Regional Training Workshop for SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting in South Africa

The Regional Training Workshop on the SEEA Experimental Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EEA) for countries in Africa took place on 28-31 October 2019 in Pretoria, South Africa and was organized by the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD), Statistics South Africa, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Gaborone Declaration for Sustainability in Africa (GDSA), and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). The Training Workshop was part of a blended Regional Training Programme that consisted of an online course between August and October and the in-person workshop in Pertoria. The online course started in late-August and provided an overview on the SEEA EEA. It consisted of eight self-paced modules via the UNSD e-learning platform and five live webinars that were delivered by world experts in the respective topics. The online course was attended by approximately 200 participants from over 30 African countries. The presentations are recordings of the webinars are available of the course website (https://seea.un.org/news/online-course-regional-training-programme-seea-experimental-ecosystem-accounting).

The training workshop in Pretoria was attended by 50 participants from 17 African countries. The workshop provided a unique opportunity for participants, who have already acquired basic understanding of SEEA EEA concepts through the online course, to improve their knowledge through practical exercises and discussions on implementation issues. Participants from each country were mostly from both the national statistical office and an agency responsible for policy formulation, such as the Ministry of Environment, Planning, or similar. The training covered all aspects of SEEA EEA from both statistical/compilation perspective, scenario analysis and policy application and use. On one of the days the participants were split into two groups, one covering practical aspects of statistical compilation and the other discussing policy aspects of SEEA EEA. More information on the workshop can be found at: https://seea.un.org/events/regional-training-workshop-seea-experimental-ecosystem-accounting-countries-africa