Back by popular demand, join the 49,000 participants from 198 countries and territories who signed up for the first two editions of this course delivered by the World Bank Group. This course assesses how to unlock investment and finance of all kinds – international, domestic, public and private - including the $100 trillion in assets under management by institutional investors globally, to achieve the SDGs by 2030. Progress to date will be reviewed and participants will be invited to discuss additional actions needed to accelerate investments and finance in EMDEs.

Economic development is a process of trial and error, innovation and experimentation, success and failure. Given the right institutions, some not unfavorable resource endowments, and a bit of luck, incomes can grow, health can improve, and human development can flourish; other times, things don’t turn out so well. Given the urgency of development challenges, it is imperative that we learn quickly from our mistakes and build robustly on our successes. The hope is that by understanding what kinds of innovations and policies “work” to improve the lives of the deprived and vulnerable, and how they work, we might be better placed to accelerate the process of development more generally. But how can policy makers and international development practitioners be sure they’re “making a difference?” This course was created collaboratively by Georgetown University and the World Bank's Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund with support from the Georgetown Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship, Georgetown University Initiative of Innovation, Development and Evaluation (gui2de), and The Open Learning Campus of the World Bank Group.

Do you want to know more about how a warming planet is changing the landscape for investing? Geared towards professionals working in financial markets, this course provides a solid introduction to the financial risks and opportunities arising from man-made climate change. Our aim is to help you answer a simple question: Does climate risk matter to investors? We do this by defining the financial risks related to climate change and follow with the investment policies and risk management strategies that are taking shape. This course is also a starting point for risk and strategy managers anticipating the impacts from the Financial Stability Board’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) asking firms to disclose the climate risks they face. In short, the course is a primer on how global capital markets are responding the world’s greatest environmental risk. Participants will be exposed to the latest thinking from senior leaders in financial services and multinational firms. The course is led by business school faculty and The Centre for Climate Finance and Investment at Imperial College London; designed by investment practitioners for finance professionals and those aspiring to enter the field. Climate-KIC is supported by EIT, a body of the European Union.

Workers of the future will need new sets of skills to compete. Recent advances in technology are changing how we live, communicate and do business, disrupting traditional industries and redefining the employee-employer relationship. Thousands of routine and low-skill jobs will be eliminated by automation, A.I. and digital hyper-connectivity. However, these same advances present new opportunities, like: New job creation Increased productivity Improved delivery of public services This course emphasizes the urgency of developing human capital in meeting the challenges of the coming decades. Developing countries will need to take rapid action to invest in their people as innovation continues to accelerate. Themes in the course include: artificial intelligence, the gig economy, world of work, the future of work, labor market, policy makers, new technologies, digital economy, jobs of the future, machine learning, and labor force. Skills-based example: Participants will learn through Ted-like talks, podcasts, readings, interactive quizzes and scenario based exercises. They will also have an opportunity to share and dialogue with peers and experts including practitioners, government officials, academic and private sector. This course will introduce students to forward-thinking approaches that will build the new skill sets required in the 21st Century, including: critical analysis problem solving “soft skills” like teamwork and empathy

Unemployment. Inflation. Protectionism. Trade barriers. Fiscal deficit. These are not just terms in an economics textbook or in newspaper headlines. These real-life challenges carry societal and environmental implications for billions of people around the world. How do we balance the pursuit of economic growth with the right of all people to thrive on an increasingly fragile planet? To answer this question, we must reframe our understanding of macroeconomics in the context of a highly interdependent world. Led by two leading economic minds – Columbia University Professor and Senior UN Advisor Jeffrey Sachs and former Chilean Minister of Finance Felipe Larraín – this massive open online course explores traditional macroeconomic principles and tools, updated for the age of sustainable development and the current wave of globalization. Is a thriving global economy possible in an equitable and environmentally thoughtful way? Find out here. This course is for: Graduate students and advanced undergraduate students studying international development, economics and/or sustainable development Economists interested in the balance of macroeconomic principles and ESG (environmental, societal and governance) criteria Sustainable development practitioners – as well as private-sector actors, such as those who work in the financial sector – who need to understand the economic models that support and depend on sustainable development

Our present system of global capitalism is flawed. While it has produced immense wealth and economic growth in nearly all regions of the world, it has also prioritized profits over people and harmful consumption practices over the needs of our planet. Sustainable development must bring about a new world order to replace the vices of global capitalism, ensuring development, human wellbeing, and environmental security. This course presents Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals as the necessary successor to laissez faire-style capitalism, and emphasizes the urgency of embracing sustainable development objectives to transform our economy into a more reactive, efficient, inclusive, and environmentally-conscious system. This 8-week massive open online course (MOOC) provides an in-depth look at the shortcomings of our current and past global economies, and shows why and how sustainable development has become the universally-prioritized agenda for the future of our world. The topics covered range from market economics to education, gender equality, international trade, financing, and more. This course is for: Policy professionals who want to understand frameworks for SDG planning Development practitioners seeking information on goals-based development Advanced undergraduates and graduate students interested in economics, development, and other key concepts related to the SDGs

