Overview
USAID conducts regular Basic Training Workshops in Environmental Compliance and Environmentally Sound Design and Management (ESDM) for USAID staff.
The overall goal of these workshops is to strengthen ESDM of Agency-funded activities by assuring that participants have the motivation, knowledge and skills necessary to (1) achieve environmental compliance during project implementation, and (2) otherwise integrate environmental considerations in detailed activity design and management to improve overall project acceptance and sustainability.
Technical content is geared towards development professionals who are not environmental specialists and may not have detailed familiarity with USAID’s environmental procedures.
The workshops fully integrate adult learning best practice, including a focus on peer learning and with at least half of the agenda dedicated to team-based field work and classroom exercises that alternate with classroom theory to provide practical application and learning reinforcement.
| Target Audience | USAID mission staff and implementing partners |
|---|---|
| Length | 3 to 4.5 days (1- and 2-day options are available, but do not include field visits) |
| Emphasis | Compliance and ESDM during activity implementation, with extended practical exercises focused on development of environmental mitigation and monitoring plans (EMMPs) to implement IEE conditions. Beyond core sessions, the agenda includes special topics of specific relevance to training participants and the USAID country portfolio. |
| Field Visits | At least one field visit, and sometimes two, which are the basis for the practical exercises. |
See the training calendar for upcoming workshops. Contact the COR for USAID’s Environmental Compliance Support Project for information regarding native-format workshop materials and organization.
Agenda and Training Materials
The sample agenda below provides access to a representative set of training materials for these workshops. The agenda and materials are from a workshop held in Morogoro, Tanzania in February 2017. Agenda (PDF). Agenda (DOC).
NOTE: Materials are produced for USAID review and may not represent the view of USAID or the United States Government.
Day 1: Overview of Environmentally Sound Design and Management (ESDM)and skill-building in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
| Duration | Session Number, Name & Description |
|---|---|
| 0:15 | Welcome & Opening Statements. Highlight training objectives, workshop content, and expected results. |
| 0:45 | 1. Workshop Objectives and Logistics; Participant Introduction and Expectations. Establish workshop objectives; brief the agenda and learning approach. Review logistics. Introduce participants; articulate expectations. Session Summary |
| 1:00 | 2a. Environmental Compliance for ESDM. Motivate the need to systematically address environmental considerations in development activities. Understand linkage between ESDM and project success; view this process in the context of environmental compliance. Session Summary. Presentation. |
| 0:30 | 2b. ESDM in the [Host County] Context. Review and discuss socio-cultural aspects of ESDM in [Host Country]; consider real-world examples of ESDM successes and failures. Presentation. |
| 0:45 | 3. Fundamental Skills of Environmental Impact Assessment. Understand the general EIA process and that USAID’s environmental procedures are a specific implementation of this process. Define EIA key terms—baseline, impact, activity—and learn essential classroom theory for key EIA skills of baseline characterization, impact identification and mitigation design. Session Summary. Presentation. |
| 0:30 | 4a. EIA Skill-building exercise: Briefing. Receive instruction on the methodology and objectives of the EIA skill-building exercise. Divide into small groups for the field-based exercise. Session Summary. Mafiga Presentation. |
| 2:00 | 4b. EIA Skill-building Exercise: Field Visit. Practice observation and assessment skills needed to characterize the baseline situation and identify impacts/issues of concern. |
| 1:30 | 4c. EIA Skill-Building Exercise: Group Work & Dialogue. Synthesize field observations and prioritize impacts/issues of concern. Discuss possible approaches for limiting adverse effects on the environment. |
Day 2: USAID Environmental Procedures and Mitigation and Monitoring of Activities
| Duration | Session Number, Name & Description |
|---|---|
| 1:00 | 4d. EIA Skill-Building Exercise: Report-out. Small groups present and discuss findings and recommendations based on the field visit. |
| 1:15 | 5. Environmental Impact Assessment and USAID’s Environmental Procedures. Review USAID’s implementation of the EIA process and the preparation of project/activity environmental compliance documents; understand how these documents establish environmental management criteria for USAID-funded activities. Session Summary. Presentation. |
| 1:00 | 6. Principles of Environmental Monitoring. Review key aspects of monitoring to ensure that project environmental compliance requirements are met and potential adverse impacts effectively mitigated; highlight the selection of clear and cost-effective monitoring indicators. Session Summary. Presentation. |
| 1:00 | 7. The Environmental Mitigation and Monitoring Plan. Understand the EMMP concept and format: who develops EMMPs and their role in “operationalizing” key elements of USAID Environmental Procedures and establishing and maintaining project environmental compliance. Session Summary. Presentation. Exercise. |
| 0:15 | 8. Introduction to the USAID Sector Environmental Guidelines (SEGs) and Related Resources. Deepen familiarity with environmental resources and tools, particularly the SEGs. Session Summary. |
| 1:30 | 9a. EMMP Skill-Building Exercise—Briefing & Classroom Preparation. Orientation to the case study sites that will be visited in the field. Organize participants by small group and distribute technical resources. Discuss potential adverse impacts of the case study site activities. Review background and reference materials and discuss approach for EMMP development in small-group format. Session Summary. |
Day 3: Field-based EMMP Exercise and Small-Group Collaboration
| Duration | Session Number, Name & Description |
|---|---|
| 5:00 | 9b. EMMP Skill-Building Exercise—Field Visit. Build and apply the core EIA and environmental compliance skills briefed in Days 1–2 via a field visit and follow-up group work to: 1) synthesize field observations; and 2) develop specific mitigation and monitoring measures for the top 2 –3 issues/impacts of concern at each site, with reference to the SEGs. |
| 3:00 | 9c. EMMP Skill-Building Exercise—Small Group Work. Advance discussions and compilation of field visit results into an EMMP format and a group presentation. |
Day 4: Present EMMPs and Address Special Topics
| Duration | Session Number, Name & Description |
|---|---|
| 1:30 | 9d. EMMP Skill-Building Exercise: Group Presentations. Articulate field visit findings, analysis, and EMMP development. |
| 0:30 | 10. Environmental Compliance Reporting. Guidance on EMMP-related and other environmental compliance reporting, including integration with broader project M&E and other reporting requirements. Session Summary. Presentation. |
| 4 @ 0:45 | 11–14. Special Topic Sessions. Typical topics include Water Quality Assurance Plans for Potable Water Supply (Session Summary, Presentation), Pesticide Compliance and Safer Use (Session Summary, Presentation), Environmental Compliance and Good Practice in Health Care Waste Management (Presentation), and Environmental Compliance and Good Practice in Construction (Session Summary, Presentation). |
| 1:30 | 15. Environmental Compliance/ESDM Knowledge Game. Review and reinforce key workshop content via a small-group competition. Session Summary. |
| 0:30 | 16. Q&A with Mission Environmental Officer and Regional Environmental Advisor. Presentation. |
Day 5: Way Forward
| Duration | Session Number, Name & Description |
|---|---|
| 0:45 | 17. Roles, Responsibilities & Resources. Summarize the various responsibilities of USAID staff and Implementing Partners (IPs); introduce additional key resources available to support environmental compliance and ESDM. Session Summary. Presentation. |
| 0:45 | 18. Resolving the “Parking Lot.” Address unresolved questions or issues and summarize information presented throughout the training. Session Summary. |
| 1:15 | 19. Bringing Curricula to Reality. Session Summary. |
| 0:15 | Workshop Evaluations. Evaluation Form. |
| 0:15 | Closing |