A “Knowledge Sharing Journey” brought 55 grantees from Africa, the Pacific and the Caribbean together, discussing and documenting their projects’ results and lessons learned through online and in-person workshops. Central to PANORAMA’s core vision of promoting effective and replicable solutions, the journey focused on knowledge capitalization and exchange.
All participants © IUCN
The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Programme (BIOPAMA) and the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services in Territories of European Overseas Programme (BEST) jointly organised the journey, consisting of online sessions and a six-day in-person workshop in Nairobi. Through in-depth write-shop sessions, the grantees documented their rich experiences from the field as solution case studies, outlining the factors contributing to the success of the projects that were funded by the grant programmes. The PANORAMA approach and case study format provided a way of reflecting on "solution" outcomes from the projects, and the critical success factors and lessons learned that contributed to these outcomes, in a structured manner. Participants worked individually and in "buddy" pairs, supporting each other in developing the framing and producing the write-up of their experiences.
The resulting solution case studies cover a vast range of topics, ranging from eradication of invasive species on islands, protected area governance and equity assessments, to the use of cultural values to save mountain gorillas. The solutions are published under PANORAMA 30x30 Solutions as well as PANORAMA Blue.
The journey was a ”first” for IUCN grant programmes to support systematic knowledge capitalization. It provided an important opportunity to further refine the PANORAMA methodology for knowledge capture and gather valuable input from the grantees that will inform improvements of the case study template and the web platform. On the PANORAMA platform, the knowledge gained from the grantees’ experiences will remain available in perpetuity.
Participant in group discussion session © IUCN
The BIOPAMA Programme assists African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to address their priorities for improved management and governance of biodiversity and natural resources through a variety of tools, services and funding. The BEST Initiative is a financial mechanism for supporting biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of ecosystem services, including the ecosystem-based approach to climate change adaption and mitigation, in the European Union (EU) Overseas. Both programmes are financed by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA), and together have supported over 200 grantees since their inception.