Corruption in the natural resources sector

A public-facing solution for a global audience.

THE TRAINING NEED

The U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, which is a permanent centre at the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, works to reduce the harmful impact of corruption on society. U4 offers a 4-week expert-facilitated course called ‘Addressing Corruption in the Natural Resources Sector’, which focuses on three specialities: extractive, wildlife and forestry. This course has limited places and is only available to staff of U4 partner agencies.

Significant interest in the course outside partner agencies led U4 to commission the development of three self-paced online courses, each an hour long, covering corruption in the extractive sector, forestry sector, and the wildlife trade. These courses would be made freely available on their website. The target audience was a broad global audience with learners at varying levels of existing knowledge of the topics. Learners could potentially live in areas with poor internet connections, use assistive technologies and access the courses on a range of devices.

Specific requirements of the e-learning included:

Three online courses as shortened versions of the existing 4-week course.
The courses to be accessible and responsive.

OUR BESPOKE LEARNING SOLUTION

After reviewing U4’s requirements, we drew on our expertise in creating training initiatives for global audiences and recommended that the courses be developed using the Adapt framework, which creates truly accessible and responsive e-learning courses. Our internal development expertise also allowed the creation of bespoke technical activities, ensuring that we were never constrained in our course design, within budget limitations.

In the initial stages of the project, we extracted shortened versions of the content used in the 4-week course. As the project progressed, however, a shift in requirements meant that the new courses required a rethink in approach and the development of fresh content.

As CMI’s work is evidence-based, the accuracy of all course content was paramount. U4 therefore made their SME available for significant consultation on content development during the process. Working collaboratively, we designed credible stories and fictional scenarios to illustrate corruption in the natural resources sector. These imagined cases were then linked back to documented examples which clarified that our scenarios were grounded in fact.

As well as using narrative techniques to engage the learners, we used animation and video to present complex information. CMI’s SME provided her expertise in a Q&A session, through which further context and information was interwoven.

We used a consistent visual style across the three courses, using accent colours for differentiation. Where appropriate, characters were presented in silhouette or with features disguised. Significant care was taken when selecting imagery, as its credibility was as important as that of the content.

All three courses are now available free of charge on the CMI website.

Look and feel

What the customer had to say

It has been a pleasure working together with Aleido. Five stars for professionalism and flexibility. They were curious and responsive. They learnt our needs and adapted to our requests. They have been able to create interesting and accessible stories on complex issues. We have only experienced friendliness and a willingness to work towards the best possible product and outcome within the budget restraints.