MOOC: Climate change in Latin America
Impressive participation
Over 11 thousand participants has been reached by the IAI MOOC on Impacts of climate change in Latin America since its launch at the UNFCCC COP-22 in Marrakesh in 2016. The IAI is grateful to the overwhelming response received from those who have been interested to learn about the negative and urgent impacts of climate change in Latin America. Besides individual participants, a high-school in Puerto Rico is using it as part of its curriculum, a national park director in Bolivia invites park rangers to attend the course, and government agencies in Mexico are interested in offering it for certification of its employees. We have had a growing number of participants led by Colombia, followed by Peru, Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Bolivia – and even Spain, Italy, France and Sweden.
This MOOC was developed in response to a demand in Latin America for high-level scientific educational outreach products in Spanish. Thanks for the time volunteered by 21 scientists from various disciplines, the IAI is able to pledge its support to SDG 13 Target 13.3 to improve education, awareness raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning. IAI couldn’t have developed this MOOC without the support received from its partners, including the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF). The IAI also acknowledges the innovative work by Dr. Arturo Sanchez-Azofeifa of University of Alberta, Canada.
The course is in Spanish. Register and attend at https://cclatam.iai.int/
WHAT: A unique course on the Impacts of Climate Change and its Impacts in Latin America taught by 21 Latin American scientists to empower resource managers, decision makers, stakeholders, scientists to cope with climate and global changes. The course aims to provide users with a good understanding of current climate change science as well as analytical abilities in the following areas: impact of climate change on biodiversity and ecosystem services, impact of environmental global changes, international mechanisms to cope with impacts on biodiversity and the economics of climate change
HOW: This MOOC provides background information, frameworks and real case studies in the social, biological and economic dimensions, which are required to promote sustainability in Latin America.
WHY: Enhance cooperation, capacity building to understand the impacts caused by climate and global changes in Latin America to raise awareness of current scientific knowledge and promote free exchange among scientists and institutions in the region.
The MOOC promotes target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning
WHEN: The course was launched on November 7th 2016 at the UNFCCC COP-22. The course is free, there are no exams or assignments or fixed schedule. The main goal is to share knowledge.