Building back better: Quality Infrastructure Investment MOOC
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Quality Infrastructure Investment, or QII, is getting a lot of attention these days, in large part because of its value in promoting green, inclusive, resilient development.
To meet growing demand, the World Bank's QII Partnership is launching a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) to help policymakers, development institutions, civil society, and private sector investors learn how infrastructure investment can contribute to post-pandemic economic recovery in a sustainable way.
The course runs from January 24 to February 24, 2022. They specifically address challenges facing infrastructure development today by maximizing the positive impact of infrastructure, raising economic efficiency, integrating environmental and social considerations, building resilience against disasters, and strengthening infrastructure governance. The principles provide a framework that puts these goals within reach.
What exactly is driving this interest in QII?
(SDGs). Three of them deal with infrastructure directly—clean water and sanitation (SDG 6), affordable and clean energy (SDG 7), and infrastructure (SDG 9). But many more can only be achieved with the support of infrastructure. For example, ending hunger (SDG 2) requires rural infrastructure for irrigation and transportation of agricultural products. Achieving good health and well-being (SDG 3) requires power and water for hospitals and clinics. And urban infrastructure is central to creating sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11).
Second, Power and transportation infrastructure, for example, contribute significantly to CO2 emissions. They are also vulnerable to extreme weather events, such as floods and hurricanes. Future infrastructure must be designed to cut down emissions and be resilient to the impacts of climate change. The pandemic highlighted the need for digital infrastructure to keep communities, governments, and businesses running. The economic shocks resulting from measures to contain COVID-19 rely on infrastructure to restore supply chain disruptions, stimulate economic growth, and create jobs.
Third, there is much more to infrastructure than concrete, pipes, and power lines. We have to look further. Good governance is also vital for building community support and minimizing the corrosive impact of corruption.
The MOOC pulls all these pieces together so that practitioners understand how QII can maximize the economic impact of infrastructure projects and bring us closer to achieving the SDGs. The course runs for five weeks and requires a commitment of approximately four hours per week. Participants will gain a solid understanding of how applying the QII Principles contribute to green, resilient, and inclusive development.
The course is funded by the government of Japan through the QII Partnership, which was established to raise awareness of the quality dimensions of infrastructure in developing countries.
Click here to learn more about the QII Partnership. Register for the Quality Infrastructure Investment MOOC at https://bit.ly/QII-MOOC. No prior knowledge of infrastructure is necessary—anyone with an interest in infrastructure development will find the MOOC useful and interesting. I hope to see you there!
Join the Conversation
Does transparency in the development of green and resilient infrastructure projects also call for clearly defined and achievable standards?
Greeting to you, and I am grateful to be here.
I am Francis F M Asem, I am a Liberian by birth and living in kakata City, Margibi county, Republic of Liberia. I am a young librarian, who have struggled so hard in acquiring some formal Education at the level of BBA degree on my own as child and so much wishing to contribute to my country mama Liberia in a very positive way in rebuilding mama Liberia.
My dream as a young librarian is to acquire More knowledge and skills, to help me applied those skills and knowledge acquire to solve some major changes or problems that my country is faced with. So I believe that, acquiring these basic knowledge and skills from here will be a milestone in my life and my beloved country Mama Liberia.
Bonjour
I am from Myanmar. I work in the area of transboundary challenges such as migration, human trafficking, and wildlife traffciking.
Though our country is believed to be rich in natural resources ( wildlife animals are natural resources too), in my view, all consecutive governments had done little to none about QIIP. All they did was- selling our natural resources to China and Thailand at their free will. They turned a blind eye to the smuggling of forest products, wildlife trafficking, illegal logging to name a few. It cannot be the case that they were short of advice from the UN, World Bank and other entities. Why they did not listen or take heed to the technical suggestion and advice from international organizations like World Bank, I wonder? These are the reasons for which I wish to learn from the upcoming MOOC course. Thank you very much!
Yes and agreed.
Yes and agreed.
Compilation of infrstructure indicators for SDGs Reporting has been hindered consierablly due to misunderstanding of the governance of infrastructure in my country (Papua New Guinea).
Absence of clear definitions of various nature of infrastructure cloud the nature of indicators to collect appropriately accurate indicators.
This course is timely in the sense of enlightenment on infrastructure investment and tranparent governance infrastucture indicators.
I am working on infrastructure development in the sub Saharan Africa on Green Energy to be specific. We have a phased approach as we need to achieve a yield of 12 000 megawatts of clean energy in the next 10 years.
Our challenge remains to be the access to affordable finance that can be linked to the viability of the project than the balance sheet of the organisation.
We are a new player in Green energy, how do we attract foreign investments directly to these initiatives? The geographies are blessed with the natural sun and vast lands, therefore we want to contribute to the SDGs so that we achieve a thriving humanity and a thriving climate.
Climate change effects are real as we can see the rain patterns are changing drastically and the time to act is now.
Yes its ambitious to aiming to produce 12 000 megawatts in the next 10 years but its small business that has to run with these initiatives as we don't have the baggage of worrying of the traditional fossil fuel assets.
Good
Looking forward to the conversation
Look forward to participating in this course.
I'm Paul margai from Goderich Freetown Sierra Leone West Africa