Practice-Based Learning Programme Launched For Climate Change Management

Aiming to build capacity among 5,000 urban leaders in climate change adaptation in conjunction with the World Environment Day that was observed on 5 June, the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and World Resources Institute (WRI) India, jointly announced ‘Leaders in Climate Change Management’ (LCCM), a practice-based learning programme.

The programme aims at building capacity among urban professionals to lead climate action across sectors and geographies in India. To facilitate this face-to-face learning program, the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysuru, also singed a tripartite Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with NIUA and WRI India, becoming the first delivery partner of the LCCM programme.

LCCM envisions capacitating 5,000 professionals, including mid to junior-level government officials and frontline workers, and preparing them to champion climate change adaptation and mitigation solutions towards a coordinated effort to achieve India’s climate commitments. The launch also marked the achievements of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs towards India’s urban climate goals.

The Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri, launched the learning programme to build capacities among climate leaders in Indian cities.

In his keynote address, Puri said, “It is most appropriate and fitting that we are launching the (LCCM) programme today immediately after the celebration of World Environment Day yesterday. This program is another initiative in a long line of government interventions to not only combat climate change but also to build a new path of sustainable development that fulfils our economic conditions.”

Puri further said, “In the last eight years, the Modi government has taken many concrete steps in pushing the sustainability agenda forward. At COP26 in Glasgow, the PM announced India’s aggressive agenda on climate change through the Panch Amrit action plan which envisages India becoming a net-zero emission country by 2070.

"The LCCM programme launched today, seeks to not only identify hundreds of climate leaders but also focus on how these leaders can be oriented in terms of their training and how will they move forward. The very fact that we are thinking about this is a revolutionary step," he added.

At COP26 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed a five-fold strategy – Panch Amrit – to global leaders, extending India’s co-operation to meet the 1.5 degrees Celsius targets. The LCCM program, designed and implemented in partnership with the United Nation Environment Programme (UNEP) and Indian School of Business (ISB), aims to strengthen India’s workforce to achieve this goal.

LCCM is a blended learning program for urban practitioners looking to upskill and prepare themselves to deliver effective climate action. The program has four phases: the first phase- is an online learning module that can be completed over eight weeks; the next includes face-to-face sessions spanning four to six days; the third phase mandates participants to complete a project over six to eight months and attending exposure visits; and the final phase includes networking and establishing a community of practice.

The online learning will be hosted on the National Urban Learning Platform (NULP), the capacity building arm of NIUA. It will also be hosted and supported by ATI, Mysuru. The program aims to sign similar MoUs with ATIs across India over the next few months.

MoHUA Joint Secretary Kunal Kumar said, “To achieve India’s Climate Change goals, we need to have Innovation, Participation, Technology, Integration and Capacity Optimisation. We have already started on this journey through various missions of the Government of India, including the Smart Cities Mission. MoHUA, in collaboration with the French Development Agency (AFD), European Union and NIUA, launched the initiative - City Investments to Innovate, Integrate and Sustain (CITIIS) as an Urban Innovation mechanism."

"The programme has developed project management tools and frameworks across the urban sector, including environmental and social safeguards. Leaders in Climate Change Management (LCCM) is connected to the CITIIS program. The first cohort of the LCCM program will have participants from the 12 cities getting assistance under the CITIIS program. LCCM will become an integral part of CITIIS 2.0, as it will act as a capacity-building arm,” Kumar added.

V Manjula, Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka and DG, ATI Mysuru, said, “As a premier training institution in Karnataka, with an established center for sustainable development goals, we find resonance in this program. We intend to leverage this collaboration and the experience gained in the process as a springboard for launching an extensive state level training partner program in LCCM, and to emerge as a center of excellence at the national level for LCCM.”

Hitesh Vaidya, Director, National Institute of Urban Affairs, said, “Given the rate of investments towards urban sectors in India, for example $30 billion for the smart cities program, the need for incorporating climate action within existing and future investments towards physical, social, and environmental services is paramount to ensure sustainable development. Through LCCM, the National Institute of Urban Affairs will be working toward its goal of building capacities and knowledge dissemination on dynamic discourse of urban issues, with reference to the climate change issues.”

OP Agarwal, CEO, WRI India, presenting the LCCM program, its structure and its aim to upskill urban climate leadership in India, said, “The key challenge in building capacity for mid-career professionals is using the right kind of pedagogy – a teaching style that encourages learning by doing, rather than by just listening to lectures. The LCCM has fully recognized this and adopted this kind of teaching style.”

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