A series of free resources offered by the United Nations that can help you acquire skills for in-demand jobs in the climate-resilient sectors and green economy jobs.
In an era defined by rapid climate change and digital transformation, our skill sets and job requirements are evolving. Now, more than ever, it’s crucial to stay ahead of the curve and ensure that our skills match the emerging demands of the future. This article will guide you through a series of free resources provided by the United Nations, designed to help you upskill for climate-resilient jobs and sustainable growth in the burgeoning green economy.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
Nature-based Solutions for Disaster and Climate Resilience
Nature offers many solutions to reduce the impacts of disasters and climate change, such as forests help stabilize slopes, sand dunes help protect coastlines, and wetlands help to buffer excess rainwater. These so-called ‘Nature- based solutions’ (NbS) are an important piece in the puzzle to building the resilience of households and communities to an ever-increasing number of disaster events around the world.
Nature-based solutions are relevant to everyone, and we all benefit from seeing them applied. With this in mind, the course is designed to be accessible to everyone, no matter your background.
Finding the Money – Financing Climate Action
By the end of this tutorial, you will be able to:
- Define climate change finance;
- Provide an overview of the global climate finance landscape;
- List at least three sources of climate finance that are relevant to your country.
Shifting Towards Water-Resilient Infrastructure and Sustainable Cities
Water Resilient and Sustainable Cities are cities that achieve safe and adequate water supply and sanitation services based on sound water-related ecosystems, high level of water use efficiency, and a greater urban resilience to water-related disasters. This interactive course assists regional policy makers and practitioners with a proactive policy measures to achieve SDG-readiness through Water-Resilient Cities. Its structure follows key elements of the whole concept and lists its practical tools, viewing Water and Water Cycle at the core of Sustainable Development in an urban environment. The analysis of impacts of urbanization trends is being viewed through five key dimensions of urban water security. The framework, measuring progress of SDG-readiness is illustrated through best practices, policy briefs, holistic strategies and approaches of good urban governance.
The 5 thematic priorities to enable the dynamic policy shift, with challenges and respective policy toolkits, are focusing namely on:
- drinking water and human well-being,
- reclaiming water by using urban wastewater as a resource,
- viewing water for economic activities and development,
- restoring ecosystem functions,
- preparing for water-related hazards and effects of climate change.
Upon completion of the Quiz and submission of a case study, attendees will receive a Certificate of Completion for the e-Learning Course from ESCAP.
An Introduction to E-waste Policy
This self-paced course aims to support national stakeholders in developing national Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) policy and regulation. In addition to an introduction and overview, the course consists of the following four modules: 1) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), 2) Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), 3) Financial Management, and 4) Government Stakeholder Groups and Interests. The course is estimated to take less than 1.5 hours to complete. Participants will receive a badge certifying successful completion if the course was passed at 60% or higher.
Introduction to Green Economy
This free e-learning experience has been designed to equip you with a mental compass as you seek answers to basic questions about inclusive green economies. The course has been developed under the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE) which brings together five UN agencies – UN Environment, International Labour Organization, UN Development Programme, UN Industrial Development Organization, and UNITAR. PAGE works toward putting sustainability at the heart of economic policies and practices to advance the 2030 Agenda.
The course enables learners to familiarize themselves with the rationale and core concepts guiding an inclusive green economy. It discusses both opportunities and challenge at global and national level to achieve low-carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive development.
SDG Primer E-Course
The SDG Primer resulted from a collaborative effort undertaken under the United Nations Sustainable Development Group that assembled the most relevant thinking and insights around key global and national SDG-related challenges. It has been developed with the support of UNSSC, UNITAR, SDSN, and UNDCO.
The SDG Primer lays out the:
- Urgency of action required by all actors in all countries;
- Foundational characteristics of this universal and integrated framework;
- Specific actions we can all take to better support countries and governments.
It should take approximately 3 hours to complete the SDG Primer.
Innovation ecosystem 101: Fundamentals on building competitive and innovative ICT-centric ecosystems
This course is intended for policy-makers, decision-makers, innovators and ecosystem builders who wish to build thriving entrepreneurial communities that can navigate technological revolutions and create competitive ICT industries.
The course covers:
- key terminologies, concepts, tools and steps to assess their countries’ innovation capacity through practical information;
- innovation, digital ecosystems and digital transformation, and their relationship to national development priorities;
- how digital entrepreneurship can contribute to making your country an innovation-driven economy, who the key stakeholders are in an ecosystem and their roles in digital transformation;
- your country’s digital innovation gap and how to measure it;
- how to diagnose the specifics of the digital innovation gap; and
- how to develop a high-level roadmap to close this gap
SDG Academy: Equity and Inclusion in Education
The equitable education online course aims to educate, raise awareness and build capacity on ten core aspects of equitable education, why they are important, and what can be done in order to implement them in practice.
It is directed at a broad audience of education experts and practitioners, namely policy-makers, government officials, NGOs/CBOs in the education sector, educators and university students.
The course will be composed of short, narrated videos, with accompanying exercises, collaborative discussions, quizzes, worksheets, personal reflections and suggestions for further reading
