The local residents who were previously excluded from the various cultural tourism activities and festivals centering on the World Heritage property started to independently host village activities and built up their capacities for delivering and managing events. 

The initial residents group started to participate in the operations of the Suwon Heritage Night Walks in 2017 as traffic control staff. As the number of festivals that were hosted to celebrate Suwon Hwaseong as World Heritage increased, such as the Hwaseong by Night, World Heritage Festival, and Media Art Shows, the number of jobs available for the residents also increased. 

The Haenggung Village Cooperative Association was established on 31 May 2021 and it consists of 46 members. The main line of work is creating content and activities for visitors. 
The association is composed of 4 sub-groups each named “jigi”, which in the Korean language means friends: 

• Haenggungjigi, who focuses on providing event support, information, sanitation and the operation of activities; 
• Donghaengjigi, a group that creates the content and stories of the village tours; 
• Surajigi that promotes and shares research and education on food; 
• Cheongnyeonjigi, the group that monitors and conducts evaluations of activities. 

The local residents who were previously excluded from the various cultural tourism activities and festivals centering on the World Heritage property started to independently host village activities and built up their capacities for delivering and managing events. 

The initial residents group started to participate in the operations of the Suwon Heritage Night Walks in 2017 as traffic control staff. As the number of festivals that were hosted to celebrate Suwon Hwaseong as World Heritage increased, such as the Hwaseong by Night, World Heritage Festival, and Media Art Shows, the number of jobs available for the residents also increased. 

The Haenggung Village Cooperative Association was established on 31 May 2021 and it consists of 46 members. The main line of work is creating content and activities for visitors. 
The association is composed of 4 sub-groups each named “jigi”, which in the Korean language means friends: 

• Haenggungjigi, who focuses on providing event support, information, sanitation and the operation of activities; 
• Donghaengjigi, a group that creates the content and stories of the village tours; 
• Surajigi that promotes and shares research and education on food; 
• Cheongnyeonjigi, the group that monitors and conducts evaluations of activities. 

The objective of this phase was to generate a compendium of tools to guide informed decision making on urban reforestation needs in five Mexican coastal cities (Boca del Rio, Veracruz; Merida, Yucatan; San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca; Tepic, Nayarit; Tijuana, Baja California).

1. A compendium of landscape-scale tools was prepared with the products:

• Economic valuation of ecosystem services provided by urban trees.
• Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) map.
• Green View Index Map (GVI)
• Fixed Pollution Sources Map (FFC)
• Children's Access to Nature Equity Index Map.
• Urban Heat Islands (UHI) Map.

2. The baseline for the efficient management of urban trees was elaborated through the street-by-street detail component of a high-resolution digital inventory, representative of the axes and road islands of each city. This inventory not only recorded the existing trees and their maintenance needs, but also identified plantable spaces, identified and catalogued the available plantable spaces, specifying the appropriate characteristics of each area, as well as the type of tree that can be planted in each site. This integrated approach ensures more accurate and sustainable planning, optimizing species selection and improving the health and biodiversity of the urban tree stock.

3. In addition, educational and design tools were prepared. A practical guide for urban reforestation and two plant palettes for climate-smart reforestation were developed.

The Ministry of Land and Environment (MTA), in partnership with IUCN Mozambique, launched three Knowledge Hubs as part of its efforts to centralise and streamline conservation and restoration training and knowledge exchange from the central to local levels and from public administration to communities. These hubs serve as essential training tools, particularly for mangrove restoration and protection, and for the broader application of Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) for both communities and policymakers.

Located within government premises in Maputo, Maputo National Park, and Pemba, the hubs function as open-access centres where conservation manuals, tools, and courses, including those from the IUCN Academy, are shared. These resources, (e.g. on NbS, Other Effective area-based Conservation Measures (OECMs), mangrove restoration) translated to Portuguese and tailored to local projects and communities, help expand the reach of conservation knowledge, especially to rural communities, women, and youth. By offering systematic online and in-person training, the hubs provide a space for both tailored learning and socio-economic development, incorporating important dimensions of governance, gender, and youth engagement.

The Knowledge Hubs empower local communities, especially those in buffer and coastal areas, to become active agents in conservation and climate adaptation by providing tools on topics such as mangrove restoration and NbS. This initiative not only promotes sustainable practices but also nurtures a culture of learning and participation. 

The Knowledge Hubs have proven to be a cost-effective solution for training, using existing infrastructure and only require internet connectivity. The program includes in-person training, such as the “Blue Training in Practise” program, which successfully trained over 20 professors and MTA staff to integrate coastal and marine management into local development plans and projects This approach is designed as a long-term, cross-sectoral process, ensuring that biodiversity, climate, and development considerations are incorporated into local development strategies. Where possible, the program also facilitates personal exchanges with local communities to enhance engagement and knowledge transfer.

Furthermore, the Knowledge Hubs have also served as a model for other development and conservation actors, attracting in-kind and financial support, which further strengthens partnerships and raises awareness.

Beyond facilitating access to hard-to-reach locations, sailboats also provide useful modes of transport for deploying scientific instrumentation. The boats can carry scientific equipment, both for deployment in the ocean, but also for continual measurement by sensors that are permanently onboard. The race boats’ speed means that data from different locations can be captured across short timespans, something which is not achievable by most research vessels. Yachts can also be used to pilot and test new research technology and techniques, such as technology that allows results to be shared in real-time, and the OceanPack – a device which records essential ocean data from aboard the yachts. 

In a racing context, carrying devices that take meteorological measurements is not only beneficial for science partners, but also for the race participants themselves, as it helps to inform and improve weather forecasts that will impact their own decision-making and performances throughout the race. 

