Sustainable Development and SDG Integration Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Sustainability Managers, HSE Managers and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-SC-052

Before you join: Participants should have basic familiarity with their organisation’s operations, policies, projects or reporting responsibilities.

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

Organisations are being asked to show how environmental, social and economic commitments affect decisions, operations and reported results. A list of SDGs or a polished sustainability statement is not enough: managers need defensible priorities, measurable targets, accountable owners and evidence that claims match performance. The challenge is especially acute where energy use, emissions, worker safety, supply chains, community impacts and regulatory expectations meet. Poorly chosen indicators and unsupported disclosures can misdirect investment, conceal harm and expose the organisation to greenwashing allegations.

This course develops the practical methods needed to integrate sustainable development principles and the UN Sustainable Development Goals into organisational planning and management. Participants examine systems thinking, materiality, stakeholder engagement, SDG target selection, governance, climate and environmental management, social performance, data controls and sustainability reporting. They learn to connect material impacts with business risks, define credible KPIs, establish data ownership, assess trade-offs and build implementation roadmaps. The course uses recognised references including the SDG Compass, GHG Protocol, GRI Standards and ISO 14001.

Instructor-led sessions combine concise technical briefings with sector-based cases drawn from infrastructure, banking, manufacturing, public services, extractives and development programmes. Participants work through materiality decisions, emissions data, stakeholder concerns, target-setting choices and disclosure scenarios. They leave with a structured SDG integration action plan, a materiality assessment model, an indicator dictionary and templates for governance, data control and reporting. The course is suited to professionals who must turn sustainability commitments into managed programmes with clear evidence, responsibilities and measurable results.

What you will be able to do

  • Apply sustainable development principles to operational, investment and policy decisions
  • Conduct a materiality assessment using stakeholder evidence, impact criteria and scoring rules
  • Map material issues to relevant SDG targets and measurable organisational objectives
  • Design sustainability governance using RACI matrices, policies and escalation routes
  • Calculate organisational emissions boundaries using the GHG Protocol scope categories
  • Develop sustainability KPIs, indicator definitions and data-control responsibilities
  • Prepare evidence-based sustainability disclosures using GRI reporting principles
  • Produce a prioritised SDG integration roadmap with owners, milestones and measures

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Ability to turn SDG commitments into measurable work programmes
  • Practical method for leading a defensible materiality assessment
  • Confidence to challenge unsupported sustainability claims and weak indicators
  • Working knowledge of emissions scopes, environmental aspects and social impacts
  • Reusable planning tools for sustainability reporting and governance discussions

For your organisation

  • Clearer prioritisation of sustainability issues affecting operations and stakeholders
  • Better alignment between SDG commitments, budgets, responsibilities and performance measures
  • More reliable sustainability data through defined indicators and control owners
  • Reduced greenwashing exposure through evidence-based claims and disclosure controls
  • Stronger integration of environmental, social and governance risks into management decisions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can explain sustainable development principles and apply systems thinking to organisational decisions.

  • Sustainable development definitions: needs, limits, equity and intergenerational responsibility
  • Triple Bottom Line trade-offs between economic, environmental and social outcomes
  • Planetary boundaries and social foundations using the Doughnut Economics model
  • Systems mapping identifies feedback loops, externalities and unintended consequences
  • Life-cycle thinking traces upstream inputs, operational impacts and end-of-life effects
  • Precautionary and polluter-pays principles shape environmental management decisions

Participants can interpret the SDGs and identify relevant targets for organisational activities.

  • UN Sustainable Development Goals structure, targets, indicators and reporting limitations
  • SDG target language distinguishes organisational contribution from national accountability
  • Interdependencies between poverty, health, climate, biodiversity and decent work
  • Direct, indirect and induced impacts linked to SDG target areas
  • SDG Compass steps connect strategy, goal-setting, integration and communication
  • Negative contributions and trade-offs assessed before selecting priority SDGs

Participants can conduct a structured materiality assessment using evidence from affected stakeholders.

  • Materiality screening distinguishes financial, impact and stakeholder-priority issues
  • Double materiality maps enterprise effects alongside sustainability-related financial risks
  • Stakeholder mapping assesses influence, dependence, vulnerability and legitimate expectations
  • Interview protocols document affected groups, evidence sources and unresolved concerns
  • Material topic scoring uses scale definitions, evidence quality and approval rules
  • Materiality matrices communicate priority issues without obscuring uncertainty or dissent

Participants can convert material sustainability issues into SDG-aligned targets and action logic.

  • SDG target selection links material impacts to specific 2030 targets
  • SDG Compass steps translate priorities into goals, indicators and action plans
  • Target logic models connect inputs, activities, outputs, outcomes and impacts
  • Theory of Change tests assumptions, causal pathways and external dependencies
  • SMART targets distinguish ambition statements from measurable management commitments
  • SDG interaction analysis identifies synergies, trade-offs and potential harm

Participants can establish accountability structures for sustainability commitments, risks and corrective actions.

  • Board oversight assigns sustainability accountabilities, escalation routes and review cadence
  • RACI matrices clarify ownership for targets, data controls and corrective actions
  • Policy hierarchies connect corporate commitments with site procedures and contractor requirements
  • Human rights due diligence identifies salient risks and response priorities
  • Supplier codes address labour, environmental, ethics and grievance expectations
  • Grievance mechanisms require accessibility, confidentiality, non-retaliation and documented remedy

Participants can define environmental priorities, emissions boundaries and performance measures.

