UNDP

The UNDP Preparedness Learning Pathway is a capacity development initiative built upon the UNDP Preparedness Toolkit that supports countries to enhance their institutional, strategic and operational capabilities for disaster preparedness. The Pathway facilitates joint learning and knowledge exchange for and among decision-makers and practitioners from national and local authorities engaged in disaster preparedness as primary audience, along with UN entities and other relevant in-country stakeholders.

Based on the UNDP Preparedness Toolkit, six core modules are available under the Preparedness Learning Pathway. Each provides practitioners with in-depth subject-matter knowledge, as well as useful and scalable tools, methodologies, and examples to integrate preparedness and anticipatory approaches across their work:

• Risk Anticipation & Analysis
• Institutional & Coordination Capacities for Preparedness
• Fundamentals of Operational Preparedness 
• Early Warning
• Anticipatory Action
• Financing Preparedness & Anticipatory Action

Practitioners can choose specific training outcomes depending on their objectives, for example:

• Refined preparedness/ contingency plan, business continuity plan or anticipatory action framework
• Baseline assessment of resource, capacity, and financing needs for preparedness
• Comprehensive stakeholder map for preparedness at national/ local level
• Establishment of funding mechanisms for preparedness and anticipatory action
• Multiple future risk scenarios for strategic preparedness planning
• Mainstreaming of preparedness and anticipatory action into development, humanitarian or recovery planning
• Improved capacities in applying foresight for preparedness
• Detailed action plans, including stakeholder roles and responsibilities, for post-workshop follow-up

The UNDP Preparedness Toolkit is an interactive platform supporting national and local authorities, UNDP Country Offices and other in-country stakeholders in enhancing their institutional, strategic, and operational capabilities for preparedness, improving the speed and efficiency of their response, and applying foresight to be better prepared to cope with future risks, disasters and crises.

The UNDP Preparedness Toolkit is available in English, French and Spanish, and has been designed with digital accessibility in mind to ensure inclusivity. The Toolkit functions as an online repository of information and resources for self-paced learning. For specific courses and training based on the core modules listed in the Toolkit, please refer to the course listed under UNDP Preparedness Learning Pathway. 

This tutorial introduces the concept of prioritizing adaptation options during adaptation planning and implementation. 

At the outset of any adaptation initiative, it is important to assess the implications of climate change on the natural systems (e.g. biodiversity) and the human society (e.g. human health) to determine how and to what extent they will be affected.  There are a number of measures that can be implemented to reduce risk and vulnerability.  Due to financial and human capacity constraints, not all actions can be implemented simultaneously and it is important to study the implications of all measures.  Knowledge of the implications such as costs and benefits for each adaptation option will form part of the strategic decision-making process during adaptation planning.   

This tutorial will introduce the process of appraisal and prioritization and some tools that are used in the adaptation options appraisal process once adaptation options have been selected for consideration. 

Learning Objectives:

The course will enable you to:

• Describe the importance of climate information in adaptation planning and decision-making
• Identify technical resources for assessing climate risks
• Explore the role of National Hydro-meteorological Services in the NAP process
• Discuss how priority climate actions can be enhanced by climate scientific information 
• Identify climate products and services that support NAPs
• Discuss how to promote effective partnerships between climate information producers and users

This course introduces the concept of resilience and shows how you can use resilience assessments to address pressing conservation and development challenges. You will learn about the key steps for conducting resilience assessments, how to develop resilience assessments using existing frameworks, and how to use these results to develop effective sustainable development and conservation actions.

Connect with the videos, lecture notes and ongoing conversations from the massive open online course (MOOC) on National Adaptation Plans: Building Climate Resilience in Agriculture in this comprehensive online toolkit. Materials presented here were originally shared via the One UN Climate Change Learning Partnership Platform (UNCC:Learn) Platform during a six-week MOOC. The course is still available for self-paced learning on UNCC:Learn. The NAP-MOOC learning materials are presented as part of the Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-AG) Programme and are a joint effort between the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and more than 40 leading experts on climate change, finance, agriculture, communications and more.

The joint UNDP-FAO Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans (NAP-Ag) Programme supports partner countries to identify and integrate climate adaptation measures for the agricultural sectors into relevant national planning and budgeting processes.

This module aims to provide you with an introduction to the different types of protected areas and ecosystem services, and discusses ways of maximizing the value of these ecosystem services at national level and site level. The module also provides an overview of specific issues related to protected area management: food and water security, disaster risk reduction, health, climate change, jobs, livelihoods and poverty reduction.

Learning Objectives:

After successfully completing this course, you will be able to:

• Understand different types of ecosystem services supported by protected areas.
• Understand the core principles of protected area management for ecosystem services.
• Observe the relationship between protected areas and food and water security, disaster risk reduction, health, climate change, jobs, livelihoods, and poverty reduction.

In this micro-course, you will learn how nature-based solutions can contribute to addressing societal challenges and achieving sustainable development, particularly in the context of water security, climate action, and nature-based livelihoods.

Learning Objectives:

By the time you complete this micro-course, you will be able to:

• Define nature-based solutions
• Identify examples of nature-based solutions and understand their contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals
• Identify the starting point for integrating nature-based solutions into national water plans
• Understand how nature-based solutions can improve countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)
• Utilize case study examples from multiple countries as context for your work

In this self-paced course you will learn to develop a step-by-step ecosystem restoration plan and apply effective restoration solutions in your national and subnational context.

The course serves as an introduction to the Short-Term Action Plan on Ecosystem Restoration (STAPER) - a flexible framework adopted by the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity to support, inter alia, governments in the development and implementation of their national restoration strategies. The course is geared to government representatives interested in creating a blueprint for ecosystem restoration at the national or subnational level, but is open to everyone.

Learning Objectives:

By the time you complete the course, you will be able to:

• Define ecosystem restoration and explain its importance 
• Outline the types of ecosystems and ecosystem services
• Explain approaches to and principles of restoration 
• Understand how stakeholder participation and inclusive and gender-responsive planning are critical to your restoration project
• Place restoration in the context of large-scale initiatives and agreements
• Understand the steps and activities involved in developing a plan for ecosystem restoration
• Tailor your restoration plan based on real-world examples 
• Conceptualize the application of the Short-Term Action Plan on Ecosystem Restoration in your context

The Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) is an internationally accepted methodology for determining the physical damages, economic losses, and costs of meeting recovery needs after a natural disaster through a government-led process. This compelling, interactive and sequential online e-Learning on PDNA consist of four modules. The four modules will address the following: Introduction to PDNA, Context Analysis, Identification and costing of Disaster Effects, Disaster Impact Analysis, and Identifying Recovery Needs and Formulating Recovery Strategy.

At the end of the modules, you will be able to:

• Define what a Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) is

• Understand the role of participation and coordination in a PDNA

• Understand the agreed protocols to request a PDNA

• Understand the limits of a PDNA methodology

• Describe the elements of a PDNA

• Explain the importance of baseline information

• Describe the four main dimensions of disaster effects

• Understand the concepts of damage and loss

• Understand the impact of the disaster on the economy and on lives of people

• Learn how sectoral assessments contribute to the impact analysis

• Describe the elements of recovery needs in a sectoral analysis

• Learn how to prioritise recovery needs

• Formulate a Sector Recovery Strategy

• Illustrate how the needs identified in the PDNA lead to the formulation of a Post Disaster Recovery Strategy

• Identify and describe the links between the PDNA and the Disaster Recovery Framework