Using racing yachts for data collection paves the way for the installation and deployment of measuring devices on other vessels such as fishing or commercial boats, as well as other sailing boats. 

Following the training, we nominated CBEMR champions representing CFAs, BMUs, youth and women groups. 11 are community champions while three are from key government agencies. In general, CBEMR champions create awareness, assist in capacity building, undertake actual restoration activities, monitor restoration activities, and conduct ecological and social assessments, among other roles. 

The community champions assist in mobilisation, awareness creation, training and actual mangrove conservation and restoration initiatives. The champions from the government agencies also serve as Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) during CBEMR trainings, working alongside the primary trainers. 

This building block empowers local communities, government agencies, and other stakeholders with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to implement and sustain effective mangrove restoration initiatives. Through strategic engagement and capacity-building efforts, stakeholders are equipped with the technical expertise and resources required for Community-Based Ecological Mangrove Restoration (CBEMR). These efforts include identifying and training CBEMR champions to act as catalysts for knowledge dissemination and practical restoration activities within their communities and institutions.

Wetlands International initiated capacity-building activities by engaging local communities in Lamu and Tana through CBOs, CFAs, and key government agencies, including KFS, KEFRI, KMFRI, the Lamu County Government, as well as CSOs such as WWF and the Northern Rangelands Trust. Women comprised 50% of the participants, taking a leading role in hands-on mangrove restoration efforts. Training sessions included sound restoration techniques based on the CBEMR approach, conducted in English and translated into Swahili for greater accessibility. These sessions integrated practical, relatable mangrove science with indigenous knowledge, fostering inclusivity and community ownership.

In addition, stakeholders were provided with simple tools such as refractometers and pH strips to conduct salinity and acidity tests, along with resources to support monitoring and adaptive management. 

CBEMR champions, nominated from CFAs, BMUs, youth groups, women groups, and government agencies, further amplified these efforts. These champions assist in mobilising communities, raising awareness, conducting restoration activities, monitoring progress, and performing ecological and social assessments. Government agency champions also serve as Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) to ensure continuous capacity building within their institutions and communities.

Based on the success of the initial trainings in Lamu and other sites, Lamu KFS officials together with Wetlands International identified the need to spread this knowledge mainly at the policy and management levels within KFS among other key stakeholders. In partnership with KFS and MAP, we organised a CBEMR managerial training for the senior managers and coastal forest managers at KFS, Directors of Environment Department from the Kwale, Kilifi, Mombasa, Tana River, and Lamu counties, academia from Kenya School of Forestry and Kenyatta University, partner organisations in Global Mangrove Alliance namely IUCN, WWF and TNC, and representatives from the Western Indian Ocean Mangrove Network and local journalists with specialisation in environmental issues. 

Collaboration with CSOs, the Global Mangrove Alliance, and other partners enhanced the initiative’s reach and impact, enabling regular training and knowledge-sharing activities across the mangrove regions.

The Ocean Race Teams Sustainability Charter and Code of Conduct was co-created with the teams to express a fleet-wide commitment to sustainable operations and supporting a healthy ocean. The charter includes themes of Advocacy, Science, Learning and Operations. It seeks to get all teams, staff, and sailors to stand up for the ocean through sustainable sailing, team, and personal actions. 

On the science front, teams must pledge to agree to:

• Supporting science-based decision making.
• Participating in increasing knowledge and understanding of our ocean.
• Hosting scientific equipment onboard.
• Participating in sailor and citizen science programmes.
• Contributing to the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science in collaboration with The Ocean Race.

Including science within a charter and requiring stakeholders to undertake various science-related activities whilst competing in a sailing race embeds science, as a core value, into race practices. This is unique in the sporting world as it requires teams and athletes to take on environmental responsibilities as well as their existing sporting responsibilities.

The underlying premise for The Ocean Race – racing to circumnavigate the world – means that the race naturally takes competitors to some of the most remote areas in the world. This makes it a unique platform for undertaking scientific research as it gives scientists access to remote areas, such as the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, that would otherwise rarely be accessible. Ships sailing outside of regular shipping routes play an essential role in the ability to deploy scientific instrumentation, such as the drifter buoys and Argo floats that are deployed during the race, across under-sampled locations. This affords rare opportunities for gathering data from parts of the planet where little information has been recorded, making the Race a crucial platform for collecting data that is otherwise unattainable and filling data gaps, contributing to furthering our understanding of our oceans. 

Much support was given to improve fisher capacity to manage their access to and use of Fish Aggregating Devices (FADs). The programme recognised that the establishment of marine managed and protected areas as a method of marine management has resulted in increased reliance on Fish Aggregating Devices installed outside the marine managed and protected areas, for sustenance of the fishery sector.  Fishers within the Carriacou Fisher Folks Inc also recognised this and the need for attention to be paid to the monitoring and management of this resource.  This beckoned the implementation of FAD Data Management training for fishers of Carriacou and Petit Martinique.  The training was facilitated through the Fisheries Department of the Government of Grenada, and included information sharing on, but not limited to data on marine conservation, history of FADs in the region, the importance of data collection, legislation, its challenges, development of informal protocols and rules, identifying fish species as well as data collection methodology and post data collection analysis.  The workshop also realised the commitment of fishers to establish GrenFAD, which will take the leading role in the management of the FADs.  The fishers agreed and signed off on the soft rules for FAD Fishing, membership and FAD fees, data collection, data collection templates and protocols for data collection and management.  Actors in the fishery sector and marine management/protection were also trained in the use of underwater drones for remote sensing. The Programme provided support for construction of at least 6 FADS for the St. Marks fishers in Dominica. In the case of Saint Lucia, the provision of navigational tools to assist in accessing the FAD locations, which are often many miles offshore, and generally speaking to assist with safety at sea.