 9 – 12 December, 2009.