Training Program
International 2008 Economic Tools Course
Since 1999, CSF has been offering conservation professionals a set of skills that is key for success in protecting the environment. Our teaching process encompasses rigorous classroom instruction, as well as hands-on field education. We strive to equip every participant in our courses with a solid understanding of economic fundamentals, fluency in the language of economics, and an ability to zero in on the best opportunities to apply economics to conservation practice.
The Courses
Our Economic Tools for Conservation courses are unique in their insistence on teaching the basics of market theory, known as microeconomics. This theoretical base is indispensable for the professional who wants to go on and study the values of environmental goods and services, forestry policy, or any other key natural resource issues. From there, course participants proceed to a thorough overview of techniques for valuing the natural environment, calculating incentives for resource exploitation, and designing smart policies for their conservation. They finish the course with a primer on financial analysis of projects and policies.
We recognize that environmental advocates need to communicate their analysis and proposals intelligibly if they are to win over policy-makers, the general public and even their fellow conservationists. Therefore, we regularly include exercises on communication and negotiation in our trainings. In 2007, we expect to begin offering entire courses on environmental negotiation.
"I truly believe that I have received one, if not the best piece of schooling since my University days in the UK. Perhaps my way of appreciating the excellent multi-cultural training we received is to use it, and sure like rain we are using it!"
- Peter Mbile, Cameroon. International 2005 Course Participant
Sample Course Announcement
Sample Course Schedule
Field Training
CSF has undertaken nearly 30 policy or economic analysis projects in North, South and Central America, as well as Africa. We normally do these projects with our course graduates and use them as opportunities to transfer skills and strategies to our trainees. The projects present a range of challenges from finding data, to using specialized software, to presenting the results so that they are understood and acted upon to conserve the environment.
Results
This process has helped 600 professionals from around 55 countries protect the most diverse array of ecosystems, from the Mongolian steppes to the Amazon rainforest. Our graduates are protecting wildlife on all the inhabited continents, as well as ensuring more equitable sharing of resources among different social groups. CSF graduates have teamed with us to do analyses that have helped save millions of acres of natural habitat. They have also gone on to wield influence in important environmental posts, have been inspired to pursue advanced degrees in economics and have replicated CSF’s trainings in their home counties.
Want to take a course?
Watch this site for course announcements. We give our international course in California every August and advertise it here. If you are in Brazil, watch the site of the International Institute for Education in Brazil – www.iieb.org.br – our lead partner for training in that country. If you don’t see an upcoming course that’s appropriate for you, please email us at training@conservation.org for help in finding one.
Want to create a course with us?
We are glad to collaborate with you to deliver a training. Contact us and we can discuss location, timing, themes, instructors and the cost of implementing a course.
