HAPPY AND PROUD TO BE AWARDED THE DIPLOMA FOR GRADUATING A 5 WEEK TRAINING COURSE ON NATURE-BASED INFRASTRUCTURE!!

HAPPY AND PROUD TO BE AWARDED THE DIPLOMA FOR GRADUATING A 5 WEEK TRAINING COURSE ON NATURE-BASED INFRASTRUCTURE FOR CLIMATE ADAPTATION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OFFERED BY THE NATURE BASED INFRASTRUCTURE RESOURCE CENTRE (NBI RC), INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (IISD), THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT FACILITY (GEF) , THE MAVA FOUNDATION AND THE UNITED NATIONS INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (UNIDO)!!?

Consequently I would like to express my thanks and congratulations to the organizers of this insightful training course - NBI RC, IISD, GEF, MAVA Foundation and UNIDO as well as to all the speakers and moderators!

In the training course was explored not only the concept of Nature-based Infrastructure and its role in climate adaptation but also:?

- How to integrate NBI into infrastructure planning.

- What is the SAVi methodology and how it can help policy makers and investors.

- How to apply systems thinking and system dynamics in assessments of NBI.

- How climate data and spatial analysis help to understand ecosystem services.

- How to build the business case for NBI with spreadsheet models and overcome financing challenges with innovative solutions.

The 5-week live program consisted of 10 interactive online sessions (90 minutes per session). These sessions gave us the opportunity to ask questions to experts from the NBI Global Resource Centre, exchange experiences with other participants from around the world, and dive deeper into the course topics through interactive exercises.

During the program, each week was dedicated to one of the five course modules.?

The schedule for the live sessions was as follows:

- 19 September: Module 1 Session 1 - Introduction to nature-based infrastructure (NBI)

- 22 September: Module 1 Session 2 - NBI and climate adaptation

- 26 September: Module 2 Session 1 - Infrastructure planning

- 29 September: Module 2 Session 2 - Introduction to the Sustainable Asset Valuation methodology

- 3 October: Module 3 Session 1 - Systems thinking

- 6 October: Module 3 Session 2 - System dynamics

- 10 October: Module 4 Session 1 - Spatial analysis

- 13 October: Module 4 Session 2 - Climate data

- 17 October: Module 5 Session 1 - Project Finance

- 20 October: Module 5 Session 2 - Financing NBI

In my opinion the Nature-based Infrastructure (NBI) course was very useful as it covered many interesting and relevant topics ensuring a real know-how transfer from the speakers towards the trainees.?

Personally, at the end of this training course I can say that I have a good understanding of the basics of systems thinking, system dynamics models, spatial models and project finance models applied to NBI project evaluation.

I can also state that the training course allows me to get a reliable theoretical framework needed for analysing the risk profile and the climate resilience benefits of NBI projects in comparison to the traditional "grey" infrastructure, as well as to grasp of the economic, financial performance and co-benefits of NBIs. All these makes it easier for me to do a comparative analysis against the or “grey” infrastructure needed for an investment decision.

The course also helped me to acquire the necessary knowledge needed to appreciate the effectiveness of an integrated (financial-wise and sustainability-wise) NBI assessment approach and to identify and evaluate its opportunities and positive impact for climate adaptation and sustainable development through its potential economic, environmental and social benefits.

This is why I intend to apply in my future work as a consultant and trainer all the know-how I acquired during this outstanding training course.

SUGGESTIONS

In order to improve the NBI training course delivered I believe there is a need for a more specialized and mainly PRACTICAL approach of the training course. I have extensive experience (over 20 years) within the banking sector, including in financial and credit analysis, microfinance and SME finance.?

Last year I decided to adopt a change in my professional career into the environment protection, climate change risk managenent, green & blue finance, nature-based investments, circular economy, etc. I am a fan of the PRACTICAL APPROACH LEARNING using real case studies. This is why I am interested in acquiring PRACTICAL KNOW-HOW related to the financial and, ESPECIALLY, sustainability evaluation of a NBI project.

