The Course

The target audience of the course is all professionals who are responsible for designing, implementing, monitoring and/or auditing Environmental and Social Management Systems (ESMS) in compliance with the IFC’s PS.

The course is also of interest to students or professionals who wish to train and work in organizations that use the PS, such as operating companies (energy, infrastructure, mining and agribusiness) and their respective contractors and suppliers, consulting firms, financial intermediaries, among others.

The course has a duration of 20 hours distributed in ten weeks and is offered in remote mode.

The methodology combines the theoretical dictation of each ND with the application of dynamic and challenging group exercises. Through the exercises, students will be able to acquire the key concepts, requirements, and rationale of each requirement.

Upon request, other environmental and social standards of international banking, such as the Equator Principles (EP), the World Bank Group’s Environmental and Social Standards (ESS), the IDB’s Performance Standards, the European Investment Bank’s standards, among others, can also be taught.

The course content is presented below.

N° of class Content
First class Introduction
  • Course overview
  • Initial quiz
  • Benefits of PS implementation
  • Key concepts cross-cutting to all the PS
  • Project categorization criteria
Second to fourth class
9 elements of PS1
  1. Policy: How to develop a policy? Minimum content of a policy, frequent mistakes.
  2. Identification of risks and impacts. Key considerations for conducting an impact assessment in accordance with the PS, frequent mistakes.
  3. Management programs. Structure of a management plan, development of KPIs, frequent mistakes.
  4. Organizational capacity and competencies. Definition of roles and responsibilities, organizational chart and reporting lines between the different areas involved in the ESMS, evaluation of technical capabilities and training, frequent mistakes.
  5. Emergency preparedness and response. Content of an emergency plan, frequent mistakes.
  6. Stakeholder participation. How to identify stakeholders, definition of vulnerability criteria, frequent mistakes.
  7. External communications and grievance mechanisms. Content of a complaint’s mechanism, definition of channels, anonymous complaints, dissemination, frequent mistakes.
  8. Periodic reports to affected communities. Minimum content of reports to communities and workers, frequent mistakes.
  9. Monitoring and evaluation. How to systematize a continuous improvement process?, frequent mistakes.
Fifth to ninth class
  • Definition of key concepts and objectives
  • Analysis and interpretation of the requirements of each ND
  • Documentary management, monitoring and continuous improvement
  • Frequent mistakes
  • Case studies (each class will include 2 to 3 group exercises of 20 minutes each).
Tenth class
Closure
  • Review exercises
  • Final test
The course can also be provided in-house for companies or for private groups up to 4 students. For this mode the course can be taught in an introductory way (with a minimum of 8 hours), in order to provide a generic knowledge of the logic behind each ND, as well as at a deeper and more detailed level, depending on the complexity of the project to be developed (up to 30 hours). The course has been designed based on the following material published by IFC:
  • Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability, IFC 2012
  • International Finance Corporation’s Guidance Notes: Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability, IFC 2012
  • Environmental and Social Management System: Implementation Handbook, IFC 2015
  • Environmental and Social Management System toolkit, IFC 2015
  • Environmental and Social Management System: Self Assessment and Improvement Guide, IFC 2015

Clients

“This IFC PS course is essential for anyone who wants to incorporate these standards into their professional practice. Thanks to Jacqueline extensive experience in the field, she manages to mix theoretical content, simple comprehension exercises, and more complex application exercises using a large number of concrete examples. The course is very interactive, so participants are encouraged to participate, give their opinions, question, and share their own experiences, which further enriches the course content. I had an excellent experience thus I recommend it to all professionals in the environmental and social sectors”. Michel B

“The course contributed to have an in-depth knowledge of the environmental and social performance standards of the IFC and the implementation of the ESMS. The instructor makes the classes in a very didactic way and proposes case studies of real projects. In addition, the instructor’s experience in various countries around the world makes the course enriched with the challenges that may arise in different parts of the world at the time of implementation. Undoubtedly, the course is an investment that will bring both professional and economic benefits and gains for the professional or company that decides to take it, by being able to make the ESMS implementation processes more efficient”. Giovanna Durand

“Hello, I had the opportunity to participate in the course of the IFC Performance Standards developed and taught by Jacqueline, of which I can only give a positive opinion due to the quality of the information, very valuable, the structure of the course which I found very orderly. The teaching methodology exceeded my expectations as it was not only theory but many practical cases, take home assignments, presentations and an exam at the end. I also highlight the real examples provided by Jacqueline based on her own international experience, the application of the standards in different types of projects, industries, as well as atypical situations that may arise. I believe that the course is fundamental for all those who wish to familiarize themselves with probably the most demanding socio-environmental standards of an international nature”. Alexander Mori
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