In light of the strong response and the interest in gaining knowledge about the climate changes now under way, the options for mitigating them and ways of adapting to the risks that climate change brings, the Ministry of Climate and Energy (KEM) is extending the registration period for the e-learning course “Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation” and widening the circle of potential participants. Representatives of local governments and their institutions, planning regions, state administration bodies and non-governmental organisations, as well as other interested parties, are invited to take the e-learning course.

By taking the e-learning course, participants will gain knowledge and understanding of the climate and climate change, of international and national climate policy and the ways it can be implemented, including the instruments for implementing climate policy, and of how climate change issues can be integrated into various planning processes at regional and local level.

The e-course comprises 11 academic hours in an online environment. The course materials include both theory and practical exercises. Completing the course will help answer the following questions:

·       What is climate change and how does it manifest itself worldwide and in Latvia?

·       What risks are associated with climate change?

·       How is climate change monitoring carried out?

·       What are the main directions and objectives of climate policy?

·       What instruments are used to implement climate policy?

·       How can climate policy issues be successfully integrated at regional and local government level?

·       How can public involvement in climate policy planning be ensured?

Those who successfully complete the course and pass the final test will receive a certificate.

Registration for the e-learning course is through the Learning Management System of the Latvian School of Public Administration (https://mps.vas.gov.lv/edu/registration/854). Registration for the 1st learning group is open until 19 April this year. The e-learning course will be available until the end of this year. The schedule of the upcoming learning groups and their registration deadlines is given below:

For further information about registration, please contact Elīna Riņķe, administrator of the Learning Management System at the Latvian School of Public Administration (elina.rinke@vas.gov.lv, tel. 67821288).

Between October 2023 and March 2024, 275 specialists from a number of Latvian local governments and planning regions successfully completed the e-learning course and obtained certificates.

The e-learning course was developed under predefined project No. LV-CLIMATE-0001 “Integration of climate change policy into sectoral and regional policy” of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism 2014–2021 programme “Climate Change Mitigation, Adaptation and Environment”. Further information about the project is available here.

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