SDGAcademyX: Environmental Security and Sustaining Peace

• How natural resources and the environment impact conflict
• How conflict harms natural resources and the environment
• How natural resources and the environment support peacebuilding
• How you can assess and address the relationship between natural resources and conflict

Module 1: Course Overview (Week 1)

• Welcome and Introduction
• Evolution of Environment, Peace, and Conflict Linkages
• Conceptual Framework for Environmental Peacebuilding
• Case Study: Environmental Peacebuilding in Colombia
• Case Study: Extractives and Peacebuilding in Aynak, Afghanistan

Module 2: Natural Resources and Conflict Causes (Weeks 2 and 3)

• Introduction to Module 2
• Drivers of Violent Conflict Emergence
• Case Study: Diamonds and Conflict in Sierra Leone
• Climate Stress, Conflict, and Peacebuilding
• Case Study: Climate Change Dimensions of the Arab Spring
• Governance and Resilience
• Transparency and Access to Information
• Conflict Sensitivity
• Mediating Natural Resource Conflicts
• Case Study: Land as a Conflict Driver in Sierra Leone
• Wrap-up of Module 2

Module 3: Natural Resources and the Environment during Armed Conflict (Weeks 4 and 5)

• Introduction to Module 3
• The Importance of Natural Resources during Conflict
• Environmental Impacts of Armed Conflict
• Breakdown of Environmental Governance and Social Relationships
• Conflict Resources and Pillage
• Case Study: Blood Chocolate - Cacao and Conflict in Côte d'Ivoire
• National Tools for Addressing Conflict Resources
• International Law Protecting the Environment during Armed Conflict
• Implementing International Law during Armed Conflict
• UN Security Council Tools for Addressing Resource Conflicts
• Case Study: Diamonds, Timber and Conflict in Liberia
• Natural Resources in Peace Agreements
• Wrap-up of Module 3

Module 4: Post-Conflict Environmental Peacebuilding (Weeks 6 and 7)

• Introduction to Module 4
• Environment and Natural Resources in Post-Conflict Assessments
• Renewable and Nonrenewable Resources for Recovery
• Natural Resources in Security and Stabilization
• Restoring Livelihoods and Building Resilience
• Resources as Entry Points for Dialogue and Cooperation
• Case Study: Cooperation around Shared Water in the Jordan River
• Rebuilding Environmental Governance
• Empowering Women in Natural Resource Management and Peacebuilding
• Spatial Planning and Recovery
• Mitigating Environmental Impacts of Reconstruction
• Coordination in Peacebuilding
• Case Study: Environmental Peacebuilding through Water Management in Wadi El Ku, Sudan
• Wrap-up of Module 4

Module 5: Course Wrap-up and Final Assignment (Week 8)

• Course Wrap-up and Final Assessment

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