Implementation | PANORAMA

Working Groups

The International Alliance currently has 3 Working Groups, which are led by the members themselves and receive support from the Alliance Secretariat. Each Working Group is led by 1-2 chairs and the group meets every 6-8 weeks to ensure a continous work process.

We currently have the following Working Groups:

- Science Policy Interface (chair: Sue Liebermann, WCS)

Considering our core understanding of wildlife we want to infuse this understanding, based on scientific evidence, into international political processes.

- Transformative System Change: The Big Picture (chair: Alex D. Greenwood, IZW Berlin; Barabara Maas, NABU)

There are underlying fundamental obstacles to achieving the Alliances objectives and goals. Identifying and addressing these is the focus of this Working Group.

- Evaluation/Effective Interventions (chair: Craig Stephen, One Health Consultant)

The aim is to gather good practices on effective interventions from Alliance members to enable learning and knowledge exchange across sectors and regions.

The success of the working group depends on whether clear goals have been formulated, how committed and well- organized the chair is, how motivated the group members are and whether there is a continuous workflow.

Since most members already have very demanding full-time jobs, the time capacity of individual members may change over time. It can be challenging to ensure a good workflow and working atmosphere. Appreciation and understanding are of great importance in order to enable further collaboration.

Inception phase

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Multi-national

Global

Working Groups

Governmental Consultation Facility

Process of the Consultation Facility

Alliance

The goal of the Consultation Facility is to provide context-specific multidisciplinary consultancy services from Alliance experts to governments/governmental institutions in countries with a high risk of novel diseases of zoonotic origin to prevent spill-over infections.

The expertise of more than 180+ member organisations and individual experts in the Alliance will be used to put together those interdiscplinary teams.

The Consultation Facility specializes on medium-term, primary preventive and context-specific government advisory services with concrete results in the context of health risks in wildlife trade and consumption along the entire contact and trade chain.

Effective and sustainable counseling requires thorough policy analysis/screening to identify suitable governments.

Existing political action or other political regulations regarding the intersection of wildlife and human health for example, are particulary helpful at the beginning of the consultation.

The facility was launched in December 2023. For this reason, the lessons learned will only be communicated in the course of 2024.

Planning phase

Inception phase

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Climate Field Schools

Informal training in the field about climate information, biogas usage, and creating adaptation plans for the upcoming seasons.

Farmers were first identified through vulnerability assessments, where their areas are noted to be impacted by climate change (e.g. low crop production).

It is important to conduct CFS to close-knit communities, as such groups would motivate each individual to implement practices that are being taught.

Different farmer groups require different approaches and educational curricula. Depending on what problems are in the field, the CFS module must be adjusted to their needs.

The same way the biogas digesters are promoted in the field schools, some farmer groups would have different highlights about the digester. For instance, some groups struggle more with getting fertilizers than gas. Biogas as a tool for fertilizers need to be highlighted in this case.

Implementation

Local

Biogas Deployment

Installing small-scale biogas digesters to farmers.

Important criteria to receive a digester include: owning pigs/cows, access to water, location with enough sunlight, and sufficient space nearby the kitchen.

Champion farmers must first be identified a important pilot cases for each village. Once a champion farmer has successfully utilized the digester, the other farmers in the village will follow. This way, biogas digesters are installed village-by-village and not farmer-by-farmer.

It takes time for farmers to fully understand how the biogas digester work. Farmers are hands-on learners, which makes the CFS the perfect platform to promote the digesters.

Implementation

Local

Training Methodology

The Sustainable Blue Economy Training emphasizes an interactive and participative approach, fostering a dynamic learning environment. Unlike traditional training programs, the facilitators prioritize engagement and active participation, which allowed for a more contextualized and meaningful learning experience tailored to the participants’ speciﬁc needs and realities.

The training combined the presentation of concepts and ideas with a series of interactive exercises in which participants apply these concepts and learn about practical tools to use within their own organizations and wider actor networks. The materials were adapted to help practitioners and decision-makers discuss conceptual knowledge on SBE, and to create interactive work sessions that provide participants with opportunities to practice methodologies and tools that they can take away and use subsequently to address or strengthen their contribution to an SBE.

