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03 October 2018

Two boats on the shore

Earlier this month, PAGE supported a cross-sectoral training session in Senegal on the integrated Threshold 21 SDG model (T21-iSDG), a tool used to support green economy policy development by predicting the effects of policy interventions throughout the national economy. The training was led by a team from the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Planning, and was attended by representatives from the Ministries of Environment, Fisheries, Agriculture and Energy, along with a number of academic participants. 

Two boats on the shore

 T21-iSDG is a system dynamics model designed to support comprehensive, integrated long-term development planning. It characterises feedback loops between social, economic and environmental factors, enabling insights into how strategies can interact and influence the sustainable development goals in addition to particular policy objectives. 

The training in Senegal consisted of five key sessions over two days. The first day focused on establishing a grasp of the system dynamics approach more generally, whilst the second day dealt with the specific T21-iSDG Senegal model in more detail. The initial session focused on introducing system dynamics modelling, including how models are constructed, and their strengths and weaknesses related to their use for different planning strategies and time horizons. The next session outlined several key concepts of the system dynamics approach, such as stock and flow characteristics, accumulation and the concepts of delay and non-linearity. The days’ activities were capped off by a practical demonstration of the tool. The following day, the opening session provided an understanding of the T21-iSDG Senegal model and the various interlinkages between sectors, the second focused on the application of the model to the greening of the national economy with a focus on priority sectors (agriculture, forestry, water, energy, waste management and biodiversity), and the final session involved hands-on training and group exercises focused on simulating the effects of green economy policy interventions. The sessions highlighted the potential synergies between specific interventions at the national and sectoral level, and their overall contributions to achievement of the SDGs. 

The Director of Green Financing and Partnerships expressed his delight in the insightful and enriching exchanges of the training sessions, which have deepened the understanding of the T21 iSDG tool used in the exploratory report on green economy. 

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