Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Innovation – Practitioner’s Perspective

Course Organization

Course Objectives

The course introduces and analyses the concepts of sustainable development, Agenda 2030 and SDGs along with the approaches and tools for their implementation, monitoring and financing at the global, regional and national levels. Special attention will be given to the region of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. This overall framework will be illustrated by in-depth analyses of development system response to selected SDG – namely SDG 13 on Climate Action, with particular attention to climate science, key drivers of climate change, climate-related impacts, vulnerabilities as well as international agreements as well as importance of climate finance. The ability to innovate and continuous change management has been recognized as one of the key aspects of successful implementation of Agenda 2030/ SDGs. The course will therefore explain the role of innovation in public sector. This will include theoretical and methodological underpinnings of innovation, the skills, attitudes and behaviors required for promoting innovation as well as concrete toolkits used by key public sector actors. Further attention will be given to understanding of innovation ecosystem and real-life examples of building the culture of innovation in UN and other international organizations. Last part of the course will concentrate on executive aspects of Agenda 2030/ SDGs implementation, such as leadership, organizational and change management, result-based and project management cycle as well as individual career management of professionals working in the public sector. The course puts particular emphasis on combining the understanding of overall concepts and their theoretical underpinnings with practical examples and hands-on experience (provided both by lecturer as well as guest speakers) from practical implementation of public polices and development projects, especially in middle- and low-income countries.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, the students will be able to i) demonstrate comprehensive understanding of genesis and theoretical underpinnings of Agenda 2030/ SDGs framework and challenges of its practical implementation, ii) and specifically illustrate this understanding in one of key SDGs - SDG 13 on Climate Action. They will also iii) understand the role of innovation in promoting sustainable development and public policy, and iv) acquire specific knowledge of diverse innovation approaches and tools. Finally, students will be equipped with v) understanding of key concepts of leadership and organizational and result-based management, project management cycle as well as individual career management in the public sector and development. As the course will use numerous real-life examples, the course learning will lead to understanding of the issues and building practical skills directly applicable in development and public policy related jobs.

Teaching Methods

The course consists of lectures combined with interactive class discussions and 4 conferences dedicated to the key topics/ blocks of the course, special attention will be given to sharing and discussing practical case studies and examples from public sector and development field. In addition, each block will feature host presentation from leading practitioner in specific field, such as scientist, former high-ranking politician, high-level UN official and similar. The presentations and subsequent discussions aim at maximizing learning how to apply acquired knowledge in sustainable development, innovation, leadership and management on concrete, real-life public sector and development issues. Lectures serve as important introduction to the issues of the course, it is however assumed that additional part of subject matter knowledge will be acquired through self-studying of the recommended literature.

Assessment Methods

During the course the students need:

to prepare and present one presentation on assigned topic or perform other role in the conferences as well as
successfully complete the written exam.