Green Economy and Sustainable Development Training Course

Duration 10 days 20 modules · 65 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Sustainability Managers, HSE Managers and others
Fee from USD 2,200 KSh 190,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 9 Nov 2026 Course code SD-SC-036

Before you join: Participants should have workplace experience in management, operations, HSE, CSR, procurement, risk, finance, policy or related functions.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Green economy and sustainable development work requires more than environmental initiatives or annual CSR reporting. Organisations must make decisions on energy, water, materials, procurement, investment, employment and community impacts while responding to climate risk, regulatory expectations, investor scrutiny and public commitments. Professionals need a defensible way to identify material impacts, quantify performance, set credible targets and turn sustainability priorities into funded operational plans.

This course develops the practical methods used to design and manage sustainability programmes. Participants examine green economy principles, systems thinking, the Sustainable Development Goals, circular economy models, life-cycle assessment, greenhouse-gas accounting, climate-risk assessment, materiality analysis, ESG reporting and environmental management systems. They learn to connect environmental and social priorities with business planning, procurement, capital decisions, governance and performance management. The course also addresses just transition considerations, stakeholder engagement, supplier requirements, data controls and assurance readiness.

Teaching combines short instructor briefings with sector-based cases from public services, banking, manufacturing, infrastructure, extractives, health and consumer goods. Participants use structured templates to assess their own organisation or a realistic case, test strategic choices, build indicators and prepare implementation actions. They leave with a sustainability strategy and implementation plan containing a materiality assessment, emissions baseline approach, target architecture, KPI set, governance model, reporting outline and delivery roadmap. A certificate of completion is awarded to participants who complete the course.

The course suits professionals who contribute to sustainability, HSE, ESG, CSR, operations, procurement, risk, strategy or investment decisions. It is particularly useful for managers moving from isolated environmental projects to a managed programme with measurable outcomes, accountable owners and clear reporting.

What you will be able to do

  • Assess sustainability priorities using double materiality, stakeholder evidence and impact criteria
  • Map environmental and social system interactions using causal loop diagrams
  • Calculate an organisational greenhouse-gas inventory using the GHG Protocol structure
  • Evaluate climate-related physical and transition risks through scenario analysis
  • Develop science-aligned sustainability targets, KPIs and performance baselines
  • Design circular economy, resource-efficiency and sustainable procurement interventions
  • Prepare ESG reporting content supported by data controls and evidence trails
  • Present a funded sustainability strategy, governance model and implementation roadmap

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Ability to lead a materiality assessment with documented stakeholder evidence
  • Confidence to challenge unsupported sustainability claims and weak emissions data
  • Practical carbon inventory and target-setting skills for ESG or HSE responsibilities
  • A reusable framework for evaluating green investment and resource-efficiency proposals
  • A completed sustainability strategy portfolio for workplace application

For your organisation

  • Clearer prioritisation of environmental and social issues affecting operations and stakeholders
  • More reliable emissions, resource and ESG data for management and external reporting
  • Reduced energy, material, water and waste costs through identified improvement actions
  • Stronger supplier sustainability requirements and traceable procurement decisions
  • An accountable sustainability roadmap linked to budgets, owners, KPIs and governance

Course modules

20 modules over 10 days

Participants can explain green economy principles and assess their implications for organisational decisions.

  • Green economy principles: decoupling, externalities, natural capital and social inclusion
  • Distinguish weak and strong sustainability using capital substitution assumptions
  • Triple Bottom Line limits when environmental thresholds constrain growth
  • Map rebound effects arising from efficiency and consumption changes
  • Classify public goods, common-pool resources and free-rider failures
  • Apply the Doughnut Economics model to development choices

Participants can use systems thinking to identify interconnected sustainability risks and opportunities.

