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The Global Environment Facility (GEF) launched the GEF Academy and its first online course, titled “Introduction to the GEF,” at the Sixth GEF Assembly in Da Nang, Viet Nam on 25 June 2018.
The GEF Academy is a GEF learning initiative that provides an online and face-to-face curriculum of courses and learning events designed to enhance the capacity of GEF partners and stakeholders to engage with the GEF and to deliver global environmental benefits through GEF-funded initiatives.
The GEF Academy is accessible 24/7 through the GEF’s website and offers a catalog of self-paced online courses and facilitated webinars, as well as face-to-face training events that draw on the latest knowledge and information regarding GEF policies, procedures and guidelines. Courses also provide global expertise, technical information, lessons learned, and best practices relevant to GEF investments.
Courses offered through the GEF Academy are being developed and offered in partnership with GEF partner agencies, GEF IEO and STAP, as well as other like-minded institutions that work on the global environment.
The initial focus of the GEF Academy is to provide training on new policies and procedures that accompany the GEF’s 7th Replenishment. Currently, two courses are available: “Introduction to the Global Environment Facility (GEF)” and the “Open Course on Gender and the Environment”, both of which were launched at the 6th GEF Assembly on June 26, 2018. The GEF Academy and the "Introduction to the GEF" E-course were launched by Francoise Clottes, Director of the GEF’s Policy, Partnerships and Operations Unit, and Margot Brown, Director of Global Themes Department - Knowledge Management at the World Bank Group. At the launch event, the e-course was introduced by Yasemin Biro Kirtman, GEF Knowledge and Learning Coordinator, and demonstrated by Sheila Jagannathan, Lead Learning Specialist, Global Themes Department, World Bank Group.
The “Introduction to the Global Environment Facility (GEF)” is a joint production by the GEF Secretariat’s Knowledge & Learning Team and the Open Learning Campus (OLC) of the World Bank Group, and is hosted by the OLC.
This E-course provides an overview of the GEF, as well as its policies and procedures. By completing the course, learners will gain knowledge of the GEF’s mission, history, and institutional structure. They will understand the organizing principles and areas of work in the 7th GEF replenishment period (GEF-7). They will also learn about key cross cutting issues; the basics of GEF funding and its operational policies, project/program cycles, and the results framework for GEF-7.
The E-course has 5 topical sections, each with short quizzes on what was covered, and requires approximately 90 minutes to complete in one sitting; but learners can also take it at their own pace. A certificate is provided upon completion.
The E-course can be accessed at: http://www.thegef.org/content/e-course-introduction-global-environment-facility-gef
For any questions regarding the "Introduction to the Global Environment Facility" E-course, please contact Yasemin Biro Kirtman, GEF Knowledge and Learning Coordinator.
The other course that is currently available through the GEF Academy is the “Online Open Course on Gender and Environment”. The course is the result of an initiative led by the Global Environment Facility and the GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) in collaboration with the GEF Gender Partnership and UNITAR, involving International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), UN Women, UNDP, UN Environment, and the Secretariats of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements that the GEF serves, including the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, among others. This e-course is also open to the public without charge and is intended to be self-paced. It is accessible at UN CC:e-learn’s platform or by clicking here.
For any questions related to the Open Course on Gender and Environment, please contact Gabriella Richardson Temm, Senior Gender Specialist, or Susan Wangui Matindi Waithaka, Country Relations Officer.
