WMO Global Campus

Scope

The scope of the WMO Global Campus Initiative encompasses a broad range of activities aimed at strengthening the capacity of meteorological and hydrological professionals worldwide. At its core, the initiative seeks to address the challenge of increasing access to capacity development opportunities for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs). This will support building a critical mass of staff with the necessary expertise to sustainably deliver products and services needed by users.

The WMO Global Campus aims to establish a network of institutions and provide a collaborative framework for sharing educational and training resources and knowledge. A key principle of this initiative is ensuring that all interested institutions can both contribute to and benefit from these networking arrangements.

By fostering a global learning community, the WMO Global Campus Initiative aims to ensure that all WMO Member States and Territories, regardless of their development status, have the necessary human and institutional capacities to respond effectively to environmental challenges.

Benefits to Members

Some direct benefits expected from the WMO Global Campus include:

  • Increased training opportunities to broaden the knowledge base, skills, and job competencies of NMHS staff, particularly in Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and developing countries.
  • Enhanced cooperation among WMO Regional Training Centres (RTCs) and other training institutions, with improved access to existing training for developing WMO competencies. This will streamline the development of education and training programmes and resources.
  •  Improved quality of training programmes and resources offered by training institutions.
  • Greater interaction with WMO programmes and commissions, promoting compliance with WMO standards.
  • Reduction in the overall cost of some training events, allowing more people to receive high-quality training.
  • Lower environmental impact of training, with increased options for reuse and distance learning.

Many indirect benefits are also anticipated. For instance, the increased opportunities and access to hydrometeorology and climate training materials may contribute to achieving gender balance within WMO Members.

Additionally, the efficiencies expected from the WMO Global Campus—through reduced duplication of efforts—will generate economic benefits through cost savings that can be reinvested in other areas. The increased capacity resulting from the WMO Global Campus is also expected to lead to more accurate, timely, and impact-oriented weather, climate, water, and environmental services from NMHSs, contributing significantly to economic stability, efficiency, and growth in various sectors.

Guiding Principles of the WMO Global Campus

  1. Open participation: All education and training providers serving WMO Members are encouraged to contribute and collaborate.
  2. Shared responsibility: All participants should aim to bring value to the initiative.
  3. Shared improvement goals: Participants will work toward continuous improvement in education and training for WMO Members.
  4. Shared collaboration goals: Participants will seek opportunities for collaboration and partnership.
  5. Fairness in collaboration: Collaborating partners will treat each other fairly and strive for mutually beneficial outcomes.
  6. Shared quality goals: Those submitting training offerings through WMO Global Campus mechanisms will follow agreed-upon quality assurance principles.
  7. Encouragement of open sharing: Contributors are encouraged to share as much as possible, within the limits of institutional copyrights, intellectual property rights, and commercial considerations.
  8. Respect for rights: All users of WMO Global Campus resources will respect the copyright and intellectual property of others.
  9. Open source: Shared platforms will be governed by community ownership and coordination to ensure accessibility and sustainability.
  10. Operates within WMO mechanisms: The WMO Global Campus operates as an initiative of the WMO Education and Training Office, guided by the Executive Council Capacity Development Panel (EC-CDP) and the Consortium of WMO Education and Training Collaborating Partners (CONECT). Institutions and organizations outside WMO structures are welcome to participate.
  11. Guidance for participation: Participants may seek advice from the WMO Education and Training Office, EC-CDP, CONECT, or other WMO bodies when needed.

Status

The WMO Global Campus Initiative was approved in 2019 by the 18th World Meteorological Congress (Resolution 72). Since then, significant enthusiasm and high expectations have driven contributors to work diligently, often behind the scenes, to develop viable plans and effective solutions that address evolving global learning priorities.

The WMO Global Campus Roadmap provides an overview of the feasibility study, the rationale behind the concept, and the underlying goals and plans for its design and implementation.

Most recently, the 19th Congress endorsed the Consortium of WMO Education and Training Collaborating Partners (CONECT) as a formal mechanism to achieve the goals of the WMO Global Campus Initiative, including raising additional resources to support Members’ education and training needs (Resolution 37). The resolution also requested that WMO Regional Training Centres and collaborating training partners develop partnerships with academic institutions, as well as professional and scientific associations. These partnerships aim to facilitate the exchange of relevant information and human resources, enhance research and development for the benefit of service delivery, and enable the exchange of academic staff. Additionally, the resolution encourages making relevant education and training resources available as open access, particularly through the WMO Global Campus, in collaboration with CONECT.