  • Systems maps reveal feedback loops, delays and unintended consequences
  • Build causal loop diagrams for water, energy and livelihoods
  • Identify planetary boundaries relevant to emissions, land and nutrient flows
  • Assess trade-offs between mitigation, adaptation, poverty reduction and employment
  • Scenario planning tests policy choices against alternative futures
  • Use stocks-and-flows thinking to diagnose resource depletion

Participants can identify credible organisational contributions to priority Sustainable Development Goals.

  • Sustainable Development Goals: targets, indicators and national implementation mechanisms
  • Link business activities to positive and negative SDG impacts
  • Prioritise SDGs using scale, severity, likelihood and organisational influence
  • Avoid SDG washing through evidence-based claims and measurable contributions
  • Map dependencies between health, livelihoods, ecosystems and economic development
  • Translate SDG priorities into departmental objectives and accountabilities

Participants can complete a double materiality assessment supported by stakeholder and impact evidence.

  • Double materiality distinguishes impact materiality from financial materiality
  • Define assessment boundaries covering operations, products and value-chain activities
  • Stakeholder mapping identifies affected groups, rights-holders and decision-makers
  • Prepare interview questions that test impact significance and management quality
  • Score impacts using scale, scope, irremediability and likelihood criteria
  • Produce a materiality matrix with documented assumptions and evidence sources

Participants can plan meaningful stakeholder engagement and respond to material concerns.

  • Stakeholder engagement plans define purpose, methods, timing and accountability
  • Apply the AA1000SES principles of inclusivity, materiality and responsiveness
  • Differentiate consultation, participation, negotiation and informed consent processes
  • Grievance mechanisms record concerns, actions, remedies and closure evidence
  • Analyse power differences affecting women, workers, communities and indigenous peoples
  • Report stakeholder feedback without overstating consensus or support

Participants can identify circular economy opportunities using life-cycle thinking and value retention strategies.

  • Life-cycle stages: raw materials, production, use, recovery and disposal
  • Functional units establish comparable life-cycle assessment boundaries
  • Apply the waste hierarchy before considering recycling and recovery
  • Circular strategies include reduce, reuse, repair, remanufacture and recycle
  • Material flow analysis identifies losses, by-products and secondary material opportunities
  • Evaluate circular interventions against quality, safety, cost and environmental burdens

Participants can identify and prioritise cleaner production measures for facilities and services.

  • Cleaner production audits trace energy, water, material and waste flows
  • Establish baselines from utility bills, production records and meter readings
  • Pareto analysis ranks major sources of resource consumption and loss
  • Calculate simple payback, net present value and avoided-cost benefits
  • Good housekeeping controls reduce leaks, idle loads and material spoilage
  • Prioritise actions using feasibility, impact, cost and implementation criteria

Participants can define an organisational greenhouse-gas inventory boundary and data collection approach.

  • Greenhouse gases, global warming potential and carbon dioxide equivalent units
  • GHG Protocol organisational boundaries: equity share, control and operational control
  • Scope 1 sources include fuel combustion, refrigerants and process emissions
  • Scope 2 accounting covers purchased electricity, heat, steam and cooling
  • Scope 3 screening identifies significant upstream and downstream value-chain categories
  • Develop an emissions data register with owners, sources and collection frequency

Participants can calculate, document and quality-check a greenhouse-gas inventory.

  • Activity data converts fuel, electricity, travel and procurement into emissions
  • Select emission factors by geography, year, fuel specification and source
  • Calculate emissions using activity data multiplied by documented emission factors
  • Apply location-based and market-based Scope 2 reporting methods
  • Data-quality scoring assesses completeness, accuracy, timeliness and traceability
  • Recalculate base-year inventories after acquisitions, divestments or methodology changes

Participants can assess climate-related physical and transition risks and propose adaptation responses.

  • Physical risks include heat, flooding, drought, storms and sea-level rise
  • Transition risks arise from policy, markets, technology, litigation and reputation
  • Climate scenario analysis tests exposure under plausible temperature pathways
  • Risk registers record hazard, vulnerability, consequence, controls and residual risk
  • Assess adaptive capacity across assets, people, suppliers and emergency arrangements
  • Select adaptation measures using effectiveness, cost, co-benefits and maladaptation screening

Participants can create measurable sustainability targets and an indicator hierarchy.

