Industrial policy—or strategic government measures that aim to promote new economic sectors and accelerate structural change—has traditionally been employed to enhance productivity, boost competitiveness, and promote economic growth. Today, green industrial policy follows this same approach of state-driven structural change while also promoting broader social and environmental goals.

By drawing from recent examples of green industrial policy, countries can generate the benefits of traditional industrial policy, create new jobs, while also accelerating the shift away from carbon- and resource-intensive industrial production to more sustainable models. By doing so, they can advance the transition towards a green economy, and reduce the numerous environmental risks lying ahead.

The course is designed to advance learning on green industrial policy at a high technical level, and serves two types of users. First, it provides individual learners with the knowledge and tools to grasp and shape the global debate on green, structural change. Second, it also offers a series of teaching materials that have been developed for uptake by academic institutions. Lecturers and instructors are encouraged to use these materials and to apply them within their instructional activities, for example by integrating them into existing curricula and/or programmes.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

The course's materials are designed to help achieve the following learning objectives:

• Explain the rationale for advancing green industry
• Differentiate the main concepts related to green industrial policy
• Highlight relevant empirical evidence in support of policy reform
• Distinguish policy instruments to foster structural change
• Appraise strategic considerations during policy design, implementation, and evaluation
• Outline the relationship between green industrial policy and trade

TARGET AUDIENCE

The course serves two types of users. First, individual learners may complete the standalone, self-paced online course on UNITAR's UN CC:Learn platform. Second, the course's materials have been designed for uptake by academic institutions. These materials can therefore be freely used, shared, and distributed by those that are teaching green industrial policy or related topics.

The course should be of particular interest to the following audiences:

• Universities and training institutions, e.g. those entities educating the current and next generation of decision makers in public and private sectors
• Policymakers and planners, e.g. those working on the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of green industrial policy 
• Civil society, e.g. non-governmental organizations, advocacy groups, and industrial associations

STRUCTURE AND CONTENTS

The course is composed of 5 modules:

• Module 1: Industrial Policy: Challenges and Opportunities
• Module 2: Green Industrial Policy: Conceptual Foundations
• Module 3: Strategic Development of Green Industrial Policy
• Module 4: Green Industrial Policy Instruments
• Module 5: Green Industrial Policy and Trade

METHODOLOGY

Users may choose their own custom learning path from a suite of different materials. These include:

• Video lectures
• Core and in-depth readings
• Podcasts
• Factsheets
• Assessments
• Multimedia resources

These materials can be chosen in a modular way, and integrated into existing instructional activities such as workshops, lectures or seminars—blending online and in-presence formats. 

CERTIFICATION

A Certificate of Completion can be obtained upon passing the final assessment quiz.

PAGE’s new course on Green Industrial Policy: Promoting Competitiveness and Structural Transformation forms part of PAGE’s “Learning for a Green Recovery” initiative. The course, and others in this series, can be taken online at UNITAR’s flagship UN CC:Learn platform, which now has more than 300,000 users worldwide.