Strengthening personal and organisational capacities

In 2012, TBI completed three major projects on capacity building and organisational strengthening: Integrated Natural Resource Management in Ghana; Intercultural capacity building in Colombia; and the Capacity Fund for Forest and Nature (Capaciteitsfonds Bos & Natuur, or CBN) in Suriname. The first two were financed by NUFFIC, the Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education and the third one by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Suriname.

In Ghana, TBI carried out a long-term (2005–12) collaboration with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The project aimed to embed principles and approaches of Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) in order to improve higher education in agriculture and natural resources. The major result of the project was the capacity and commitment of CANR staff to use INRM principles in their research
and education. At the institutional level, both within CANR and among external stakeholders, the project made considerable gains in embedding INRM principles and approaches. In Ghana, the need for integrated intersectoral approaches is being recognized.

The experiences gained during the project were presented and discussed at an international conference, “Addressing environmental challenges, a call for business unusual”, which took place in the newly build CANR International Centre for Innovative Learning, March 14–15, 2012. The theme of the conference was encouraging universities to develop innovative programmes in order to become more responsive to the needs of the agricultural and natural resource management sectors in Ghana. More than 100 participants concluded that environmental problems, which are complex by nature, need an integrated approach:

• stakeholders must be involved in problem analysis and in looking for solutions;
• intersectoral collaboration and a holistic view are fundamental in addressing environmental problems; and
• targeted, interdisciplinary information is indispensable in multi-stakeholder dialogues and informed decision making.

A new MSc programme on Natural Resource and Environmental Governance was developed as part of the project. It will allow Ghanaian students to acquire the skills and competencies Strengthening personal and organisational capacities Capacity building and organisational strengthening needed to apply INRM principles. The MSc program is being used as case study for the Ph.D. of a CANR staff member, who is looking at the development of curricula that is responsive to the needs of professionals in natural resource governance and to developments in the environmental sector.

In Colombia, the Colombian National Training Service (Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje, or SENA) provides vocational training in social and technical development. SENA and TBI developed the project, Training in environmental management and sustainable production chains, to ensure that the training provided by SENA corresponds to local needs for capacity building. The project, which was carried out from 2008–12, provided SENA with knowledge, tools and staff (100) trained in intercultural capacity building related to environmental management and sustainable production chains.

The goal of the project was to strengthen the organisational capacity of SENA to develop training activities with indigenous and Afro-descendant communities. A methodological road map and toolkit for training in intercultural contexts were developed (published in Spanish), which addressed five steps: consultation, characterization, self-diagnosis, project formulation and systematic learning by doing. The project introduced a unit of intercultural capacity building and productivity (Unidad de Formación, Produccíon Intercultural, or UFPI), a small-scale project that seeks to provide an economic alternative for local communities based on market opportunities and the potential of the natural environment.

The results of the SENA project - along with more than 100 publications - were presented at a series of seminars in each of the seven SENA centres the projects worked with. A final high-level seminar was held in Bogotá, July 7-8, 2012.

The project allowed SENA to make significant progress in tailoring its programs to ethnic communities and to strengthen its training programs in intercultural contexts. This is particularly important in Colombia, where local communities own one-third of the territory.

As a follow-up, SENA is formulating an Intercultural Standard and has created an internal platform to further promote the use of the intercultural approach. It has been recognized that rigid rules for education in an intercultural context do not work; the specific circumstances for each region and cultural group have to be taken into account.

Over four years, the Capacity Fund for Forest and Nature supported 46 projects in Suriname through collaborative identification of problems and partners, help with formulation of proposals, and assistance with project implementation. The objective of the CBN was to improve professionalism at the operational and management level in the forest and nature sectors, including timber processing, nature conservation and nature tourism, thus contributing to enhanced performance by both people and organisations.

The initiatives supported by CBN came from the public, private and non-profit sectors, including non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations. Projects included vocational training, management support, development of awareness and training materials, and field visits.

Through these efforts, professionalism in the forest and nature sector has increased in Suriname. The effective CBN communication strategy, relatively easy access to the fund, and direct support with project formulation contributed to the success of CBN.