  • Baselines establish starting values, boundary assumptions and data limitations
  • Absolute and intensity targets serve different operational and growth contexts
  • Science-based target concepts connect emissions reductions with climate pathways
  • SMART indicators specify definitions, owners, frequency and verification evidence
  • Leading indicators track controls before environmental or social outcomes occur
  • Create KPI trees linking strategic goals, operational measures and board metrics

Participants can structure ESG disclosures around material topics, metrics and evidence.

  • GRI Standards organise disclosures around material impacts and management approaches
  • ISSB concepts connect sustainability-related risks with enterprise value information
  • Map report content to governance, strategy, risk management and metrics
  • Define reporting boundaries, reporting periods and restatement procedures
  • Evidence files support narrative claims, metrics, calculations and approvals
  • Apply materiality results to determine report topics and omissions

Participants can establish controls that improve sustainability data reliability and assurance readiness.

  • Data governance assigns owners, reviewers, approvers and escalation routes
  • Control matrices link each metric to source records and checks
  • Audit trails retain calculations, invoices, meter records and methodological decisions
  • Sampling methods test completeness, consistency and evidence quality
  • Limited assurance and reasonable assurance require different evidence depth
  • Correct data errors through documented restatements and root-cause actions

Participants can evaluate sustainability projects using financial, environmental and social criteria.

  • Green investment cases combine capital cost, operating savings and avoided losses
  • Internal rate of return and net present value support project comparison
  • Shadow carbon prices test exposure to future emissions costs
  • Evaluate co-benefits including health, resilience, jobs and ecosystem services
  • Green bonds and sustainability-linked loans connect finance with performance commitments
  • Prepare decision papers stating assumptions, sensitivities, risks and recommended actions

Participants can incorporate sustainability requirements into supplier selection and contract management.

  • Supplier segmentation focuses diligence on high-impact and high-risk categories
  • Sustainable procurement criteria address emissions, labour, materials and waste
  • Prequalification questionnaires test policy, performance data and corrective actions
  • Contract clauses specify reporting, audit rights, remediation and termination triggers
  • Traceability systems document origin, custody and transformation of priority materials
  • Supplier improvement plans combine capability support with time-bound requirements

Participants can assess social impacts and incorporate just transition measures into sustainability plans.

  • Just transition principles address workers, communities, skills and decent work
  • Human rights due diligence identifies actual and potential adverse impacts
  • Assess distributional effects of energy, land-use and technology decisions
  • Worker transition plans cover consultation, reskilling, redeployment and income protection
  • Community benefit agreements define commitments, monitoring and grievance arrangements
  • Gender-responsive analysis identifies unequal exposure, access and decision-making power

Participants can align sustainability programmes with environmental management system controls and legal duties.

  • ISO 14001 context analysis identifies interested parties and environmental conditions
  • Environmental aspects registers connect activities with impacts and operational controls
  • Legal registers track permits, obligations, inspections and compliance evidence
  • Operational controls define procedures, competencies, monitoring and emergency readiness
  • Internal audits test conformance, effectiveness and corrective-action closure
  • Management review converts performance evidence into decisions and resource commitments

Participants can design a sustainability strategy with accountable governance and implementation arrangements.

  • Strategy statements define ambition, scope, time horizon and decision principles
  • Governance structures assign board oversight, executive sponsorship and operational ownership
  • RACI matrices clarify responsibility, accountability, consultation and information requirements
  • Roadmaps sequence foundational controls, pilot projects and scaled interventions
  • Change management addresses incentives, capability gaps, resistance and communications
  • Budget plans allocate capital, operating funds, people and external expertise

Participants can review sustainability performance and communicate results without misleading claims.

