The workshop, which was organized by the UNFCCC Secretariat and UN CC:Learn, was held on 4 December 2011, during COP 17, and was organized around three sessions: Taking Stock of Article 6 Implementation; Initial Experience in UN CC:Learn Pilot Countries; and Learning Services of International Development Partners.
9 December 2011: The UNFCCC Secretariat and UN CC:Learn jointly organized a workshop under Article 6 of the UNFCCC (education, training and public awareness), titled “Strengthening Human Resources and Skills to Address Climate Change: A UN CC:Learn/UNFCCC COP 17 Workshop to Support Implementation of Article 6 of the UNFCCC.”
The aim of the workshop was to provide a platform for experience-sharing among UN CC:Learn pilot countries, which is an important aspect of the UN CC:Learn 2010-2013 Pilot Implementation Phase in which Benin, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Malawi and Uganda are participating as pilot countries.
The workshop, which brought together about 50 participants from UN CC:Learn countries, academia, the private sector and international development partners, was held on 4 December 2011, in Durban, South Africa, during the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UNFCCC. It was organized around three sessions: Taking Stock of Article 6 Implementation; Initial Experience in UN CC:Learn Pilot Countries; and Learning Services of International Development Partners.
Achim Halpaap, Associate Director and Head of the Environment Unit, UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), highlighted that the workshop would provide the opportunity to: take stock of international developments related to Article 6; share country experiences in taking a strategic approach to climate change learning and skills development; and present learning services offered by international development partners.
Issues which emerged in the discussions included the need to: work with and train key target groups, such as parliamentarians and journalists; and link individual skills development to capacity development at the institutional and systemic levels. Participants also emphasized that in order to meet the learning challenge posed by climate change, countries need to go a step further and systematically integrate climate change issues into primary, secondary and higher education curricula, as well as into professional skills development programmes. [UN:CC Learn Workshop Summary]