Training Course "Energy for Development"

Fifteen participants from different parts of Mexico who are spending a year in Germany with support from the "International Leadership Training (ILT)" programme in order to learn conceptual, holistic and anticipatory thought for sustainable business development, took part in the course, carried out at the International Education Center (IBZ) in Mannheim from 7 to 9 December 2012. Michael Mehling, President of the Ecologic Institute in Washington DC, delivered the course contents, drawing on training material developed previously for a project commissioned by the Academy of International Cooperation (AIZ).

Thematically, the course covered the importance of universal access to an affordable, secure and sustainable energy supply for a country’s development; conventional and alternative energy sources and their respective advantages and disadvantages; the significance of energy infrastructure and demand side management; available policy instruments and financing sources; and the example of the German energy transition. Didactically, the course drew on approaches drawn from adult education and professional training, comprising a number of interactive elements, case studies and a simulation game to improve knowledge retention and processing.