Connecting the world and beyond

Learning Resources for Environment

E-learnings

Capacity building is crucial for stakeholders to understand the impact of technological advances to the environment. It is important that stakeholders are trained and understand the key components of and their potential roles and responsibilities in an effective management of ICT-related wastes and in monitoring and mitigating the ICT industry's impact — in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and energy use — to the environment. The e-courses below cater to policymakers and regulators, implementing partners, donors, and other stakeholders at the forefront of greening the digital industry.

Green data centres for policy-makers: This e-learning aims to inspire and inform practitioners on how to green data storage investments and create an enabling environment conducive to green data infrastructure. Reliable, secure data-hosting solutions are becoming increasingly important to support everyday functions across societies. Although data infrastructure such as data centers and cloud solutions are essential for storing and processing data, they are highly energy intensive and consume refrigerants and often large amounts of water for cooling. As such, they leave a large environmental footprint and contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Climate change also affects data centers. Climate hazards such as floods and increasing temperatures put data centers at risk and require climate-resiliency measures to protect investments and ensure resilient data storage.
An Introduction to E-waste Policy: This self-paced course aims to support national stakeholders in developing national Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) policy and regulation. In addition to an introduction and overview, the course consists of the following four modules: (1) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), (2) Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), (3) Financial Management, and (4) Government Stakeholder Groups and Interests.
Deep Dive into EPR: This self-paced course builds on the Introduction to E-waste Policy course, diving deeper into the EPR principle to build a fair and effective e-waste management system. Across the 6 modules, participants will review the fundamentals of e-waste management, learn about the elements and instruments in an EPR based e-waste management system, and additional considerations/best practices in developing an effective and equitable legislative framework.
Addressing the E-waste Challenge through Data and Statistics: This course aims to provide an overview of the global e-waste challenge, including e-waste statistics and legislation based on the latest data from the Global E-waste Monitor and the Global E-waste Statistics Partnership. The course will take approximately 12 hours to complete, and participants will receive a badge certifying successful completion if the course was passed at 70% or higher.
Circular and Sustainable Public Procurement for ICTs: This e-learning is an online course that closely follows the content of the guide to give an overall understanding of the topics covered. In areas where learners want to get a deeper understanding of the topics and case studies, references are made to the guide for further reading.
Green and Digital Entrepreneurship for Women: This training course is for start-up and scale-up women entrepreneurs, to develop participants' capacity to develop digital green entrepreneurship skills and increase their economic empowerment. It is designed to guide participants through the concepts and benefits of green business, green and circular economy, and sustainability concepts, while also exploring digital green concepts, how to green supply chains, and green finance.
Greening data centers: Reliable, secure data-hosting solutions are becoming increasingly important to support everyday functions across societies. Although data infrastructure such as data centers and cloud solutions are essential for storing and processing data, they are highly energy intensive and consume refrigerants and often large amounts of water for cooling. As such, they leave a large environmental footprint and contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions which this training explores.

StoryMaps

StoryMaps are another resource that provides further stakeholder understanding in regard to different e-waste management topics, while also integrating interactive and visual elements. ITU has developed the following StoryMaps to promote a concerted stakeholder understanding, collaboration, and effort.

NEW: E-waste Policy & Regulation Towards a Circular Economy: The StoryMap marks important milestones achieved under the ITU-CST Saudi Arabia project in Paraguay, Rwanda, and Zambia, focused on developing and implementing national e-waste regulations.
NEW: Green Digital Transformation: Towards a net-zero ICT sector: The StoryMap highlights how ITU's Telecommunication Development Bureau is advancing green digital transformation and is supporting the assessment of the ICT sector's environmental impact and its transition towards being a net-zero industry. The StoryMap also features discussions on understanding the contribution of telecommunications/ICTs to global GHG emissions.
E-waste Policy Development and Data Collection in Africa: The StoryMap highlights ITU’s work on e-waste policy development and data collection in the Africa region, with examples of activities in partner countries such as policy consultations, awareness campaigns and e-waste household and business surveys.
Internet Waste: In today's increasingly connected world, we are becoming more reliant on digital devices, home appliances and the Internet. Have you ever thought about how the devices you use at home are connected to the Internet? There is a vast amount of physical infrastructure supporting this connectivity from data centers to wireless telecommunication networks.
Global E-waste and a Circular Economy Potential: The Story Map outlines key takeaways from the Global E-waste Monitor 2020, which indicates that the way we produce, consume and dispose of our electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), such as mobile phones and computers, has become unsustainable.

Videos

E-waste videos are also available to further elaborate on and discuss certain e-waste topics. These videos serve as an excellent resource for informing stakeholders about different e-waste management issues and initiatives.

FEATURED ONLINE COURSE

Green data centres for policy-makers