  • Management dashboards compare actual performance against targets, baselines and forecasts
  • Variance analysis identifies operational causes, data issues and corrective actions
  • Board papers present material decisions, residual risks and resource requirements
  • Green claims require substantiation, clear boundaries and qualified language
  • Communication plans tailor evidence for employees, investors, regulators and communities
  • Annual review cycles update priorities using performance, stakeholder and risk evidence

Participants can build, review and present a complete sustainability strategy and implementation plan for an organisational case.

  • Define strategic scope, baseline, material topics and stakeholder evidence
  • Integrate emissions, resource, climate, social and supply-chain priority findings
  • Set targets, KPIs, milestones, owners and data-control requirements
  • Select initiatives using impact, feasibility, cost and risk criteria
  • Prepare governance, budget, reporting and assurance-readiness arrangements
  • Review peer challenge feedback and revise unsupported assumptions
  • Present the completed strategy, implementation roadmap and decision request

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Double materiality assessment template
  2. Greenhouse-gas inventory data register
  3. Climate risk and adaptation register
  4. Sustainability KPI and target scorecard
  5. Sustainable procurement criteria checklist
  6. Sustainability strategy and implementation roadmap

Who should attend

  • Sustainability Managers — need to convert commitments into managed programmes and measurable results
  • HSE Managers — need to connect environmental controls with climate, resource and reporting priorities
  • CSR and ESG Officers — need credible materiality, target-setting and disclosure methods
  • Operations Managers — need practical ways to reduce energy, materials, waste and water impacts
  • Procurement Managers — need supplier sustainability criteria and responsible sourcing controls
  • Risk, Strategy and Finance Professionals — need to evaluate sustainability risks, investments and performance data

Skills and tools covered

Materiality assessmentCarbon accountingClimate risk analysisCircular economy planningESG reportingSustainability governance

Tools and standards

GHG Protocol Corporate Standard, ISO 14001, GRI Standards, AA1000SES

How the course runs

Training methodology

The instructor uses concise briefings to explain methods, standards and decision criteria, followed by guided case work from relevant sectors. Participants analyse data, prepare materiality and risk assessments, construct emissions boundaries, compare intervention options and draft reporting content. Small-group exercises test choices involving procurement, investment, operations and stakeholder expectations. Simulations address target approval, climate-risk discussions and assurance questions. Throughout the course, participants apply each method to an organisational case or their own workplace, building the elements required for the final strategy presentation.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have workplace experience in management, operations, HSE, CSR, procurement, risk, finance, policy or related functions. Familiarity with basic environmental terms, organisational planning and simple performance indicators is useful. Participants should be able to interpret spreadsheets and discuss their organisation’s activities, suppliers, facilities or services. Prior knowledge of carbon accounting, ESG reporting standards, life-cycle assessment or climate science is not required. The course explains the technical concepts needed before participants apply the methods to cases and their own work context.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

You should have general workplace experience and familiarity with planning, operations, HSE, CSR, procurement, risk or finance. No prior carbon-accounting, life-cycle assessment or ESG-reporting experience is required.

Bring a laptop for templates, calculations and case materials. If permitted by your employer, bring non-confidential information on energy use, emissions, waste, procurement, sustainability commitments or current reporting.

The course suits managers and specialists who contribute to sustainability, HSE, ESG, CSR, operations, procurement, risk, strategy or finance decisions. It is designed for professionals who need to produce practical plans rather than only understand sustainability concepts.

Carbon accounting and ESG reporting are important parts of this course, but not its sole focus. The course also covers materiality, circular economy, climate risk, social impacts, procurement, investment appraisal, governance and implementation planning.

Participants build reusable assessment, planning and reporting materials throughout the course. These can support a sustainability review, emissions data collection process, supplier programme, management dashboard or strategy proposal after the course.

Training runs from 08:30 to 16:30 each day, providing about 6.5 contact hours daily. The first week establishes core methods and builds initial work products; the second week develops implementation, reporting and governance, ending with the capstone presentation.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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