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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Impact Measurement & Management for the SDGs by Duke University

4.8
stars
524 ratings

About the Course

How can businesses and investors help fill the multi-trillion-dollar gap needed for sustainable development? Simply put: by incorporating sustainability and social impact factors on people and planet into management decisions. Through this course, anyone can learn to improve their organization's practice of impact measurement and management and align their ESG or impact activities and reporting with emerging global standards. Impact Measurement and Management for the SDGs is a collaboration between UNDP SDG Impact and the award-winning team at CASE at Duke University. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a steward of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that were launched in 2015 and to which 193 countries have signed up to achieve by 2030. The SDGs are a shared plan to end extreme poverty, reduce inequality, and protect the planet; they have become the world’s blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. But the public sector cannot meet those goals alone. Climate change, poverty, racial and gender equity, food, health, education, clean water − the list of challenges faced by people and planet is too long. Businesses and investors have stepped in to help. The course was designed around the fundamental elements of the SDG Impact Standards, the only management standards that embed sustainability at the core of an organization in the holistic way intended by the creators of the SDGs. The course demonstrates how the SDG Impact Standards help organizations align with responsible business principles, other standards, and best practices in impact management. In the course, you’ll learn to improve decision-making for positive impact on people and planet in line with the SDG Impact Standards and the Operating Principles for Impact Management. In the course, we have translated 4 universal practices of impact management into practical actions: SET STRATEGY, INTEGRATE, OPTIMIZE and REINFORCE. We teach the steps to implement these actions through short videos and lessons with concrete practical examples. Professionals who know how to apply these sustainable management standards are increasingly in demand by institutions globally as they work to improve their performance and reporting around ESG and impact management. If you work or wish to work within an enterprise, a corporation, a fund that manages assets or an asset owner or advisory that oversees investment assets, or if you just want to learn more about impact investing, ESG, social finance or corporate reporting, this course will help you master the core concepts and practices in impact management for the SDGs and other impacts from enterprise and investor perspectives. This course was written and is delivered by CASE Faculty Director Cathy Clark, and benefitted from extensive input from a larger team from UNDP, CASE, global academic advisors, and other experts. For a full list of acknowledgements, see: https://sites.duke.edu/casei3/for-practitioners/impact-measurement-and-management-for-the-sdgs-course/ Selected course materials have been translated into Baha Indonesia, Thai, and Vietnamese. Spanish and Turkish translations are coming soon. Please find links to these translations under the Resources tab once you are inside the course. This course was made possible by generous support from Norad....

Top reviews

FG

Feb 14, 2024

This was an enriching, well explained, clear and incredibly useful Course. I am really happy with the way it was explained. I have managed to apply it already on my work with really good results.

PX

Jun 11, 2022

This course provides lots of structure and frameworks that help enterprises and investors alike to measure and manage SDG Outcomes. The case studies and additonal resources are also very helpful.

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1 - 25 of 141 Reviews for Impact Measurement & Management for the SDGs

By Chris C

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Oct 23, 2021

This course is an excellent overview for SDG impact management - it provides an overall framework and set of steps/questions/standards to ensure a strong system is put in place, as well as provides tons of resources of best practice.

I have 2 pieces of feedback: (1) the assessment - the questions are not very challenging and really anyone could tell what the answers are for most of the questions. (2) I wish there were more case studies done in more detail in the course. The more they illustrate good and bad examples, the more tangible the learning becomes.

Overall though - I would still highly recommend the course, as it is the first of its kind to exist for SDG impact management.

By Günter S

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Nov 5, 2021

Every startup and every investor that claimes to be impact oriented should do this course and do it seriously not for whitewashing. I will ask all my future fundraising clients to do this course before we can sign a contract.

By Yuan-Hsun C

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Oct 23, 2021

Definitely the best course that I have taken in Sustainability field via both online and offline channels. The professor can articulate the complicated concept with an extremely structured framework so that you can gain understanding into impact measurement step by step. Furthermore, the course also concerns pretty practical applications in the real world. You will REGRET if you miss this course! 200% recommend this course! Thank Professor Clark, UNDP and Fuqua for presenting this informative and useful course for those who possess passion for relevant field.

By David R

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Oct 3, 2021

Very useful and well presented.

Quality information and resources for future reference.

Based on a good quality integrate planning and reporting approach, it increases the capacity to integrate SDGs in a meaningful, practical and sustainable way that also takes into account the varying contexts and dynamic environment we are required to operate within.

