The Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific at the Asian Institute of Technology(AIT RRC.AP) is committed to bridging science and policy, empowering countries in Asia and the Pacific to achieve environmental sustainability. RRC.AP supports the Sustainable Development Goals by providing resources, capacity-building, and science-based policy guidance to stakeholders, governments, and communities. We engage across all governance levels, delivering knowledge products, advanced research and assessment, and policy support in three thematic areas: Climate Change, Air and Atmosphere, and Waste and Resource Management.
Background
RRCAP was jointly established by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) in 1989. Named GRID-Bangkok when it was first created, it was envisioned as a data centre to generate key environmental and statistical data-sets focusing on South Asia. In 1993, GRID-Bangkok was strengthened and became an outpost office of UNEP Assessment Division and was named Environment Assessment Programme (EAPAP). Its goal was to increase capacity building of national governments in the region to prepare quantitative assessments of state of the environment.
Acting to respond to changes in demand for information on environment and development, the programme was then expanded to become the Regional Resource Centre for Asia and the Pacific (RRCAP) in December 1999 after an initiative by the Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme initially as a joint UNEP-AIT Academic Centre. RRCAP was transformed from a Joint UNEP–AIT Academic Centre to one of AIT’s Institute wide centre in 2016.
RRCAP is a multi-disciplinary, self-financed, non-profit and semi-autonomous regional knowledge Centre with a mandate to promote sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific by offering capacity building and knowledge services to governments, regional/sub-regional organizations, civil society organizations and corporate organizations including secretariat services to regional/sub-regional networks.
