1. Introduction
1.1 Please read these terms of use (“Terms of Use”) carefully before logging into and using the IUCN Academy Learning Platform (“Platform”). Accessing and using the Platform indicates that you accept and agree to comply with the Terms of Use. If that is not the case, do not use the Platform.
1.2 The Platform is operated and the Terms of Use were issued by IUCN.
1.3 IUCN may at any time revise these Terms of Use without notice to you, by posting these changes on the Platform. You are bound by any such revision and should therefore periodically visit this page to review the then current terms to which you are bound. Your continued use of this Platform following the posting of changes to these Terms of Use will mean you accept those changes.
1.4 This Policy applies to all persons who access the Website (hereafter referred to as “Users”, “User” or “you”).
2. Purpose and content of the website
2.1 All information and materials on the Platform are presented solely for the purpose of providing training program to individuals (i) who have been invited to join the Platform, or (ii) who have registered on the website and have provided the login data, or (iii) who are accessing public content of the website, which does not require registration to be accessible .
2.2 The Platform’s objective is to offer the Users education and information through training programmes and events with an educational purpose.
3. User content and User behaviour
3.1 Please be aware that whenever you post information to the Platform (e.g. a forum or guestbook) that information may be accessible for other users. You should therefore carefully choose the information you post and that you provide to other users.
3.2 We do not claim any ownership rights in the text, files, images, photos, video, sounds, works of authorship or any other materials that you may post (“User Content”) on the Platform. After posting your User Content, you continue to retain all ownership rights in it, and you continue to have the right to use it in any way you choose. By posting your User Content on or through the Platform, you hereby grant us an unrestricted, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, sublicensable, transferable, free and worldwide license to use, modify, publicly perform, publicly display, copy, reproduce, translate and distribute your User Content on and through the Platform or in the IUCN section of a third-party platform (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
3.3 You represent and warrant that: (i) you own the User Content posted by you on the Platform or otherwise have obtained permission to use the Content and have the right to grant the license set forth above, and (ii) the posting of your User Content on the Platform does not violate the privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, trademarks, contract rights or any other rights of any person or entity.
3.4 You are solely responsible for the User Content that you post on the Platform. You may not post, transmit, or share User Content on the Platform that you did not create or that you do not have permission to post. User Content is not necessarily reviewed by IUCN prior to posting and does not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of IUCN. IUCN makes no warranties, express or implied, as to User Content or the accuracy and reliability thereof or any material or information that you transmit to other users.
3.5 By using any interactive areas (forum, chat, dashboard, etc), you agree not to post, upload to, transmit, distribute, store, create or otherwise publish through the Platform any of the following:
- User Content that are unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable;
- User Content that would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party or otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law;
- User Content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party;
- User Content that impersonate any person or entity or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
- Promotions, advertising or solicitations;
- Viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files; and
- User Content that, in the sole judgment of IUCN, are objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the interactive areas or the Platform, or which may expose IUCN or its users to any harm or liability of any type.
IUCN is not liable for any statements, representations or User Content in any interactive area. Although IUCN has no obligation to screen, edit or monitor any of the User Content posted in any interactive area, IUCN reserves the right, and has absolute discretion, to remove, screen or edit any User Content posted or stored on the Platform at any time and for any reason without notice. Any use of the interactive areas or other portions of the Platform in violation of the foregoing violates these Terms of Use and may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the interactive areas and/or the Platform.
3.6 The Users shall comply with IUCN’s Anti-harassment Policy, including bullying and sexual harassment, for IUCN events, available at https://www.iucn.org/about-iucn/accountability-and-reporting/values-policies-and-procedures, which forms and integral part of these Terms of Use.
3.7 IUCN expressly reserves the right to remove any information or materials posted or transmitted by anyone which is in breach of these Terms of Use. IUCN will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing IUCN to disclose the identity of anyone posting any such information or materials.
3.8 The Platform offers the possibility for personal accounts being created by Users having managing rights (e.g. the Platform Administrators and User’s Administrators), by entering the User’s information into the Platform. In such case, you will be notified and have then the possibility to choose another password. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. You agree not to use the account, email address, or password of another user at any time or to disclose your password to any third party. You agree to notify us immediately if you suspect any unauthorized use of your account or access to your password. You are solely responsible for any and all use of your account.
