Course overview

Welcome to this course "Building Synergies among the three Rio Conventions: UNFCCC, CBD, and UNCCD"! Developed under the Rio Conventions Joint Capacity-Building Programme, this course supports the strengthening of capacities of national institutions, policymakers, and practitioners to build and promote synergies among the three Rio Conventions and the Sustainable Development Goals. 

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Explain the roles, mandates, and main areas of convergence among the three Rio Conventions, and articulate why synergies are essential for global environmental governance.
  • Identify key interlinkages across climate, biodiversity, and land agendas, and understand the institutional mechanisms, international frameworks, and national processes that enable synergetic actions.
  • Analyze real-world case studies and identify concrete entry points for strengthening synergies in national planning, strategies and project implementation.
  • Mobilize and align financial resources to support synergistic projects.
  • Integrate Indigenous and Local Knowledge into policy and project design, implementation, and monitoring.

Content and Duration

The course is currently organized into four complementary lessons (please note that further lessons will be added in the coming months):

  • Lesson 1 lays the foundations. You will explore the mandates of the three Rio Conventions, understand what synergies are and why they matter, and identify the key interlinkages, co-benefits, and institutional processes that support coordinated action.

The next three lessons dive into action-oriented themes:

  • Lesson 2: Integrated planning of strategies and policies under the Rio Conventions
  • Lesson 3: Accessing and mobilizing finance for synergistic projects
  • Lesson 4: Enhancing the role of local and Indigenous knowledge in supporting synergies amongst the Rio Conventions

Each lesson is built around:

  • Conceptual inputs
  • real-world case studies,
  • an expert-led webinar,
  • a concise info brief to help you quickly grasp the essentials,
  • additional resources and material developed by technical partners. 

You will also find a short quiz at the end of each lesson to test your knowledge, and a final general assessment that grants you a certificate upon successful completion.

 
Each lesson takes about 1 hour and 30 minutes (a total of about 6 hours for the four lessons), and you can follow the course at your own pace.
This module was designed with technical support from Rio Impact.