Using a highly-effective blended-learning method, we reinforce these online classes with strategically timed face-to-face workshops.  This working union of technology and knowledge-sharing has the ability to empower large groups of people, and provides new pathways for working with governments, international organizations, business and academic communities, the media, in reality everyone interested in learning about pressing environmental or trade issues.  In our effort to reach as many people as possible, ECG currently offers courses in English, Spanish and Chinese, and we plan to add more languages in the near future. Our goal is to offer courses in all UN languages.

Online learning, if intelligently crafted and capably supported, can be extremely efficient.  In fact the Gartner Group reported that knowledge retention from e-Learning courses was twice as high as that from face-to-face training, and was obtained at roughly half the cost of live classroom time. A student attending a University must not only pay tuition, but also room and board expenses, as well as the costs of textbooks.  Even more significantly, they must take time away from work and home to receive training.  Online learners can study on their own time, and continue working while avoiding the logistical costs of a conventional education. Our blended-learning method incorporates just the right amount of human interaction to keep the courses vibrant, but takes advantage of the efficiency and financial savings of online study.