CREEC AT THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM STAFF COLLEGE KNOWLEDGE CENTRE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Starting 21st to 25th August 2017, Ms Mary Suzan Abbo the managing director of CREEC represented the centre at the United Nations System Staff College (UNSSC) Knowledge Centre for Sustainability Development organized by the UN Summer Academy in Bonn, Germany. The theme for the training was “Localizing the 2030 Agenda.” The five day program offered executive education, learning and knowledge exchange to those working to advance sustainable development approaches. This was a combination of academic rigour with cutting-edge thinking and the participants were provided a platform to engage in discussions on issues of relevance for the work of the UN and its partners in the context of the 2030 Agenda.
Since Ms Mary Suzan”s experience over the years at CREEC has been in designing and implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency interventions for effective use, rural electrification, house hold energy and energy entrepreneurship, she made a presentation on the “Sustainable energy for all system design approach”. This can be defined as the design of a system of energy products and services that are together able to satisfy a particular customer demand (deliver a “unit of satisfaction”) based on the design of innovative interactions of relevant stakeholders (directly and indirectly linked to that “satisfaction” system) where the economic and competitive interest of the providers continuously seeks technically, environmentally and socio-ethically beneficial new solutions. The discussions therefore revolved around; satisfaction systems for particular demand scenarios and its products and services; Interactions of the particular stakeholders of particular satisfaction systems; and system sustainability with examples of offer models that are all round beneficial.
The training attracted the presence of 19 UN entities in Bonn, as well as numerous leading institutions in international development, which provided an unprecedented opportunity for dialogue with thought leaders who are currently guiding and inspiring the work of the UN. Upon successful completion of this course, the participants were able to;
- Have deep knowledge of the core substance and processes related to the 2030 Agenda, the Paris Agreement as well as the Financing for Development process.
- Have an increased awareness of the specific roles of different development partners as well as related cooperation opportunities.
- Have had a first-hand exposure to good practices in the area of sustainable development programming and implementation.
- Have gained knowledge and skills on building substantive and sustainable partnerships and enhancing their networks.