One of UNEP’s goals is to help build the capacity of professionals to tackle current and future ecological problems.
Sustainable Development Goal 4 aims over the next 14 years to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. In particular, Target 4.7 focuses on education for sustainable development:
By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.
“Investing in human capacity for sustainable development through environmental education and training” was one of the resolutions adopted at the United Nations Environment Assembly held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 23-27 May 2016. In this resolution, the Assembly requests UNEP to help countries to integrate the environmental dimension into their relevant curriculums.
UNEP seeks to build partnerships with academia, and governments to achieve sustainable ecosystem management by increasing the number of education institutions incorporating an integrated ecosystem approach.
The Global Universities Partnership on Environment and Sustainability (GUPES), launched in 2012, is UNEP’s flagship programme on environmental education.
GUPES aims to mainstream environmental education in higher education institutions through curricula, as well as through engaging students and communities in greening practices on campuses and beyond. It has three key pillars: education, training, and networking. GUPES currently has over 800 partner universities worldwide.
UNEP launches new course
Now UNEP, in cooperation with Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, is launching a new course on ecosystems.
The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Wicked Problems, Dynamic solutions: The Ecosystem Approach and Systems Thinking will be disseminated through GUPES.
It is the first MOOC to focus on the ecosystem approach and systems thinking.
The start date for the free six-week (50-hour) foundation course is September 2016; an additional week (10 hours) of training can lead to an Advanced Certificate.
The MOOC registration page link is here.
Why a course on the ecosystem approach?
We live in a complex and dynamic world. Many problems we face today involve interdependent structures, multiple actors, and are at least partly the result of past actions. Such problems are extremely difficult to tackle and conventional solutions have very often led to unintended consequences.
A systems thinking approach focuses on systems as a whole: how the parts interrelate and how interconnections create emerging patterns. Systems thinking tools allow us to map and explore dynamic complexity. With a better understanding of systems, we can identify leverage points that lead to desired outcomes and avoid unintended consequences.
Environmental problems are often described as “wicked problems” to highlight their complexity and the difficulties they entail. Finding answers to current crises such as fisheries collapse, climate change, biodiversity loss, infectious diseases, and inequitable access to resources will be among the greatest challenges of our time. The ecosystem approach applies systems thinking to gain a better understanding of how ecosystems function. It can help us identify potential solutions to a myriad of problems inspired in part by the complex dynamics of ecosystems themselves.
What will you gain from the course?
- A well-developed knowledge of the basic features of ecosystems, the ecosystem approach and systems thinking from an interdisciplinary perspective
- An understanding of the distinction between reductionist and holistic thinking
- The ability to engage in critical systems thinking
- Enhanced knowledge of the inter-relationships between ecosystems and social systems, including critical ecosystem functions and services; threats, drivers and direct and indirect impacts on human well-being and development; and opportunities for advancing the ecosystem approach
- Specific awareness of case studies covering a range of ecosystems and global issues, demonstrating the benefits and challenges of ecosystem management.
Education alone will not deliver a more sustainable future. However, without education and learning for sustainable development, we will not be able to change mindsets and come up with novel solutions to sustainable development. The problems of ecosystem degradation and shortages of key ecosystem goods and services cannot be solved with the same kind of thinking that inadvertently created those problems.
What is an ecosystem?
An ecosystem is a dynamic complex of plant, animal and microorganism communities and their nonliving environment interacting as a functional unit.
What is the ecosystem approach?
The ecosystem approach is a strategy for the integrated management of land, water and living resources that provides sustainable delivery of ecosystem services in an equitable way. This requires mindset-change, government buy-in, sound planning and effective action based on the latest science.
What does it mean to take a systems approach to complex problems?
A system is defined as a set of interacting components that interact to form a whole. Examining the system by observing the component parts is generally referred to as a reductionist approach. A systems approach, by contrast, implies that we need to think in terms of the whole, while paying attention also to the parts of the system and how they interact with each other.
