SDGAcademyX: Ecosystem-based adaptation: Working with nature to adapt to a changing climate

The course will equip learners with transferable and replicable skills in designing and implementing Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) initiatives by offering targeted training on key principles, risk assessments, monitoring, and governance.

Details

• Intermediate level - some prior experience required
• Self-paced - progress at your own speed
• 9 weeks with 1-2 hours per week

About this course

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA); also known as nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation is increasingly gaining policy support and being implemented by diverse actors around the world. EbA is defined as “the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of an overall adaptation strategy to help people adapt to the adverse effects of climate change.” It involves the conservation, sustainable management, and restoration of ecosystems, thereby enhancing the resilience of ecosystems and communities to climate-related risks. EbA has broad applications across diverse sectors in fostering sustainable development and can help achieve multiple benefits for nature and human well-being.

While EbA guidebooks, case studies, and principles have contributed to standardising the EbA approach, there is a clear need for further training opportunities to strengthen EbA implementation across diverse sectors while ensuring that rights-based approaches, gender equity, and better outcomes for biodiversity and ecosystems are achieved.

This EbA course, developed for a global audience, will equip learners with transferable and replicable skills in designing and implementing EbA initiatives by offering targeted training on key principles, risk assessments, monitoring, and governance. A key aim of the course is to increase EbA knowledge outside of the environmental conservation community, helping participants integrate EbA solutions into other sectors—including infrastructure, water, agriculture, public works, and social development—to better link research and science with practice.

The course targets decision-makers in public and private organisations; professionals who may not be familiar with EbA but who work in a related field (development, infrastructure, agriculture, integrated water resources management); civil society organisations; actors at community, national, and global scales; early-career EbA professionals, current students, and university faculty; and EbA practitioners from both the Global North and Global South.

The EbA MOOC is the product of a collaboration between Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) , International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) , and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), with financial support from the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV), Global Affairs Canada as part of the Nature for Climate Adaptation Initiative funded by the Government of Canada, and the Global EbA Fund. Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE) assisted in the Spanish edition of the course.

It builds on a decade of research, experience, and strong partnerships in implementing EbA.

What you'll learn

By the end of the course, participants will:

• Understand the role of EbA within an overall climate change adaptation strategy.
• Be able to plan EbA activities in a logical order and apply EbA best practices.
• Consider and integrate social aspects, such as gender, livelihoods, and traditional knowledge, into EbA projects.
• Understand how to mainstream EbA across sectors.

Prerequisites

A basic understanding of climate change and climate adaptation is beneficial. As the course provides a certain level of technical detail, interest in in-depth learning about planning and implementing EbA measures is a key requirement.

Languages

• Language: English
• Transcripts: English | Español | Français
• Content Translation: اَلْعَرَبِيَّةُ | English | Español | Bahasa Indonesia | Português

Meet the instructors

1. Luise-Katharina Richter - Advisor, Global Project Mainstreaming Ecosystem-based Adaptation at Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ)
2. Wendy C. Atieno - Programme Officer, Ecosystem-based Adaptation, Climate Change at IUCN, International Union for Conservation of Nature 
3. Dr. Veronica Lo - Senior Policy Advisor at International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
4. Professor Devaka Weerakoon - Senior Professor of Zoology at University of Colombo

Dates

Next course starts Feb 16, ends Aug 31