UNSSC: SD Knowledge Highlights

6 September 2018

Greetings from the UN System Staff College and its Knowledge Centre for Sustainable Development in Bonn!

After a crazy week managing this year’s UN Summer Academy, we are pleased to present you with the latest edition of our SD Knowledge Highlights.

This week we’d like to draw your attention to the newly released Global Goals Yearbook 2018: Partnerships for the Goals. Don’t miss Patrick van Weerelt’s editorial on “The Rubik’s Cube as an Analogy for Sustainable Development” on page 23!

We are also pleased to feature Professor Martin Visbeck’s new blog post, “Understanding the Ocean and Sustaining our Future.” Professor Visbeck leads the ocean circulation and climate dynamics research unit at the GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and is a professor at Kiel University. The blog relates to some of the topics, which will be covered during our upcoming new course on the “Paris Agreement on Climate Change as a Development Agenda”, which will start on 10 September in collaboration with UN Climate Change. In his blog, Professor Visbeck discusses how we can prepare for the UN Decade of Ocean Science. Covering two-thirds of the Earth’s surface, the ocean is home to the largest and most diverse ecosystem. The ambition of the UN Decade of Ocean Science is to mobilize the scientific community, policy-makers, businesses and civil society around a programme of joint research, innovation and engagement. Read the blog here to find out more about how oceans are the key to a sustainable future.

As 2018 is approaching its last quarter, do not forget to review all of our current course offerings around sustainable development below. Our courses can help you enter 2019 equipped with the knowledge and skills demanded by the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement as well as the related UN Reforms. Don’t forget that we also stand ready to tailor specific learning formats to the needs of your agency or institution!

Lastly, we are also happy to announce that we are extending the deadline for our Learning Portfolio Manager (P3) position. Please now apply by 3 October!

Please find below a few Sustainable Development (SD) Knowledge Highlights, including information about our courses and free-of-charge offerings.

Interested to learn and know more? See how we can help you!

Take one of our upcoming courses

Face-to-face courses

Building Partnerships for Sustainable Development, Bonn, Germany, 18 – 21 Sep 2018

This course equips UN staff with knowledge and understanding about building partnerships working with different emerging and ‘non-traditional’ development partners: philanthropic foundations, the private sector, academia; key elements of partnering: ethics, due diligence, rules of engagement and biases; partnership frameworks and cases.

Leveraging Big Data for Sustainable Development, MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, USA, 15 – 17 Oct 2018

A training programme designed to strengthen the skills of UN staff and development practitioners in selecting, creating, using and interpreting data in support of 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

UN Catalytic Support to South-South & Triangular Cooperation in Implementing the 2030 Agenda, Bonn, Germany, 17 – 19 Oct 2018

This face-to-face course equips you with a sound understanding of the key principles of South-South and Triangular Cooperation, as well as the tools and methods to mobilise partnerships in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

Online courses

Paris Agreement on Climate Change as a Development Agenda, Online, 10 Sep – 19 Oct 2018

This joint UN Climate Change – UNSSC online course offers a holistic and integrated approach to climate change and demonstrates the interlinkages and inter dependencies between sustainable development and climate change to make informed policy choices towards low-carbon and climate resilient sustainable development.

Foundational Course on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, Online, 24 Sep – 26 Oct 2018

An online course that introduces participants to key conceptual and practical aspects of sustainable development and the 2030 Agenda, while covering issues of means of implementation, localisation of the agenda, and review and follow-up framework.

Measurements for Effective Results-Based Management, Online, 01 Oct – 09 Nov 2018

A tutored online course designed for UN and UN-affiliated staff that will enhance your competencies in designing, monitoring and evaluating projects and programmes for effective RBM.

Policy Coherence for Sustainable Development, Online, 01 Oct – 02 Nov 2018

This engaging 5-week online course aims to equip participants with knowledge and skills to analyse policies that are coherent as well as mutually reinforcing across departments and agencies.

Tailor-made learning programmes

We stand ready to design and deliver tailor-made learning programmes to meet the specific needs of UN entities, governments, sustainable development networks, and other partners. If you’d like to develop a customised training for your UN country team, agency or organisation please send us an email.

Free-of-charge offerings and opportunities

Global Goals Yearbook 2018: Partnerships for the Goals

Read through the Global Goals Yearbook 2018: Partnerships for the Goals. This year’s theme is how private sector engagement is crucial for implementing the SDGs. The 2018 Yearbook highlights that private public partnerships must undergo profound reviews and intense discussions. Find out more about the publication here.

Review our SD Talks Special Series on Climate Action

The SD Talks Special Series on Climate Action was a webinar series organised by the UNSSC and in partnership with UN Climate Change. This webinar series was conceived to set the stage for COP23, which took place in Bonn in November 2017, and also to further discussions around climate change and sustainable development. Watch the talks here!