3.9 Non-compliance with the rules set in this section and/or the Anti-harassment Policy, including bullying and sexual harassment, for IUCN events available at anti-harassment_policy_for_iucn_events__22_march_2019_annex_1.pdfwill result in the automatic exclusion of the User from the Platform and the deletion of his account, including all benefits (certificates or other) accrued through completion of training on the Platform.
3.10 IUCN may monitor the smooth running of the training and reserves the right to determine whether any results have been obtained without reflecting the actual performance of the User, whether by exploiting design errors, accidental characteristics and/or “functional bugs”, by the use of material with unforeseen behaviour or by malice/fraud.
3.11 We may also endeavour to detect and prevent the use of any software enabling any artificial intelligence (“AI”) to disrupt the smooth running of training on the Platform, including, but not limited to, fraud software or other process which we believe it gives the User an unfair advantage. The User agrees not to use any AI Software or any of these programs.
3.12 The User must also immediately report to IUCN any error found on his account or in any calculation concerning the results he obtained during the training program. In the event of any such error or system failure or abnormality in the program (abnormal operation of the program logic in any capacity) resulting in an error in the calculation of the scores or ranking, we will endeavour to place all persons directly affected by this error in the situation where they were before the occurrence of the error. We reserve the right to declare null and void the parties to which the error has been made. Once an error has been used to obtain an unfair advantage, we reserve the right to consider that this act gives rise to the possibility of suspending or terminating the User's access to the Platform and / or engaging any appropriate judicial proceedings. In the aforementioned cases, IUCN will adjust the results obtained, without obligation of justification and without obligation to inform the Users.
3.13 In order to ensure compliance with these terms of use, we reserve the right to register and analyse the behaviour of the Users observed on the Platform.
4. Intellectual property rights
4.1 The Platform together with any information, text, images, photographs, audio and video clips, designs, graphics, logos, symbols, names, product and corporate designations, as well as all software contained in the Platform and all other files, and their selection and arrangement (“the Platform Content”), are subject to legal protection, in particular copyright, trademarks and design rights held by IUCN, its affiliates, its users or its licensors with all rights reserved and subject to the terms GNU GPL v3. License to the extent that it applies to the Platform. No Platform Content may be modified, copied, distributed, framed, reproduced, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted, transmitted or sold in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without IUCN's prior written permission, except that the foregoing does not apply to your own User Content that you legally post on the Platform. In addition, no digital content whatsoever may be copied into other programs without the prior written approval of IUCN.
4.2 Provided that you are eligible for use of the Platform and subject to the terms of the GNU GPL v3. License to the extent applicable to the Platform, you are granted a limited license to access and use the Platform and the Platform Content and to download or print a copy of any portion of the Platform Content to which you have properly gained access solely for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep all copyright or other proprietary notices intact. The license is subject to the Terms of Use and does not include use of any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods. Except for your own User Content, you may not upload or republish the Platform Content on any Internet, intranet or extranet site or incorporate it in any other database or compilation, and any other use of the Platform Content is strictly prohibited. Any use of the Platform or the Platform Content other than as specifically authorized herein, without the prior written permission of IUCN, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. Any unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws, including without limitation copyright and trademark laws and applicable communications regulations and statutes. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in the Terms of Use will be construed as conferring any license to any intellectual property rights.
4.3 “IUCN Academy” , “IUCN”, and other trademarks, logos, characters, page headers, button icons, scripts, service names and other marks (collectively “Trademarks”) displayed on the Platform are subject to the trademark and other rights of IUCN. Our Trademarks may not be used, including as part of trademarks and/or as part of domain names, in connection with any product or service in any manner that is likely to cause confusion and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of IUCN. Your use / misuse of Trademarks displayed on the Platform, or of any other Platform Content, except as provided for in the Terms of Use, is strictly prohibited.
