„Connecting for impact – From commitment to action” - that was this year's motto of the Global Landscapes Forum 2018 and the PANORAMA partnership was strongly represented there: a very appealing poster exhibition about PANORAMA in general and a selection of GLF-relevant solutions from Africa, attracted the attention of many visitors and contributed to the fact that the PANORAMA Side Event: "Connecting for impact: Promoting local success stories to inform global policy targets" was very well attended.
After the opening of the event by Mr. Christian Grossheim of the Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU), a varied programme awaited the participants. In addition to a general introduction to the steadily growing knowledge partnership, the ecosystem-based adaptation and agriculture & biodiversity thematic communities were presented in detail. These PANORAMA themes are of great relevance regarding to sustainable landscape approaches and Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR). In particular, the synergies, similarities and differences between ecosystem-based adaptation and FLR were elaborated. Special highlights of the event were the dynamic presentations of two PANORAMA solution providers from Madagascar and Uganda: Julien Noel Rakotoarisoa, FLR Focal Point at the Ministry of Environment, Ecology and Forests in Madagascar presented the experiences, insights and successes of the FLR approach in Madagascar. Patience Naamara, Head of Fairventures Worldwide in Uganda, shared her experiences and insights on "Agroforestry Skills Development: tackling the deforestation challenge in Uganda". Julien Noel and Patience paid special attention to the explanation of the individual success components - "Building Blocks" - and their interaction and connections, which are a typical feature of the PANORAMA solution format.
In the second, very interactive part of the event, the participants were directly involved in two groups: In one group, the visitors explored the PANORAMA web platform and the solution format directly with their own devices and gave feedback and recommendations on how to further increase user friendliness. In the second group there was a vivid discussion about concrete synergies and cooperation possibilities between PANORAMA and the Global Landscape Forum. In particular, many concrete cooperation possibilities were identified in the context of a mutual use of successful, local experiences and approaches as well as in relation to their joint communication and dissemination. Mr. Grossheim from BMU pointed out that his ministry supports both - the GLF and PANORAMA - and that efficient cooperation between the two initiatives is possible and highly appreciated.
The identified cooperation ideas are planned to be further discussed between responsible representatives of both initiatives.
We have great news for those of you who could not attend the event in person!
There was a live recording of the event and you can watch the full video here: