Premier Course in Forest Carbon Credits: Now Available on Coursera

A recently launched Coursera course focuses on Forest Carbon Credits and Initiatives contributing to capacity building toward high-integrity natural climate solutions.

A recently launched Coursera course focuses on Forest Carbon Credits and Initiatives contributing to capacity building toward high-integrity natural climate solutions.

The course, "Forest Carbon Credits and Initiatives," was originally launched in 2019 as part of the course "Understanding Forest Carbon Management." It is now offered as a stand-alone learning experience, filling a knowledge gap for understanding forest carbon markets and designing carbon projects. The course emphasizes the importance of monitoring, reporting, and verification, and highlights the need for 'integrity' in carbon projects to ensure successful and legitimate carbon storage. It is designed to empower learners with the knowledge and skills to navigate, participate in, or finance carbon initiatives. The course is free to take, with an optional certificate of completion available for $49.

The aim of offering courses on Coursera is to reach a broader audience and disseminate essential climate knowledge to more people. By leveraging Coursera's extensive network, the program seeks to enhance global understanding and engagement in forest carbon initiatives, which are crucial for addressing climate change.

The Forest Carbon and Climate Program has made a significant leap forward by launching its first course, "Forest Carbon Credits and Initiatives," on Coursera. This marks a notable achievement as it is the first course from Michigan State University's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources to be featured on the renowned online learning platform.

While this is a pioneering move for the college, it is not the first course from other colleges at the university. MSU began its collaboration with Coursera in 2015 with courses on entrepreneurship, photography, and journalism, and has had over one million participants on the platform. Experts at the MSU Center for Teaching & Learning Innovation are credited with maintaining this relationship and for their important efforts to help professors optimize and move course content to the new platform. The Forest Carbon and Climate Program is now partnering with them to offer the first course on forests, carbon, and climate.

In the future, the FCCP plans to expand its course offerings on Coursera, transferring its eight online learning courses to the platform. Future courses could include a specialization in "Understanding Forest Carbon Management," and courses on "Urban Forests and Climate Change," "Wildland Fire and Forest Carbon Management," and more. The program intends to scale participation in these courses and further expand the reach of essential forestry and climate education.

These current and future courses represent a significant step in enhancing public understanding of forest carbon projects and their role in mitigating climate change. By making this knowledge more accessible, the Forest Carbon and Climate Program is contributing to global efforts in climate education and sustainable development.

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