Natural Resources for Sustainable Development Multi-Course Mode

Pусский »   

Location
Khazar University

The deadline to apply for this course is 20 March. To apply, please complete and submit the online application form.

Key dates
Online phase: 25 March-27 May
Residential phase: 20 June-28 June
Final Assignment due on: 1 October

Potential participants

Mid-level government, senior parliamentary staff, specialized civil society and media, international development agencies and private company representatives, as well as academics and researchers from countries of Eurasia region. 

Language

The working language of the course is Russian. Materials both in English and Russian languages will be used. 
 

Costs

Responsive and comprehensive resource governance outcomes depend on the details of well-formed policies. Shortsighted approaches offering quick-fix solutions to complex economic challenges in post-Soviet Eurasia make efficient and accountable resource governance elusive. Transparent and accountable resource governance and implementation of innovative methods within the system of governance provides an opportunity to reach stable development and prosperity for the country. 

Efficient policy programs are an important ingredient for reaching positive results in resource governance in extractive industries. Governance of natural resources is a complicated matter, especially in the Eurasian region. A knowledge gap among critical decision-makers can be observed in the region. In order to fill this gap we are organizing this multi-mode course. 
 

This multi-mode course offers a well grounded theories and practices for efficient resource governance. The overarching goal of the course is to equip participants with the knowledge and skills necessary: 
 

• To build a broad understanding of policy challenges in resource governance with an in-depth focus on legal and fiscal framework and revenue management
• For developing policy scenarios with integrating analytical tools into forming an information base in decision making process
• For assessing most relevant decisions in achieving specific country development priorities

The program aims to facilitate a rich dialogue about best practices from around the globe and their lessons for countries in the region. Lectures combined with practical work based on case studies, policy analysis and peer-to-peer discussions with practitioners and experts in the field will help participants to share experience in how to manage resource revenues for sustainable development. 
 

“The course provided a complex vision of the revenue management process, going behind commonly known concepts such as taxation," Irina Lupashko of Ukraine's Dixi Group said. "I feel like I have a comprehensive picture of the natural resource decision chain and understand policy-making process.” 
 

The course has three stages. 
 

Online stage (2 months)

Participants will acquire introductory knowledge about resource governance and will need to pass an online assignment in order to be accepted to the residential stage. The online stage will feature virtual sessions with the lecturers of the residential phase. 
 

Residential stage

After gaining solid understanding of key tenets of the natural resource decision chain, participants will spend 10 days at Khazar University. All participants will attend sessions on the political economy of policy-making in resource-rich states, policy analysis and design, policy options for sustainable development. Thereafter, they will be asked to choose one of two paths: 
 

Path 1: Getting a good deal: Designing and evaluating fiscal regimes

Course participants will gain a better understanding of the key features of these tools, their similarities and differences, and the challenges of administering taxes and effectively collecting revenues. Participants who choose Path 1 will be able to dive deeper into these issues and develop key practical and analytical skills. Their time will be evenly divided between classroom lecture and group work. In guided workshop sessions, Path 1 participants will learn to read and use Excel-based models to evaluate and compare different fiscal regimes, make investment decisions, forecast revenue streams and assess risks of revenue leakages. 
 

Courses and exercises covered in Path 1 will include licensing and allocation of rights and links to cost-benefit analyses, contracts in extractive industries, institutional framework of the fiscal regime, transparency and tax evasion, which will provide participants with a nuanced and practical understanding of tax policy in resource-rich countries. 
 

Path 2: Distributing, Managing, and Spending Resource Revenues 

Participants in Path 2 will explore how to analyze and overcome over-dependence on a single source of revenue and over-borrowing, followed by debt crises, poor quality public investment, destabilizing “boom-and-bust” cycles. 
 

Path 2 sessions will examine the causes of weak development outcomes in resource-rich environments and elaborate on some available tools to improve the distribution, management, and use of oil, gas, and mineral revenues. These tools include: rules describing revenue distribution to the national budget, special funds, subnational jurisdictions and state-owned companies; rules controlling the amount of resource revenues that enter the domestic economy; public accountability mechanisms for revenue and expenditure management; and formulation and implementation of national and subnational development plans. 
 

Final Assignment

This could take the form of a research or analytical paper to inform in-country debates or specific policy recommendations for the government, depending on the affiliation and level of influence of the participant. Each student will be assigned a corresponding Eurasia Hub instructor to provide mentorship.