What’s Going On? is a five-week course designed to enhance your understanding of core regional (Asia-Pacific) issues and global trends, and how they impact your area of interest. Each week, we will take a deep dive into specific themes and some signals of change in those areas. We will also use the Covid-19 pandemic and the climate emergency as a lens to understand them.

About the Certificate Series

This series will cover the following themes:

• Week One - September 16: Mis/disinformation
  This session takes a deep look at how widespread is the crisis of mis/disinformation. How do we sift through the barrage of information available to us? Who are our trusted sources? How is the landscape changing for where and how we receive information? We will also look at the global trend of misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic and how it can prepare us for the climate emergency upon us.
• Week Two - September 23: Demographics
  Are you living in an aging society, or one that’s reaping the benefits of its demographic dividend? We take a look at how the generational shift is impacting our region. How can generational theory help us understand how different generations relate to global issues, such as climate change? Can this knowledge help us be better leaders for our community?
• Week Three - September 30: Work
  The Covid-19 pandemic has led to fundamental changes in how we work. In this session, we examine how this has happened and what the future of work looks like. We question why we work to begin with? How many hours a week do we need to work? Is your job even going to exist 50 years from now? We also look at universal basic income as a new economic model to offset the losses from automation.
• Week Four - October 7: Circular Economy
  Floating islands of trash in the Pacific Ocean and heatwaves in Canada should make it clear that our economic models need to change dramatically if we want to survive climate change. In this session, we take a look at how innovative models, such as circular economy and doughnut economy, answer the call for sustainable economic practices. How fragile are global supply chains in the face of raging pandemics and dwindling fossil fuel demand? How are various industries taking up sustainable practices?
• Week Five - October 14: Final Deliverables
  In Session Five, the last session of this series, we will review the final deliverables. Participants have the option of choosing one of four mediums for submitting and sharing their final project for this course.

How to Earn the Certificate

• Attend all 5 sessions
• Complete 1 of 4 deliverables
  • Option 1: Submit to the LP team a written reflection of no more than 600 words answering one or all of the questions below.Due: Before Session Five
  • Option 2: Prepare an individual presentation of no more than 5 minutes in which you answer the questions below. This presentation will be delivered live during the last session of the course.Due: During Session Five
  • Option 3: Make a video of yourself (no more than 5 minutes) and submit to the LP team your answers to the questions below.Due: Before Session Five
  • Option 4: Write and share a blog post or a LinkedIn Article answering the questions below. Due: Before Session Five
    • Which of the broad global trends examined in this course applies directly to my work?
    • How does it impact my work?
    • What actions can I take to prepare for this future?
    • What has this course made me curious about?
• Share your deliverables during week five

Meet the Facilitator

Hira Siddiqui, Asia Pacific Leadership Program Generation 16, is the editor of The Global Tiller newsletter that covers global trends through critical reflection. She has been a journalist and storyteller for over 10 years and has worked extensively in media training and program management. She has an MA in Political Science from the University of Waterloo, Canada.