  • GHG Protocol scopes classify direct emissions, purchased energy and value-chain emissions
  • Activity data and emission factors produce auditable greenhouse-gas inventories
  • Science-based target concepts distinguish absolute reductions from intensity improvements
  • Climate risk registers separate physical hazards from transition exposures
  • ISO 14001 aspects-and-impacts registers prioritise significant environmental controls
  • Resource efficiency indicators track energy, water, waste and material consumption

Participants can identify and manage workforce, community and occupational health and safety impacts.

  • Occupational health and safety indicators distinguish leading and lagging measures
  • Incident investigation applies barrier analysis, root-cause analysis and corrective actions
  • Worker consultation identifies psychosocial risks, fatigue and contractor safety concerns
  • Community impact assessment addresses livelihoods, access, health and cultural heritage
  • Gender-responsive analysis tests whether benefits and harms differ by group
  • Social performance plans assign mitigations, owners, deadlines and verification methods

Participants can design sustainability data systems that support reliable metrics and audit trails.

  • Indicator dictionaries define metrics, units, boundaries, sources and calculation methods
  • Data-control matrices assign collection, review, approval and retention responsibilities
  • GRI Standards apply material topics, disclosures and reporting principles
  • Baseline analysis sets reference years, normalisation factors and data-quality thresholds
  • KPIs pair outcome measures with operational drivers and leading indicators
  • Assurance-ready evidence files retain calculations, source records and change logs

Participants can prepare credible sustainability disclosures and communications supported by evidence.

  • ISSB concepts connect sustainability risks with enterprise value and financial effects
  • GRI-based reporting explains material impacts, management approach and topic disclosures
  • Claims substantiation prevents greenwashing through evidence, boundaries and qualified language
  • Stakeholder communications match message content, channel, timing and sensitivity
  • Reporting calendars coordinate operational data, governance review and publication deadlines
  • Disclosure controls test consistency between sustainability reports, websites and investor materials

Participants can build a prioritised implementation plan for sustained SDG integration.

  • Gap assessments compare current practices against targets, controls and disclosure requirements
  • Prioritisation matrices rank actions by impact, feasibility, cost and urgency
  • Implementation roadmaps sequence quick wins, capability building and longer-term investments
  • Budget cases quantify resource needs, avoided losses and expected benefits
  • Change-management plans address sponsorship, communications, training and resistance points
  • 90-day action plans specify owners, milestones, measures and governance reviews

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

What you take back to work

  1. Double materiality assessment template
  2. SDG target alignment matrix
  3. Sustainability governance RACI matrix
  4. GHG inventory boundary checklist
  5. Sustainability indicator dictionary
  6. 90-day SDG integration action plan

Who should attend

  • Sustainability Managers — responsible for translating commitments into measurable programmes
  • HSE Managers — linking environmental and safety controls with sustainability priorities
  • CSR and ESG Officers — preparing materiality assessments, disclosures and stakeholder plans
  • Risk and Compliance Managers — assessing sustainability risks, controls and accountability
  • Operations and Supply Chain Managers — managing resource, labour and supplier impacts
  • Public Sector and NGO Programme Managers — aligning programmes with SDG targets and outcomes

Skills and tools covered

Materiality assessmentSDG target settingSustainability governanceClimate data managementESG reportingImplementation planning

Tools and standards

SDG Compass, GHG Protocol, GRI Standards, ISO 14001

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings to introduce frameworks, standards and decision methods, followed by guided case work and group analysis. Participants assess material issues, map SDG targets, review emissions boundaries, define indicators and test disclosure claims against available evidence. Scenarios reflect common challenges in corporate, public-sector and development settings. Facilitated discussions compare alternative responses to trade-offs, stakeholder concerns and weak data. Each participant develops an application plan based on a current organisational priority.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have basic familiarity with their organisation’s operations, policies, projects or reporting responsibilities. Experience in sustainability, HSE, CSR, risk, compliance, operations, procurement, development programmes or corporate reporting is useful. Participants should be able to interpret simple operational data such as energy use, workforce figures, incidents or supplier information. No prior sustainability qualification is required. The course does not assume previous knowledge of GRI Standards, GHG accounting, ISO 14001, financial reporting or formal impact assessment methods.

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

Participants should understand their organisation’s activities, projects, operations or reporting processes. Previous study of sustainability standards, emissions accounting or ESG reporting is not required.

Bring a current sustainability, HSE, CSR, risk, procurement or operational issue that requires action. Public reports, policies, emissions figures or existing KPI lists are useful but not essential.

It is designed for managers and specialists responsible for sustainability, HSE, CSR, ESG, risk, compliance, operations, procurement or development programmes. It also suits professionals asked to contribute data or actions to sustainability reporting.

The course links sustainable development principles directly to SDG targets, materiality, governance, climate data, social performance and reporting. It focuses on planning and evidence methods rather than corporate philanthropy or a single environmental standard.

Participants can use the templates to assess material issues, assign ownership, define KPIs and create an implementation roadmap. The methods can be applied to a site, business unit, project, programme or enterprise-wide sustainability plan.

Each training day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides about 6.5 contact hours. The five days cover ten modules in teaching order, with briefings, case analysis, group work, discussion and application planning.

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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