Lessons learned: 

• Authenticity is key to influence
  One of the most important lessons is that athlete ambassadors must be genuinely passionate about and involved with environmental issues. Authenticity drives credibility. When athletes speak and act from personal conviction, as have Christine Cavallo and Martin Helseth their impact is significantly greater.  
• Support and structure to succeed 
  Active athletes have busy schedules, often centered around training and competition, without proper logistical support and good communication even highly motivated ambassadors may struggle to sustain momentum. Providing clear guidance, toolkits, media support will help them translate their ideas into action. 
• Visibility and storytelling amplify impact
  Sharing the journeys and projects led by athlete ambassadors through videos, interviews, and social media is critical. These stories humanise environmental action and make initiatives relatable. For example, showcasing Martin Helseth’s leadership in cleaning up the Oslo Fjord not only inspired local rowing communities but also generated national media interest and highlighted practical, replicable environmental actions that the global rowing community can take. 

• Structured programming ensures strategic growth & equal opportunities

  Transitioning from ad hoc ambassador appointments to a structured global Athlete Ambassador Programme with representation from each continent is a necessary step. It ensures balanced representation and allows for better integration into the broader Healthy Waters Alliance strategy. 

• Athlete-led initiatives benefit from local partnerships. 
  Successful campaigns, like the Oslo Fjord Clean-up & Restoration initiative, have demonstrated that athlete leadership is most effective when paired with local NGOs, clubs, and institutions. These partnerships provide operational capacity, local knowledge, and continuity. 

Challenges:

• Time constraints and competing priorities for active athletes, especially around major competitions. 
• Geographic imbalance, with early initiatives being concentrated in a few countries, highlighting the need for broader athlete ambassador recruitment and representation. 

Recommendations:

• Provide a clear ambassador onboarding process, including expectations, support available, and example ideas and activities. 
• Offer flexible engagement formats (e.g., single-event involvement, or year-long ambassador roles) to accommodate diverse schedules. 

Lessons learned:

• The value of a clear, shared vision between partners from different sectors. World Rowing and WWF International, both share a clear vision around the common goal of protecting and restoring freshwater and coastal ecosystems. This shared purpose serves as a powerful anchor during planning, communication, and decision-making processes. 
• The importance of moving beyond symbolic partnerships. While the awareness campaign was useful it was not sufficient enough to address environmental challenges. By committing to co-create and deliver tangible, on-the-ground projects through the Healthy Waters Alliance, the partnership was able to evolve into a results-oriented platform. This required a shift in mindset, internal structures, and resource allocation on both sides. 
• The need to create space for diverse actors to contribute, including National Rowing Federations, local clubs, event organisers, and environmental experts. Many of these stakeholders had never previously collaborated, so developing mechanisms for joint planning was essential considering the operational complexity and diversity of sport and conservation organisations. 

Challenges: 

• Resource constraints  
• Partnerships between organisations with different core missions—such as sport and conservation—require stronger coordination in communication and outreach to ensure projects receive the visibility and impact they deserve. Equal commitment from both sides in promoting results and raising awareness has proven essential for success. 

Recommendations: 

• Investing early in relationship-building, including shared workshops, regular meetings and occasional event & project visits, to align expectations. 
• Providing flexible funding mechanisms that can support both established and grassroots project partners, enabling wider participation (e.g. making use of consultants to fundraise) 
• Establishing joint communication strategies to ensure balanced promotion of the partnership and its outcomes. 
• Allowing enough lead time for planning and creating dedicated project coordination roles to help navigate organisational complexity and maintain momentum for projects

Making ecosystem functions visible through maps helped bridge knowledge gaps and build trust. However, technical complexity required training and translation into accessible formats. Some areas lacked detailed data, so local observations were essential for model validation. Combining modelling with participatory methods made the findings more relevant and actionable.

In India, the development of aquaculture training materials involved multiple workshops and participatory feedback from local fish farmers, government agencies, NGOs, and researchers. This collaborative process was vital in creating modular training sessions suited to the seasonal constraints of fish farming, particularly for women and small-scale farmers. The materials were continuously tested and revised to ensure their relevance, written in local languages, and tailored for field-based learning without the need for technology. This inclusive approach enabled farmers to take ownership of the training content and ensured its effectiveness in the long term.

The main topics of the different training programmes, as well as the formats used, can vary greatly. For example, while the needs assessment in Zambia identified gaps in existing aquaculture training manuals that could be addressed through hands-on training, the survey in Uganda led to the development of a fisheries business. In Mauritania, the identification of weak points highlighted the need for hygiene and quality training in the fish value chain. In response to climate risks, the project in Malawi recognized the importance of intermittent harvest methods and developed a fish trap manual.

• Local capacity building ensures long-term reliability and system maintenance
• Intelligent alert routing and data filtering are essential to avoid signal noise
• Redundant communication strategies strengthen system resilience

• Sensor effectiveness improves with community-informed placement strategies
• Continuous environmental calibration enhances precision over time
• Environmental durability must be prioritized during design and testing phases

It is essential that the leadership processes remain organized and
with clear objectives in order to continue defending the ZEPA and
advance in greater guarantees for its protection.

We learned that successful capacity building requires flexible training models that accommodate participants’ varied expertise. Hands-on practice combined with theoretical knowledge improves retention. Establishing a regional network fosters peer learning and collaboration. Follow-up support and refresher sessions are important for sustained impact. Training must be paired with accessible resources and tools to enable real-world application. Engaging trainees as future trainers multiplies benefits and contributes to national and regional self-sufficiency in biodiversity monitoring.

Effective stakeholder engagement requires ongoing dialogue and tailored communication strategies to diverse audiences. We found that combining scientific rigor with accessible language bridges the science-policy-practice gap. Early inclusion of ministries and NGOs increases uptake of results. Awareness campaigns are essential to foster behavioral change and highlight the often-overlooked role of animals in ecosystem restoration. Sustained collaboration ensures findings influence policy and land management decisions. We also learned that participatory approaches empower communities, ensuring solutions are socially accepted and sustainable