Newsletter January 2024

GRID-Arendal
Kenya 2017
GRID-Arendal

At PANORAMA, we bring to life the ideal of global learning through local solutions, fostering an environment where cross-sectoral inspiration and global innovation thrive. For over a decade, PANORAMA has stood as a testament to the power of shared knowledge in overcoming environmental challenges. 2024 is going to be an exciting time for PANORAMA, with some major changes to the web platform coming just around the corner. Have a look at our latest updates!

 

- The PANORAMA Management Unit at GIZ and IUCN, on behalf of all partners.

Ten Years of PANORAMA

In 2014, the IUCN World Parks Congress was held in Sydney, Australia with a theme of “Parks, People, Planet: Inspiring Solutions,” and fittingly, this event served as an inspiration for the launch of PANORAMA - Solutions for a Healthy Planet ten years ago. The very first roots of PANORAMA date back even further. So, this year, we take a moment to reflect on a decade of sharing solutions from practice and connecting a wide range of actors for exchanging knowledge. A first prototype of the web platform was launched in 2015. From there, the initiative and its solution case study portfolio expanded continuously, with new partners and themes, and an ever-growing network of solution providers, reviewers, Ambassadors and workshop participants.

 

As we move towards “PANORAMA 2.0”, we have big plans for more solutions, making access to knowledge more inclusive, and engaging more directly with partner countries, among other things. Learn more about 10 years of PANORAMA, its many uses and exciting next phase and find out here how you can partner with PANORAMA!

 

A new look for the PANORAMA web platform

PANORAMA is entering a new era of promoting effective and replicable solutions with our new web platform! PANORAMA’s goal is to continuously share impactful and replicable solutions to conservation topics across the globe, and the new platform has been thoroughly overhauled to achieve that for years to come. Presented at UNFCCC COP28, our new platform boasts a revamped map tool, a new and improved user interface, and a cutting-edge solutions explorer, making it easier than ever to discover the world of solutions.

 

We wanted to send a huge thank you to everyone who signed up and participated in the beta testing phase of the platform. With your help, our team is updating the platform based on your invaluable feedback. The new website is set to fully launch in February. Find out more about the features of the new web platform through this short video here.

 

Insight from solutions in inclusive conservation

A recent paper published in Ecology and Society, provides insights into inclusive conservation, a concept shaping modern environmental efforts. The paper analysed 263 Solutions featured on the PANORAMA platform, which was invaluable for the research team, as it provided them with a global dataset of nature conservation projects to comb for patterns. We sat down with the lead author of the paper, Dr. Miguel Ángel Cebrián-Piqueras, to discuss their research. Visit the PANORAMA platform to read the full article, here.

Celebrating PANORAMA’s 2023 Ambassadors

Celebrating a year of achievements, the PANORAMA Ambassador programme in 2023 witnessed impactful contributions from 14 dedicated individuals.  

Here are some highlights of our ambassadors' work: 

 

  • Oscar Ivanova & Obongha Oguni co-organized a webinar, "Empowering Change through Knowledge Sharing in Africa," with 25 participants exploring PANORAMA. 
  • Paulina Karimova actively disseminated PANORAMA knowledge at numerous international conferences. 
  • Roxana Goldstein explored the incorporation of PANORAMA methodology during the project design stage. 
  • Lisa Hunsinger presented PANORAMA in GIZ internal sector network meetings. 

All ambassadors enthusiastically championed PANORAMA within their institutions, motivating colleagues to contribute solutions, speaking at PANORAMA organized events, and actively promoting PANORAMA across social media and websites. They fostered direct connections with fellow ambassadors showing a collective commitment to advancing PANORAMA's influence. 

 

Their feedback echoes a desire for sustained engagement and structured guidance.  

 

Learn more here.

 

IKI Small Grants Programme - Knowledge sharing amongst grassroots organisations

 

PANORAMA teamed up with the Small Grants Programme of Germany’s International Climate Initiative (IKI SGP), managed by GIZ, to support knowledge sharing and exchange for IKI SGP implementing organizations. For this first joint endeavour, the 2 initiatives collaborated on peer-to-peer solution exchange workshops and sharing flagship success stories through videos. ECOMARES launched their video on how their community is fighting against Ghost Fishing, and is now available. Learn more here.

Community Stories

PANORAMA promotes solutions across multiple, inter-linked Communities. From nature-culture interlinkages to species conservation, each Community promotes specific solutions on a dedicated topic. Below are recent highlights from some of our Communities.

Common insights and success factors in EbA Solutions

 

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) utilizes biodiversity and ecosystem services for climate change adaption. It relies on managing ecosystems for long-term benefits. PANORAMA EbA brings together 189 solutions from all regions: Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. The community recently conducted a small synthesis to better understand common insights and success factors from across the solution. Learn more about these insights here.

 

PANORAMA Nature-Culture as a capacity building platform for heritage management

 

The “Managing World Heritage: People Nature Culture (PNC)” course is the flagship foundational course of the World Heritage Leadership (WHL) programme. The course offers a platform to World Heritage site managers and professionals to learn more about nature-culture integrated, place-based and people-centred approaches to World Heritage management and to meet and exchange with colleagues from around the world.

In the first half of 2024, the WHL will host the first French edition of the PNC course in March and a second English edition will take place in April.

WASH in health care facilities

 

The global pandemic has proven our vulnerability to highly infectious diseases and nosocomial infections due to antimicrobial resistances. It has revealed critical weaknesses in primary health care facilities, such as inadequate infection prevention and control, lack of proper waste management and infrastructural deficits. Improper excreta disposal and medical waste management in health care facilities are linked to the spread of vectors, vermin, and other germs. They have been associated with spreading pharmaceutical residues that contribute to increased antimicrobial resistance. This is the point of departure of the Sanitation for Millions project towards applying One Health through a WASH in health care facilities. In Pakistan and Uganda, the project invests in capacity building, promoting hygiene management, creating awareness, and designing an enabling environment that targets the reduction of health risks and the protection of human health.

 

PANORAMA Restoration Expands to new horizons

 

Traditionally rooted in Forest Landscape Restoration, we are excited to announce that our platform has broadened its scope in 2023! Recognizing the diverse and pressing needs of ecosystems worldwide, we have expanded our horizon to encompass Restoration Solutions from all ecosystems. This strategic shift aims to better serve and empower all Generation Restoration practitioners and welcoming them to our growing community, comprising of 255 solutions from over 90 countries so far.

 

Our Resilient neighbourhood

 

The PANORAMA Cities Community brings together over 230 inspiring case studies implemented in cities. Among these, ‘Our Resilient Neighbourhood’, submitted by GIZ Mexico, presents a successful tactical urbanism project based on civic engagement, participatory design and green infrastructure, which supported the creation of inclusive public spaces, the protection of urban biodiversity and climate change mitigation. The community efforts were recognised internationally, winning the World Urban Parks Congress Award 2022 in the category of health and wellbeing. 

Other Opportunities

 

Nominations for the Equator Prize 2024 are open until February 26th 2024. Presented by UNDP, a PANORAMA partner, the award will recognise outstanding grassroots initiatives from Indigenous Peoples and local communities. The categories include- Nature for Climate Mitigation, Nature for Climate Adaptation and Resilience, and Nature for a Just Transition. Special consideration will be given to nominees championing youth and women-led climate action. Nominate Now!