Management
Budget Planning, Financial Management and Commodities
Management—Sustainable development practitioners must be able to design
and manage programs and project budgets with transparency and effi ciency.
Knowledge of fi nancial markets, credit and microfi nance is required as well as
the procurement, supply chain, production management and distribution of
essential commodities.
Communications and Negotiation—Project implementation and policy
design at the local-, regional- or national-level require keen understanding
of power relations and cultural interactions. Practitioners must be able to
interact with local community leaders, colleagues, partners and stakeholders
from diverse backgrounds and disciplines, as well as coordinate participatory
planning processes to implement sustainable development programs. Effective
practitioners must also have skills of social entrepreneurship such that they can
pull together a variety of political, fi nancial and institutional resources to imagine,
build, market and deliver new ideas. In addition, practitioners need to be able to
refl ect on their own attitudes, perceptions and biases in terms of how they are
formed, and how they affect their choices and performance
.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) —Appropriate applications of GIS allow
the development practitioner to effectively analyze agricultural, demographical,
ecological, environmental, infrastructural, social and other conditions. This
information is used to develop comprehensive needs assessments, risk analyses,
implementation plans, as well as dynamic monitoring and evaluation tools.
Institutional and Human Resources Management—As professionals
advance in their careers, they must be able to lead, mentor and inspire everlarger
numbers of staff subordinates to achieve successful outcomes. Institutional
development is a key element in building long-lasting programs that result in
valuable, measurable solutions.
Information Systems Design and Management—The rapidly evolving use of
information management systems in the fi eld of sustainable development provides
growing opportunities for professionals to quickly transmit vital information and
key indicators, to share best practices, and to engage in virtual mentorship.
Practitioners must be able to collect, monitor and evaluate relevant information
to inform and update policy and project implementation.
Project Design and Management—Practitioners need to be able to design
and manage work streams that measure progress against clear benchmarks.
They often also require strong proposal-writing skills.