Engaging participants to reﬂect on their own challenges and actively discuss solutions proved vital for the training's success;
Logistics should be more related to training methodology;
It is advisable to conduct trainings preferably outside of the city to prevent participants from being called back by their superiors, as well as to create a more immersive training experience.
The facilitators maintained a neutral stance and should have provided more critical feedback on group work results.
The training assumed that participants had read the materials, which was not possible for many participants.
There was a decrease in the number of participants over the course, particularly in the case of the BE Council
There was a gap in participant selection, as representatives from the private sector and local community leaders should have been invited.
The use of Miro Boards was challenging for most participants.

Implementation

Local

National

Participant-centred evaluation

Training evaluation can be understood as the systematic process of collecting information and using that information to improve the training. Without disregarding the pre-training evaluation, keeping track during and after the training is relevant for the ongoing and future trainings.

The evaluation process for the Sustainable Blue Economy Training was conducted on a daily basis, with a strong emphasis on the active involvement of the co-management group. This group, consisting of three participants, played a key role in assessing the eﬀectiveness and impact of the training program. Through daily evaluations, the co-management group provided valuable insights and feedback on the training sessions, facilitation methods, and overall learning experience.

Daily evaluations are needed for continuous improvement of training efectiveness;
Post evaluation should be done at training location;
Evaluation platforms should be used after assessment of participants capacity to correspond.

Human resources for rat training

While APOPO trains scent detection rats, we also train scent detection rat trainers and supervisors. Animal training knowledge, understanding of welfare and care, as well as leadership skills are required to usher rats through their training stages successfully. By investing in human capital, we can support our animals' progress more efficiently.

APOPO's core values include quality, innovation, social transformation, diversity, and solidarity. In line with that, the current project team is compiled of four women and three men, six of whom are Tanzanian. By embracing and fostering diversity, project development benefits from a wide range of experiences.

Motivated staff, capacity building, international exchange of new and emerging animal training and learning processes, critical thinking, willingness to learn, and teamwork.

Screening staff before hiring them as animal trainers should not only include their theoretical skills and qualifications but also explore whether they are comfortable handling a rat. Continued training and capacity building throughout improves trainer capabilities and allows upskilling internally. This in turn creates incentive, high motivation, and fosters integrity. Close attention should be paid to treating staff fairly and allowing equal access to opportunities and equity.

Through high representation of women on our team, APOPO also leads as an example. It increases visibility of women in science in communities and with partners we work with.

Interaction between planning instruments

The former trading in stockfish and commodities has been replaced by shops.

Guri Dahl, Norges Verdensarv

Former warehouses in the back are now turned into small arts and crafts businesses.

Guri Dahl, Norges Verdensarv

Norway does not fully include specific World Heritage provisions in its national legislation, but all WH sites are protected under the existing legal framework. However, a key challenge is to ensure that the management plan for World Heritage is recognized and implemented in all public management and urban development plans affecting or touching upon a WH site.

Following the approval by the WH Board, the Management Plan of Bryggen was approved by the Municipality of Bergen and Vestland County Council. This recognition states that the Management plan should be implemented by all public municipal and county authorities in their actions of maintenance of public infrastructure, new urban developments, use of public spaces, and in management or planning of cultural events. This recognition strengthens cultural heritage management in the municipality and the county and their commitment to uphold a strong focus on the protection of the WH property of Bryggen.

Bryggen WH site only covers a small geographical area within the city centre of Bergen. There are several large ongoing urban planning projects just outside the WH property. The political recognition of the management plan has become a tool for urban planning beyond the WH property.

The local WH management structure and its management plan have been accepted by both the Bergen Municipality and the County Council. This also gives the opportunity to the World Heritage Board to give its advice and recommendations to the Municipality and the County Council on the matter of protecting Bryggen’s OUV.

Having a WH property located inside a wider historic city centre means that urban planning decisions have the potential to affect the WH property and its OUV. Political recognition has made it easier to address the protection of the OUV and other heritage values as an integrated part of the wider urban planning process. It has increased the knowledge of WH as well as the importance to involve all concerned stakeholders.

