Urban affairs ministry programme intends to train 5,000 professionals to drive climate action
Leaders in Climate Change Management (LCCM), a practice-based learning programme developed by the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA) and the World Resources Institute (WRI) India, aims to create capacity among urban professionals to lead climate action across sectors and geographies in India.
On Monday, the Administrative Training Institute (ATI) in Mysuru signed a tripartite agreement of understanding with the NIUA and WRI India to conduct this face-to-face learning programme, becoming the program’s first delivery partner.
LCCM aims to train 5,000 professionals, including mid-to junior-level government officials and frontline workers, to support climate change adaptation and mitigation measures as part of a coordinated effort to meet India’s climate goals. The event also celebrated the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ contributions to India’s urban climate goals, which the NIUA supports.
Hardeep Singh Puri, Union minister for housing and urban affairs, said, “It is most appropriate and fitting that we are launching the programme today immediately after the celebration of World Environment Day yesterday. This programme is another initiative in a long line of government interventions to not only combat climate change but also to build a new path of sustainable development that fulfils our economic conditions.”
V Manjula, Karnataka’s additional chief secretary and director-general of ATI Mysuru, said, “Given the rapid urbanisation of states like Karnataka, this is a very great move. ATI is uniquely positioned to be part of the initiative as we do have centres of excellence to give focused training on disaster management, sustainable development goals, e-governance and data analytics etc. People are aware of climate change impacts and know that it requires urgent action but many times there is a lack of capacity and lack of management structures.”
He further added, “We intend to leverage this collaboration and the experience gained in the process as a springboard for launching an extensive state-level training partner program in LCCM and to emerge as a centre of excellence at the national level for LCCM. At ATI we are looking forward to this initiative to learn from this and to be able to embed climate change in various training programs which we conduct at state and national levels for officers.”
The LCCM programme, developed in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme and the Indian School of Business, intends to enhance India’s workforce to attain this goal. It’s a blended learning programme for city professionals who want to improve their skills and prepare to implement successful climate action. The programme is divided into four phases: the first is an eight-week online learning module; the second includes four to six-day face-to-face sessions; the third requires participants to complete a project over six to eight months and attend exposure visits, and the final phase includes networking and establishing a community of practice.