5. Disclaimer
5.1 IUCN monitors the quality of the information available on the Platform and updates the information regularly. IUCN does not guarantee, and accept no legal liability whatsoever arising from or connected to, the accuracy, reliability, currency or completeness of any material contained on this Platform or on any linked external website. IUCN recommends that Users exercise their own skill and care with respect to their use of the Platform and that users carefully evaluate the accuracy, currency, completeness and relevance of the material on the Platform for their purposes. The material on the Platform may include views or recommendations of third parties which do not necessarily reflect the views of IUCN or indicate its commitment to a particular course of action. IUCN makes no warranties or representations with respect to the Platform Content, which is provided “as is.” In particular, IUCN neither warrants nor represents that your use of the Platform Content will not infringe the rights of third parties not owned by or affiliated with IUCN. IUCN cannot guarantee that the Platform Content is up to date, exhaustive, exact or complete for the purpose.
5.2 IUCN assumes no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any damage to, or viruses that may infect, your computer equipment or other property on account of your access to, use of or browsing of the Platform or your downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video or audio from the Platform.
5.3 IUCN reserves the right to interrupt or discontinue any or all the functionalities of the Platform. IUCN accepts no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any interruption or discontinuance of any or all functionalities of the Platform, irrespective of whether this is the result of actions or omissions of IUCN or any of its affiliates or any third party.
5.4 The Platform Content may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. IUCN reserves the right to make changes, corrections and/or improvements to the Platform Content at any time without notice.
5.5 IUCN might be delivering live online sessions as part of our IUCN Academy programmes. During the courses, software will be used to record live online sessions. As a student in our programme(s), your participation in these live online sessions will be recorded and this recording may contain your personal information. The recordings will be made available, for internal class purposes, to students enrolled in the programme only in order to assist those who cannot attend the live online sessions or to serve as a resource for those who would like to review content that was presented. All recordings will become unavailable to students when the IUCN Academy course is unpublished (i.e. shortly after the programme ends). Students who prefer to participate via audio only will be allowed to disable their video camera, so only audio will be captured. Please discuss this option with your instructor. Assuring privacy among faculty and students engaged in online and face-to-face instructional activities helps promote open and robust conversations and mitigates concerns that comments made within the context of the class will be shared beyond the classroom. As such, recordings of instructional activities occurring in online or face-to-face classes may be used solely for internal class purposes by the faculty member and participants registered for the course, and only during the period in which the course is offered. Instructors who wish to make subsequent use of recordings that include personal data of the participant may do so only with the informed written consent of the students involved or if all the personal data of the participant is removed from the recording. Participants are not allowed to capture their own version of the recording to keep for themselves. For additional information on IUCN’s privacy policy please refer to: https://portals.iucn.org/dataprotection/privacypolicy.
6. Links to and from other websites
6.1 Because IUCN has no control over and does not endorse any of the sites to which the Platform is linked and because IUCN has not reviewed any or all of the sites to which the Platform is linked, you acknowledge that IUCN is not responsible for the content of any off-site pages or any other sites linked to the Platform. Responsibility for access to off-site pages and linked third-party sites rests solely with you.
6.2 Your linking to the Platform, off-site pages or other sites is at your own risk. By making use of any such links, you understand that the legal statement and privacy policy of any linked site will apply, which may be different from those of IUCN. If you would like to link to the Platform, you may only do so on the basis that you link to, but do not replicate, the home page, and subject to the following conditions.
6.3 Framing of the Platform by sites or site elements of parties not part of IUCN is not permitted. In-line linking or any other manner of incorporating parts of the Platform on sites of parties not part of IUCN. is equally prohibited.
7. Service access
7.1 While IUCN endeavours to ensure that the Platform is normally available 24 hours a day, it will not be liable if for any reason it is unavailable at any time or for any period of time.
7.2 Access to the Platform may be suspended temporarily and without notice in case of a system failure, maintenance or repair or for reasons beyond our control.