National economies have grown substantially since the Industrial Revolution of the 19th century yet people have not necessarily seen an increase in opportunities to find decent work or earn a decent income. In fact, in some places, the increased productivity and rising profits associated with automation have directly impacted the availability of decent jobs. According to the International Labour Organization, more than 204 million people were unemployed in 2015, and more than 600 million new jobs are needed by 2030 just to keep pace with the growth of the working-age population. We also need to improve working conditions for the 780 million women and men who are employed but not earning enough to lift themselves and their families out of poverty. In addressing these core issues we will not only see increasing decent work opportunities but also more robust, inclusive and poverty-reducing growth. This course explores the past and future of work in the context of the SDGs, particularly SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. It examines the state of income and employment around the world, barriers to employment, policies to promote economic opportunity, and the future of work in our rapidly changing world. Encouraging entrepreneurship and job creation are key to achieving the SDGs, as are effective measures to eradicate forced labour, slavery and human trafficking. With these targets in mind, the world can achieve full and productive employment and decent work, for all women and men, by 2030. This seven-module massive open online course (MOOC) provides an in-depth look at the issues of inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all. The topics covered include structural shifts in economies and work; informality, gender and child labor, the modern welfare state; the future of work, and more. The course concludes with a special module by the ILO on realizing decent work for all and achieving SDG 8. This course is for: Policy professionals who want to understand frameworks for SDG planning Development practitioners seeking knowledge on goals-based development Advanced undergraduates and graduate students interested in economics, development, and other key concepts related to the SDGs

FinTech has started a global revolution in the financial services industry, and the transformation will only increase in coming years. There are many ways in which FinTech can improve the lives of people around the world; however, those same technologies can also be used to enslave, coerce, track, and control people. Accordingly, it is appropriate and necessary to consider the implications of the introduction of these technologies so that they are utilized properly, regulated sufficiently, and their adoption does not come at the expense of societal growth. This 6-week online coursecovers 6 modules, representing the full spectrum of finance, technology, and the introduction of FinTech solutions globally. We will ask questions that are not often asked or addressed when new technologies are adopted. Why should we adopt FinTech solutions, and what are the best ways to introduce disruptive technologies? How does blockchain technology change the way we provide financial services, and how should blockchain technology be governed? Is FinTech creating risks in cybersecurity and how can technology help us prevent financial crimes? As Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developed and adopted, will human biases and prejudices be built into such mechanisms? And at a larger scope, should FinTech lead to a decentralized, democratized system of finance, or will existing institutions adopt FinTech strategies to cement their existing hold on the financial markets? Through discussing and attempting to answer these questions, you will understand better how the introduction of these technologies can benefit or harm society. And through considering the proper application or introduction of such technologies, you will learn to make better decisions as an individual and organization when facing the question: is FinTech our savior or a villain?

Over the past couple of years, the Chinese government has finally started to open China’s financial system and its equity and bond markets to the outside world. Onshore assets are now part of the main global and emerging market indices. But most investors openly admit they are putting money to work in a market they mistrust and do not understand well enough. In this course you will learn how China’s financial markets truly work. You will see how its state-owned commercial banks control the flow of domestic savings and how Chinese companies became the global leader in mobile payments. You will understand the nature of the Chinese stock market and the Chinese bond market, how Chinese investors trade and what the driving forces of these markets are. Foreign investors will learn how to recognise investment opportunities and guard against the idiosyncratic risks. You will understand the role of the State Council, the People’s Bank of China – its central bank, and the Ministry of Finance – its Treasury, in setting monetary policy, interest and foreign exchange rates and supervising China’s banking system and financial institutions. Unbiased analysis, real-life examples and practical guidance will equip you with the analytical frameworks and tools to apply to your investment decisions, risk assessments or policymaking. You will learn directly from Enodo Economics’ team of experts, who together have over 250 years of experience focused on China’s economy, its politics and markets and its culture. We make use of our own bespoke online teaching videos that are produced to a high professional standard. The material, carefully tailored to bring to life the content of each course, includes interviews with relevant figures whose personal stories make real the concepts being taught. Imaginative visual aids and animation are designed to enhance the learning experience – and make it fun.

In this macroeconomics course, you will learn to predict macroeconomic variables such as inflation, growth or consumption, and to create statistical models in economics and use them to predict responses to economic policy. You will learn from hands-on demonstrations of model-building, forecasting and policy analysis, using data sets from a wide variety of countries. Demonstrations and applications will be conducted using EViews —a popular software for estimating and simulating forecasting models on Windows. Free, temporary licenses for EViews will be made available for the duration of the course. Macroeconometric Forecasting is offered by the IMF with financial support from the Government of Japan.