The traditional credit analysis / project evaluation is based on the "5 Cs of credit" theory - Capacity, Capital, Collateral, Conditions and Character. Now we need to add two more "C"s to this credit analysis and project evaluation method: the C_limate C_hange!

In this regard I think it would be wise to have a module of at least 2 days, 3-4 hours each?where a case study should be presented thoroughly - each step of the project evaluation and financing , presenting the synergy of the sustainability evaluation (KPIs and other components of analysis) and the financial evaluation (KPIs - ratio and projected financial statements analysis) .

Therefore I think it would be much more relevant that the NBI training course to include in depth training module of at least 2 days, 3-4 hours each covering the presentation of EACH STAGE of a NBI project evaluation covering the financial sustainability and the environment sustainability.

2. It may be wise a segmentation of the targeted audience according to their level of expertise. In this respect we may have separate, customized NBI training courses for Advanced, Intermediate and Beginners.

3. THERE IS A NEED FOR A REFERENCE POLICY MANUAL, PROCEDURES AND EXCEL MODEL FOR FINANCIAL AND SUSTAINABILITY NBI PROJECT EVALUATION IN ORDER TO ENSURE UNIFORMITY AND STANDARDIZATION?WITHIN THE FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS (banks, investment funds).

IISD, GEF, MAVA Foundation, UNIDO and other international organizations (European Commission, European Central Bank, ADB, IFRS-ISSB, etc) could set up a team of experts (including also practicioners like myself) in charge with the development of a such policy manual.

I belIeve we need to think to a BEST PRACTICES approach in designing a UNIFORM STANDARD POLICY MANUAL, PROCEDURES AND EXCEL MODEL FOR THE TWO TYPES OF EVALUATING A NBI PROJECT:

- financial evaluation (KPIs)

- sustainability evaluation (KPIs)

This should also include a NBI scoring system based on the synergy of the above two types of KPIs.

The respective two types of KPIs and the scoring system should be embedded into a NBI SOFTWARE APPLICATION, along with a detailed user guide. All these should be integrated into a comprehensive POLICY MANUAL can be utilized as a standard / reference everywhere in the world. This way we could also ensure realistic research comparability among NBI projects worldwide.

Once again my thanks and congratulations to the organizers of this insightful training course - the IISD, the GEF, the MAVA Foundation and the UNIDO, to all the speakers and especially to the moderators Ronja, Emma, Lisbeth and Belinda!!!"

George Florin Staicu

Global Sustainability Ambassador; member of the International Finance Corporation - Grow Learn Connect Directory of Training Professionals; USAID banking scholarship recipient; member of Green Forum; member of the Professional Risk Managers' International Association; Independent banking, microfinance, SME lending, ESG, UN SDGs, EU Green Deal, Fintech & Ecotech promoter, Public-Private Partnership promoter, circular economy, green - blue inclusive sustainable development & finance, ISSB, CDP, GRI & UNEP TCFD & PRB reporting standards, blended finance, gender equality, social performance, learning & development, strategic planning, risk management, team leader, senior project manager, consultant, trainer and business coach

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Signatory of the International Finance Corporation - GLC Principles for Learning (https://lnkd.in/e7rkAn6)

Global Ambassador of Sustainability - initiative - partnership UNESCO, UN Habitat and American University of Dubai - https://lnkd.in/dxaSfHaY

Member of the Green Forum managed by the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership led by the Global Green Growth Institute, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, UN Environment Programme, United Nations Industrial Organization and The World Bank Group. - https://lnkd.in/dnecxuDb

Expert and Mentor at the "Anticorruption Solutions Through Emerging Technologies" (ASET) Tech Sprint project (June 10 - 24, 2022) a partnership between the Alliance for Innovative Regulation, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs and the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Terrorist Financing and Financial Crimes - https://lnkd.in/d5hWtNpD

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Post-graduate (March-May, 2022) of the Siena International School on Sustainable Development sponsored by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN), the Italian Alliance for Sustainable Development (ASviS); Santa Chiara Lab – University of Siena; Enel Foundation; the Italian University Network for Sustainable Development (RUS) and the SDSN Europe - https://lnkd.in/eMcHGuNG

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and

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