Capacity Development

Current Initiatives

International LDN postgraduate programme: The programme consists of three distinct courses concerning LDN and sustainable land management, hosted at the University of Energy and Natural Resources (UENR) in Sunyani, Ghana:

· Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Land Degradation Neutrality
· Master of Science (MSc) in Land Degradation Neutrality
· Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Sustainable Land Management

The LDN postgraduate programme follows a modular approach, facilitating collaboration with other academic institutions globally, through the development of context-specific courses that fit into the wider programmes.

The curricula of all three courses are framed in the context of the LDN objective and the ILUP-ILM cycle, offering students both conceptual and practical knowledge and experience as future land use planners. UENR’s programme is a pioneer that will help expand the offering of LDN-associated academic programmes to develop the next generation of land use planners and stakeholders for evidence-based decision-making for land.

Planned Initiatives in 2023

In 2023, GEO-LDN plans to pursue a range of activities encapsulated in a modular (federated) and open approach to capacity development. These activites include:

· Further cooperation with UENR, in addition to other universities, to develop modules for the postgraduate programmes and for professionals working in LDN-related fields, based on an apprasial of existing e-learning opportunities

· Leveraging the Global Network for Integrated Land Use Planning (ILUP) to identify the needs of land use planners, data providers, and tool developers, and fostering innovations by using the Global Network as a sounding board. This will be achieved via

· Yearly dialogue forums, in-person, that promote knowledge exchange in a regional or global context

· Monthly virtual forums in which tools and use cases will be presented and subsequently integrated in the LDN Toolbox

· Developing e-learning opportunities based on the identified needs of target stakeholders

· Establishing regional help desks and developing associated use cases on a regional and country context