In the first week of September, 47 professionals from across Brazil came together to begin the first online Portuguese-language edition of Economia & Finanças para a Liderança Ambiental, offered by Conservation Strategy Fund (CSF) through its Numbers for Nature Training Institute.

For the first time, this 12-week course is being offered online in Portuguese, with its content adapted specifically to the Brazilian context. Building on CSF’s experience using economics and finance to inform conservation decisions, the course creates a space for Brazilian professionals to develop a shared economic language and explore how these tools can be applied to the environmental issues they encounter in their work.

The cohort brings together professionals with diverse backgrounds spanning the public sector, civil society, the private sector, academia, and independent work. While their experiences and areas of expertise vary, participants share an interest in bringing economic and financial perspectives into the way they understand and address conservation challenges.

Their expectations for the course reflect the different ways these tools can contribute to their work:

I hope to better understand financing mechanisms and how they work, and to connect these mechanisms with ways to make a difference where I work, improving people’s quality of life and environmental quality.

Taís Nogueira, Vale S.A.

For others, the course is an opportunity to explore an economic perspective that has not previously been part of their academic or professional journey:

Throughout my academic journey, I have always focused on environmental conservation and preservation issues, but I have never directed my studies toward the economic dimensions of environmental issues.

Adalberto Souza, Brazilian Forest Service

Experiencing economics firsthand

Over the coming weeks, participants will explore topics ranging from the foundations of environmental and natural resource economics to ecosystem service valuation, conservation finance, cost-benefit analysis, environmental policy, and behavioral economics. Across seven academic modules, the course combines pre-recorded classes, live sessions with experts, additional learning resources, case studies, and practical activities.

That hands-on approach was present from the very beginning. During the first week, after an initial session dedicated to welcoming the cohort and introducing the course, participants took part in The Potato Market, a market simulation in which they assumed the roles of buyers and sellers and negotiated with one another over several rounds.

Rather than simply learning about supply, demand, and price formation through theory, participants were able to see these concepts at work: making decisions, negotiating prices, and observing how individual incentives collectively shape a market.

As the cohort now moves into its academic modules, connecting economic concepts with real-world decisions will remain at the center of the learning experience. The goal is not only to build knowledge of economics and finance, but also to help participants apply these perspectives to conservation and sustainable natural resource management in Brazil.

The diversity of this first cohort also creates an opportunity for professionals from different sectors and backgrounds to learn from one another and build connections that can extend beyond the course, contributing to a growing community in Brazil equipped to use economics and finance in support of nature and people.

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