On February 9, 2024, UN CC:Learn and partners convened at the Learning for Citizens and Professionals Dialogue Space to delve into the realm of monitoring and evaluating climate change learning. Facilitated by Lisa Maina from the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, the session featured presentations by the MECCE (Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education) project and UN CC:Learn, sparking insightful discussions on the monitoring and evaluation of climate change education, training and awareness.
Opening
The dialogue commenced with Mr. Angus Mackay, Director of the Division for Planet at UNITAR and Head of the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, setting the stage. He emphasized UN CC:Learn’s global mission to enhance climate change literacy, reaching 30+ countries and training hundreds of thousands annually. Mr. Mackay stressed the importance of evaluating climate change learning, dispelling misconceptions about the effectiveness of training and education, and celebrated the collaboration between UN CC:Learn and MECCE.
Measuring Climate-related Learning in Adults by MECCE Project
Dr. Aaron Benavot and Dr. Aaron Redman from the MECCE Project presented “Measuring Climate-related Learning in Adults.” The project, funded by Canada, aims to enhance M&E for climate change communication and education globally. MECCE has developed profiles for over 80 countries, detailing climate change education policies and programmes from pre-primary to lifelong learning. Dr. Benavot outlined the indicators and Dr. Redman showcased the UN CC:Learn and MECCE collaboration outcomes, including an indicator to measure completion of UN CC:Learn e-courses on climate change.
Evaluating Climate Change Learning by UN CC:Learn
Julia Villalba, representing the UN CC:Learn Secretariat, presented on evaluating climate change learning. She outlined five key indicators monitored by UN CC:Learn, emphasizing beneficiary outreach, completion rate, gender ratio, age, and countries in special situations. Ms. Villalba delved into post-training evaluations to gauge participant satisfaction and the second level of assessment, focusing on behavioral change resulting from climate change training, which result in the Annual Impact Results reports. She announced the upcoming Impact Stories campaign to further illustrate the global impact of UN CC:Learn courses.
Q&A and Conclusion
Speakers and participants engaged in a lively exchange, exploring how monitoring and evaluation could be applied to specific activities, such as radio programs in Southern Africa or the implementation of National Climate Change Learning strategies in West African countries and how to measure behavioral change. Wrapping up the discussion, Mr. Angus Mackay expressed gratitude for the insightful event and invited all to join future Dialogue Spaces in the coming months.