8. Limitation of liability
In as much as permitted by law, and except for damage caused by intent or gross negligence, IUCN, and any other company of IUCN, including the officers, directors, employees, or agents of any of them, exclude all liability and responsibility for any amount or kind of loss or damage that may result to you or a third party (including without limitation, any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage, or any loss of income, profits, goodwill or data) in connection with the Platform in any way or in connection with the use, inability to use or the results of use of the Platform, any websites linked to the Platform or the material on such websites, including but not limited to loss or damage due to viruses that may infect your computer equipment, software, data or other property on account of your access to, use of or browsing of the Platform or your downloading of any material from the Platform or any websites linked to the Platform.
9. Data Protection and Cookies/Social Plugins
9.1 To allow you the use of and benefit from the Platform’s functions, we require from you the following personal data: your name and first name, your country of residence and your native and/or spoken language(s) and preferred Platform language. If you have an IUCN email-address then we may require it to create your account. You have the option to indicate your gender, level of study, job title, upload your photo and add a short biography. We process this data for the running, monitoring and evaluation of the Platform. If you decide to delete your account or anonymize your personal data, IUCN may use the de-identified data for statistics, Platform development, planning or other legitimate purposes. For further information about how we process your personal data and your rights, please see our privacy policy (https://iucnacademy.org/Privacy-Policy)
9.2 IUCN does not sell, rent or lease its customer lists to third parties.
9.3 The Platform uses "cookies" to help you personalise your online experience. A cookie is a text file that is placed on your hard disk by a Web page server. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. Cookies are uniquely assigned to you, and can only be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. One of the primary purposes of cookies is to provide a convenience feature to save you time. The purpose of a cookie is to tell the Web server that you have returned to a specific page. For example, if you personalize IUCN pages, or register with ICUN site or services, a cookie helps IUCN to recall your specific information on subsequent visits. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of the IUCN services or websites you visit.
9.4 “Social plugins”. Social plug-ins are small pieces of software which create a link between your visit to our Platform and the social media platform of a third-party provider. The social plug-in will let the third-party provider know that you have visited our Platform and may let the third-party provider receive cookies he has placed on your computer beforehand. We use social plug-ins of the following third-party provider:
Google, Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter, Pinterest, Youtube, Instagram, TikTok, and web links. Please click on the URL’s next to each of these third-party provider to learn more about their plug-ins. Note that we have no control over how these social plug-ins work, the data that they collect or what the third-party provider does with this information. For more information on how these third-party providers use your personal data collected via their social plug-ins, you are kindly referred to their respective privacy policies.
10. Minors
If you are under 18, be sure to obtain your parent's or guardian's permission before you send any information about yourself (your name, address, e-mail address, etc.) to us or anyone else over the internet. We encourage parents to get involved with their children's use of the internet and to be aware of the activities in which they are participating.
11. Links to other sites
11.1 The Platform contains links to other external websites for your convenience and this should not be construed as constituting any endorsement or approval of the external websites’ content. IUCN takes reasonable care in linking externalwebsites but have no direct control over the content of the linked external websites, or the changes that may occur to the content on those external websites. It is the responsibility of the User to make his/her own decisions about the accuracy, currency, reliability and correctness of information contained in linked external websites. Links to external websites are inserted for convenience only and do not constitute endorsement
11.2 IUCN is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of any such external websites
12. Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold IUCN harmless from and against any claims, losses, liabilities and/or damages made or sustained by third parties arising out of or related to your conduct, your use or inability to use the Platform, your breach or alleged breach of the Platform Terms of Use or of the terms of the GNU GPL v3 License, or your violation of any other rights.
13. Miscellaneous
13.1 The failure of IUCN to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms of Use will not operate as a waiver of any such right or provision. The section titles in the Terms of Use are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of the Terms of Use does not affect or impair in any way the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions contained herein.
13.2 The Terms of Use are governed by and will be interpreted in accordance with Swiss laws. .
13.3 Any dispute, controversy or claim arising under or pursuant to these Terms and Conditions shall be settled by mutual agreement between IUCN and the User.
13.4 If IUCN and the user are unable to reach agreement amicably the dispute, controversy or claim shall be submitted to the competent courts of Lausanne, Switzerland.
13.5 If you have any questions about the Terms of Use, write to academy@iucn.org