"Natural Resources For Sustainable Development" Multi-Mode Course
Dates
Online phase: Mart 23 - May 25, 2020
Residential phase: June 24 - July 02, 2020
Final Assignment due on: October 15, 2020
Location
Online and Khazar University, Baku
Description
Responsive and comprehensive resource governance outcomes depend on the details of well-formed policies. Shortsighted approaches offering quick-fix solutions to complex economic challenges in post-Soviet Eurasia make efficient and accountable resource governance elusive. Transparent and accountable resource governance and implementation of innovative methods within the system of governance provides an opportunity to reach stable development and prosperity for the country.
Efficient policy programs are an important ingredient for reaching positive results in resource governance in extractive industries. A knowledge gap among critical decision-makers can be observed in the region. In order to fill this gap, we are organizing this multi-mode course.
The multi-mode course offers a well-grounded knowledge of theories and practices for efficient resource governance. The overarching goal of the course is to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary:
- For building a broad understanding of policy challenges in resource governance with an in-depth focus on legal and fiscal framework and revenue management
- For developing policy scenarios with integrating analytical tools into forming an information base in the decision-making process
- For assessing most relevant decisions in achieving specific country development priorities
- For building up necessary skills in usage of data in evidence-based policymaking
The program aims to facilitate a rich dialogue about best practices from around the globe and their lessons for countries in the region. Lectures, online Q&A's and discussions combined with practical work based on case studies, policy analysis and peer-to-peer exchange with practitioners and experts in the field will help participants to share experience in reversing the resource curse for sustainable development.
One of the previous participants of the Eurasia Hub training course Chinara Yagubova, civil society representative from Azerbaijan said: “I participated at the trainings offered by the Eurasia Hub two times - in 2013 and 2018. I started feeling more confident in handling issues of transparency and accountability in extractive industries, which is one of the core action fields of the NGO I work for.”
Content:
The program will comprise of three stages.
Online stage (2 months):
Participants will acquire introductory knowledge about resource governance and will need to complete weekly assignments in order to be considered for the residential stage. The learners will get a chance to have a live session with the lecturers of the residential phase.
Residential stage (10 days):
The participants for the residential stage will be selected based on their performance during the online phase, the relevance of their background and future career perspectives. After gaining a solid understanding of key tenets of natural resource decision chain participants will spend 10 days at Khazar University. All participants will attend sessions on the political economy of policy-making in resource-rich states, policy analysis, and design, data analysis, policy options for sustainable development. Thereafter, they will be asked to choose one of two paths:
Path 1: Getting a good deal: Designing and evaluating fiscal regimes
Course participants will gain a better understanding of the key features of these tools, their similarities and differences, and the challenges of administering taxes and effectively collecting revenues. Participants who choose Path 1 will be able to dive deeper into these issues and develop key practical and analytical skills. Their time will be evenly divided between classroom lectures and group work. In guided workshop sessions, Path 1 participants will learn to read and use Excel-based models to evaluate and compare different fiscal regimes, make investment decisions, forecast revenue streams and assess risks of revenue leakages.
Courses and exercises covered in Path 1 will include licensing and allocation of rights and links to cost-benefit analyses, contracts in extractive industries, the institutional framework of the fiscal regime, transparency and tax evasion, which will provide participants with a nuanced and practical understanding of tax policy in resource-rich countries.
Path 2: Distributing, Managing, and Spending Resource Revenues
Participants in Path 2 will explore how to analyze and overcome over-dependence on a single source of revenue, over-borrowing, followed by debt crises, poor quality public investment, destabilizing “boom-and-bust” cycles.
Sessions will examine the causes of weak development outcomes in resource-rich environments and elaborate on some available tools to improve the distribution, management, and use of oil, gas, and mineral revenues. These tools include rules describing revenue distribution to the national budget, special funds, sub-national jurisdictions, and state-owned companies; rules controlling the amount of resource revenues that enter the domestic economy; public accountability mechanisms for revenue and expenditure management; and formulation and implementation of national and sub-national development plans.
Final Assignment:
This could take the form of a research or analytical paper to inform in-country debates or specific policy recommendations for the government, depending on the affiliation and level of influence of the participant. Each student will be assigned a corresponding Eurasia Hub instructor to provide mentorship. This is a mandatory part of the program for completion.
Potential participants:
Mid-level government, senior parliamentary staff, specialized civil society and media, international development agencies and private company representatives, as well as academics and researchers from countries of the Eurasia region. Self-funded participants are welcome.
Language:
The working language of the course is Russian. Materials in both English and Russian languages will be used.
Costs:
Eurasia Hub will cover all the costs of the course for selected participants. This includes accommodation, meals, transport (flight tickets) to Baku and airport transfers within Baku. The costs occurring during the travel to and from the airport at the location of residency will not be covered by the Hub. Please note that self-funded participants are also welcome.
For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://eurasiahub.khazar.org/en/view_event/12?fbclid=IwAR1iMjzva6mTIFH4A2f2V_Vrbl9EnVkQFbRj9a-aAhmQQKYHbvQQXh1itIU