This action aims to provide a framework for an improved and wider inclusion of all different departments involved in urban planning and public management in the next revision of the management plan of Bryggen.

Implementation

Local

Verdsarvstaden Bryggen. Forvaltningsplan 2021-2025, Vestland fylkeskommune

Verdensarvstedet Bryggen: Forvaltningsplan 2021 - 2025, Bergen kommune

Local World Heritage Management Structure

These historic buildings demonstrate how the German merchants lived and worked at Bryggen.

Guri Dahl, Norges Verdensarv

Long narrow rows of buildings, separated by narrow wooden passages.

Guri Dahl, Norges Verdensarv

In 2012 Norway adopted a new national World Heritage policy to push for a more effective implementation of the World Heritage Convention at a national, regional and local level. This includes recommendations for the establishment of local management structures able to enhance local capacities for management.
In 2018, a new structure was approved by all stakeholders and recognized at all levels. It consists of:

a WH Board responsible for the protection of Bryggen in accordance with WH requirements and the management plan. It consists of 4 political members (2 from Vestland County Council,2 from the Municipality of Bergen) appointed for 4 years.
an Advisory Board strengthens cooperation between stakeholders in Bryggen with the aim of protecting its OUV and other heritage values. It consists of 10 members representing building owners, museums, university, tourism operators, cultural heritage agencies at local, regional and national level, and friends’ association.
a full time World Heritage Coordinator funded by the national government and employed at the Agency of Cultural Heritage Management, City of Bergen. It is the contact person for the WH site and responsible for stakeholder involvement and site management.

There are two main factors that have enabled such a local WH heritage management structure:

The national policy for World Heritage which establishes local structures and the appointment of a WH coordinator;
A long, ongoing and thorough process for stakeholder involvement was at the base of creating a structure that was accepted and formally recognized by all actors involved.

Developing a new structure for a local WH management requires acceptance by all stakeholders, and this needs to evolve and further develop over time. It is very much a learning-by-doing process.
There is not one way of doing things, but it is a process that develops towards identifying the best way of organising management locally. Through the process one also might identify new stakeholders who should be included.

The aim is to coordinate activities, identify how each stakeholder is important for the overall management of World Heritage. However, there is no mandate to instruct either private stakeholders or public management. Hence, it is a continuous process to define the role and mandate of the local World Heritage management structure.

Planning phase

Implementation

Local

World Heritage in Norway: national policy for an inclusive and participatory im…

Ny helhetlig verdensarvpolitikk

Framtid med fotfeste - Meld. St. 35 (2012–2013)

New goals for Norway’s cultural environment policy — Meld. St. 16 (2019–2020)

Partners

While APOPO is the leading organisation in training scent detection rats, we rely on our partners for a wide range of support. Without them, deploying scent detection rats would not be possible. Such partners range from local partners such as the Sokoine University of Agriculture, to international partners such as Mine Action Authorities, governments, donors, and specialised organisations.

For example, the wildlife detection project partners with the Endangered Wildlife Trust of South Africa. The project has been funded by a wide range of government donors such as

- The German Government (through the GIZ 'Partnership against Wildlife Crime in Africa and Asia' Global Program)

- The UNDP-GEF-USAID 'Reducing Maritime Trafficking of Wildlife between Africa and Asia' Project

- The UK 'Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund'

- The Wildlife Conservation Network

- The Pangolin Crisis Fund

- US Fish and Wildlife

We rely heavily on support from the Tanzanian Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA) for provision of training aids, and, recently, the support from the Dar es Salaam Joint Port Control Unit in order to conduct operational trials for illegal wildlife detection.

Trust, collaboration, networking, knowledge exchange, integrity, supporting evidence, reporting, media and outreach.

Building relationships takes time and trust. Open and honest dissemination of results, goals, and setbacks ensures that partners feel that they can trust your organisation. In addition, when dealing with governments and partners in countries other than your 'own', we have found it helpful to have a person who is familiar with the way the specific countries' governments work. An in-depth understanding of cultural values and customs can greatly enhance partnerships. In addition, expectations should be clearly communicated across all parties to avoid frustration and misunderstandings.