By Diego C

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Oct 22, 2021

Very helpful subject matter and thoughtfully organized. Additional resources are really helpful in this field and I wonder if there is an opportunity to keep those as more "living documents"

By Ken W

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Oct 15, 2021

An excellent course in IMM from both enterprise and investor perspectives. Highly recommended

By Seth J

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Oct 14, 2021

fantastic course and important information for measuring and managing impact for the SDGs

By Dydirector S

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Dec 3, 2021

I found this course extremely useful in terms of understanding various dimensions of sustainability. The process oriented methods adopted in the course was particularly noteworthy as I was able to clearly strategise my approach to developing my own sustainability assessments. Even though, I am a Sustainability professional and an academician and have been involved in various sustainability processes, I believe this course has great value for anyone who wishes to learn impact measurement techniques. The pedagogy, teaching resources and case examples cited were extremely relevant and helped to understand SDG perspectives from different stakeholders. Highly recommended !

By Luis P

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Sep 21, 2021

If you are looking for practical knowledge on how to use the SDGs in your business, social enterprise, nonprofit or investment firm, I highly recommend this training. Every lesson is filled with valuable information with a wealth of additional resources for a deeper dive. If sustainable development and/or impact investing is your game, you should definitely take this course!

By Anjum M

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Sep 29, 2021

It is a must attend type of course for Social Development Professionals, and all those who are aspiring to do something for Social Enterprises ; be it investor, fund manager, impact assessor, impact validator. This is a good starting point.

By Shupi K M

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Jan 28, 2022

Week one course is very inspirational. As a Development Consultant under Impact Investment, it is so enriching for my work. I am highly geared to complete this entire course in the next few days.

By Eugenio L

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Mar 26, 2022

Excellent. So much information packed into an easy to understand content; so well synthesized and immediately applicable to one's enterprise or investment fund.

By Jennifer S

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Nov 10, 2021

An excellent and well presented course providing valuable insights. Many thanks to the course presenter, Cathy Clark.

By Ainsley M

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Oct 30, 2021

Great for learning impact management and measurement framework

By Silvia D F

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Nov 4, 2021

The best Coursera Course that I have attended so far. It provides a solid theoretical foundation of the principles for Impact measurement and management and it contains a remarkable source of documentation for entrepreneurs and investors. The additional resources at the end of each chapter can be used in practice and are up-to-date, unlike other courses that I attended in the past, a requirement that I believe is essential for anyone entering the rapidly evolving world of sustainable investing.

By Dawn H

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Nov 19, 2021

My organization has been investing with impact since 2013 but has not had a framework for tracking and measuring our successes and identifying areas of improvement. This course not only provided the framework, but provided all the tools needed to make it happen. I am confident that this course will take us to the next level in our impact investing journey.

By Paul B

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Jan 9, 2022

A solid and well paced course which linked enterprises working in social impact, with those investing in social impact through clear, easy to understand frameworks and processes. I totally recommend this course if you work in social change and are interested in seeing how to deliberate use models and analysis to track impact performance.

By Juan R

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Feb 9, 2022

An excellent course on how to actively impact SDGs rather than only align actions. Everyone needs to play their part to achieve SDGs but we need to play it right, this course definitely helps understand the foundation that we need in order to act, but also what happens after any action.

By laura l

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Jan 14, 2022

I found this course very informative. Well-organized, well presented. Tons of great resources and easy-to-use frameworks. Current, relevant, accessible. I am now applying the learnings to my own company and hope to help other small companies do the same. Many thanks to CASE.

By Ellen M

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Jan 25, 2022

This course is an excellent way to establish a robust understanding of how to measure and manage impact. The content is engaging and interesting and I highly recommend it to any organizations wishing to improve their sustainability contributions!

By Yiu K T Y

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Jan 19, 2022

Great training resources on IMM for both enterprises and investors. Practical and with great clarity - will definitely recommend it to anyone - whatever their current level of IMM knowledge sophistication - to take this course!

By Raj C

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Nov 18, 2021

systematic walk-through of steps and considerations in impact management, bolstered by examples. Useful for an impact investor to understand the perspective of the enterprise leader, and vice-versa. Thanks so much, Cathy!

By Maeva A

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May 20, 2022

This brilliant course will provide both enterprises and investors with practical tools to measure and manage their social and environmental impact and contribution to the SDGs. Highly recommend!

By Rima Y

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Mar 14, 2022

Excellent course . One of the best courses in terms of content, presentaions and relevance. Highly recommend to anyone working on Imapct measurement and Sustainable Development Goals

By Alenicheva L

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Mar 8, 2022

This is an exsellently designed and presented cource, extremely helpful from a practical point of view. It was luck that I found it and got a chance to learn the content.