Capacity-Building Courses for Integrating Sustainable Development into Policy Planning and Implementation

This report reviews capacity-building courses offered by 24 international organizations between 2013 and 2014 to assess how sustainable development is integrated into policy planning and implementation. The review identifies a significant gap in courses that directly focus on sustainable development policy and planning, suggesting that while thematic courses exist, there is a need for more integrated strategic frameworks and management tools to support the Post-2015 Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

• The review analyzed over 1,500 courses from 24 organizations, categorizing them into those focusing directly on sustainable development planning (Category 1) and those focusing on specific themes, tools, and methodologies (Category 2).
• There is a notable deficiency in courses dedicated to sustainable development policy and planning, with these representing less than 4 per cent of the total courses reviewed.
• Of the 53 courses in Category 1 (SD planning), approximately half were based on broad policy frameworks and half on theme-based policy frameworks. For the 137 courses in Category 2, about 80% focused on narrow themes, while the remainder focused on tools and methodologies.
• Development agencies provided the highest volume of courses in both categories, offering 20 courses on SD planning and 73 courses on themes, tools, and methodologies.
• Many existing courses on budgeting, procurement, and financial issues are relevant to sustainable development implementation but currently lack a specific sustainable development perspective.
• The report recommends designing new targeted courses for government policy-makers, mainstreaming sustainable development into existing sectoral courses, and monitoring the global process of defining SDGs to understand capacity needs.

APA

Pintér, L., & Huppé, G. A. (2014). Capacity-Building Courses for Integrating Sustainable Development into Policy Planning and Implementation. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sdplannet_capacity_building.pdf

Chicago

Pintér, László, and Gabriel A. Huppé. Capacity-Building Courses for Integrating Sustainable Development into Policy Planning and Implementation. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2014. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sdplannet_capacity_building.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Pintér |first1=László |last2=Huppé |first2=Gabriel A. |title=Capacity-Building Courses for Integrating Sustainable Development into Policy Planning and Implementation |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=April 2014 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sdplannet_capacity_building.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{pintr2014capacitybuilding, author = {Pintér, László and Huppé, Gabriel A.}, title = {{Capacity-Building Courses for Integrating Sustainable Development into Policy Planning and Implementation}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2014}, month = apr, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/sdplannet_capacity_building.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }