For effective implementation, It requires highly skilled and experienced facilitator to work with various stakeholders like pupils, teachers and community members.
1.use of existing facilitator
2. use of existing institution
3. Use of multistakeholder approach
1. institutional interest should be considered when working with many stakeholders
2. it takes time for field staff to understand, gain experience and confidence to facilitate this process.
This is an inclusive and participatory process that school communities use to develop whole school land design and food forest to meet their needs.
It involves working with all school community/Stakeholders( pupils, teachers, parents, surrounding and local leaders}
1. Use of local available resources
2. involvenment of pupils, teachers and parents leading to intergeneration learning
3. Use of existing institutional structure and systems
4. Joint responsibility
5. It based on community felt needs
1. improved working relationship between stakeholders
2. Its a good approach in addressing other social problems affecting communities like, negative attitude towards agriculture among youths. youth unemployment, crime.
Challenges
1. it takes time to take off, because one need to mobilize and create awareness among various stakeholders.
2. Negative attittude towards agriculture in school.
3. Inadequate time allocated for extra carricula activities in schools
"Action learning" and monitoring to increase capacities and knowledge
Community implementation of adaptation measures in forests and agroforestry systems
Revitalizing governance for adaptation
Achieving ecosystemic governance for adaptation
El Salvador - Honduras
IUCN
Pine plantations in water recharge areas
IUCN @ Paul Aragón
Governance for adaptation requires an ecosystemic vision, whereby actions implemented in the field for building up the resilience of natural resources focus more on protecting watershed ecosystem services (forest-water-soil) and less on responding only to problems found at the level of individual farms. For this reason, the prioritization of restoration areas is key, since it must be with a view to improving water capture and also productivity (local livelihoods). The three types of EbA measures implemented in the Goascorán River basin were: 1) restoration of water sources, 2) soil conservation, and 3) agroforestry systems. This combination recognizes the interdependence of the forest-water-soil components and allows communities to witness positive changes over intermediate periods, which in turn increases their confidence in the "natural solutions" being introduced for water and food security. Territorial management with a basin or micro-basin vision also contributes to the ecosystem approach that is required for sustainable development, that is, one that is adaptive to climate change.
Climate change, and in particular, the availability of water for human consumption and agricultural use, are factors that concern most micro-watershed stakeholders, which increases their willingness to prioritize actions that favour water recharge zones and disaster risk reduction.
Once prioritized EbA measures were implemented, improvements in the conditions of the water recharge zones and in the organizational and governance capacity of the communities became evident, also helping to consolidate the concept that forest cover is a collective "insurance” in the face of climate change.
The self-motivation of communities (around water and their livelihoods) and the leadership of key local actors are determining factors in achieving good governance for adaptation and in the successful implementation of EbA measures.
The review of plans and instruments is part of a flexible governance
IUCN @ Adriana Faría
Adaptation to climate change is immersed in a series of uncertainties regarding future climate impacts and development trajectories. Therefore, adaptation must proceed under a flexible “learning by doing" approach, integrating flexibility into legal and policy frameworks, and into sequential and iterative decisions that generate short-term strategies in view of the long-term uncertainties. In Goascorán, the lack of regulatory and policy frameworks for the management of shared basins limits the capacity to jointly respond to climate change - and therefore to be flexible and learn. This limitation was remedied by integrating adaptation into various management instruments at the micro-watershed, municipal and national level, and in transboundary agendas between local actors. The effectiveness of these (and other new) frameworks should be evaluated in interim periods, to allow for revisions and adjustments as knowledge about climate change increases; the same is true for EbA measures in the short term. The information that underpins these iterative processes must integrate Western science with local knowledge. In this way, it is possible to be flexible and identify new adaptation options and criteria for its evaluation.
A key aspect of governance for adaptation is the institutional and policy frameworks that back or facilitate it, and that confer it flexibility or not. In this sense, it was possible to take advantage of the window of opportunity offered by the updating of the Municipal Environmental Plans (El Salvador) and Municipal Development Plans (Honduras), the preparation of the National Adaptation Plan of Honduras, and the use of the legal figure of “Technical Tables” in El Salvador; all of which consecrate the value of governance for adaptation.
It is important to monitor and evaluate any improvements achieved through EbA, in order to use on-the-ground evidence to inform and substantiate changes to legal, policy and management frameworks, and in this way apply a flexible approach to adaptation governance.
Board of Directors - Lituy River Microbasin Committee (Honduras)
IUCN @ Paul Aragón
Board of Directors - Honduritas River Microbasin Committee (El Salvador)
IUCN @ Paul Aragón
The participation of all basin stakeholders has been at the core of the conformation and training of new governance structures for the Lituy (Honduras) and Honduritas (El Salvador) microbasins. The integration of grassroots (community-based) organizations, such as water boards, producer associations, women's or youth groups, Community Development Associations and educational centers, has been important. Locally, the leadership shown by teachers, women and community authorities contributed significantly to social mobilization and the adoption and scaling-up of EbA measures, making these actors an essential part of the "learning by doing" processes of communities. The result is self-motivated communities that participate and take on responsibilities. At the basin level, the Goascorán River Basin Council on the Honduran side was expanded, while in El Salvador, the most appropriate figure to accommodate the broad membership required was the Environmental Technical Table, which is why two Tables (for the northern and southern areas of La Union) were created and strengthened. Many of the members have become advocates for the work of the Tables with the aim to have these structures recognized by local authorities and legalized in the medium term.
Local actors are interested in coordinating actions and improving basin management, which contributes to making governance mechanisms and platforms effective and sustainable.
MiAmbiente (Honduras) has the legal obligation to accompany the conformation of Micro-basin Committees across the country, and this must be preceded by a socio-ecological characterization that first allows each micro-basin to be delimited.
Having previous experience in carrying out participatory processes is an enabling factor for the successful conduction and conclusion of such processes (e.g. when prioritizing certain interventions).
To have strategic alliances with different organizations is key, especially with municipality commonwealths (ASIGOLFO and ASINORLU), in order to promote spaces for dialogue and agreements regarding the waters shared between Honduras and El Salvador.
The accompaniment of MARN (El Salvador) is necessary when addressing environmental issues and the adequate management of water resources, especially in a transboundary context. Once the negotiation with local actors had begun for the conformation of the Environmental Technical Tables, the support and participation of MARN’s Eastern Regional Office was important in order for these groups to be valued and regarded as governance platforms for the Honduritas River microbasin, in the absence of a formal institution for watershed management.
Achieving multidimensional governance for adaptation
Board of Directors - Rio Honduritas Microbasin Committee (El Salvador)
IUCN @ Paul Aragón
Board of Directors - Lituy River Microbasin Committee (Honduras)
IUCN @ Paul Aragón
Governance instances at multiple levels
IUCN
The work in Goascorán targeted several levels of decision-making to reinforce the basin’s governance through the vertical and horizontal articulation of socio-political platforms; all of this in order to achieve a multidimensional (multilevel and multisectoral) governance model for adaptation. At the community level, EbA measures were implemented in the field to improve food and water security. With municipalities, adaptation to climate change was incorporated into Environmental and Municipal Development Plans. At the micro-basin level, two Micro-basin Committees (one on each side of the border) were created as multi-stakeholder governance platforms, receiving training, preparing internal regulations and plans, and enabling wide-ranging advocacy (e.g. civil society, municipalities and municipal commonwealths). At the basin level, in El Salvador, where several Technical Tables operate, two Environmental Technical Tables were established for the north and south of La Union in order to articulate the basin’s shared management, and linkages were sought with the Goascorán River Basin Council that operates on the Honduran side. At the national level, the recent National Adaptation Plan of Honduras comprises the EbA approach, as does the new Regulation of the Honduran Climate Change Law
Honduras has a legal framework (Water Law) that creates the entities of Basin Councils and Micro-basin Committees, unlike El Salvador. With this, the Micro-basin Committee established in El Salvador, although very functional, lacks legal backing, which prevents it from managing projects and administering funds.
Significant synergies were achieved with other projects in the Goascorán basin (e.g. BRIDGE and “Nuestra Cuenca Goascorán”), especially in coordinating actions to strengthen basin-wide governance and scaling up the EbA approach.
To strengthen governance at multiple levels, it is essential to initiate work with grassroots groups (community level) and with existing local governance platforms, such as, for example, Community Development Associations (El Salvador), to then scale-up to higher levels based on the experience acquired and the results achieved.
The project known as BRIDGE left the following lesson learnt, which is also relevant here: "Water diplomacy does not necessarily follow a straight path. Effective strategies need to incorporate multiple dimensions and a phased approach, interconnecting existing structures and those under construction in the basin."
Achieving multidimensional governance for adaptation
Achieving participatory governance for adaptation
Achieving flexible governance for adaptation
Achieving ecosystemic governance for adaptation
Strengthening governance for adaptation
Meeting with ejido members at La Azteca
IUCN @ Paul Aragón
Ejido producers from Alpujarras
IUCN @ Paul Aragón
Ejido members La Azteca
IUCN @ Paul Aragón
Within Chiapas rural governance structures, the ejido Assembly is the main social platform where participatory decisions are made regarding natural resources. Ejido land tenure in Mexico is an example of individual and communal tenure co-existing within communities. Communal lands are titled in the name of the community leaders. Ejido Azteca and Alpujaras are partly witin the Tacana Volcano Reserve.
With a view to increasing the ejidos adaptive and management capacity main actions undertaken under this solution were:
Training on climate change legal and policy frameworks was delivered to ejido leaders and municipalities officers.
Development of the Local Strategy for Sustainable Development under Climate Change of La Azteca ejido.
Conformation of ejido's Water Committees.
Public presentations on events such as the VII National Congress on Climate Change Research. Leaders shared the benefit of soil conservation practices and forest protection to water security.
The communities living within the river basin -organized through the ejido assemblies- are strong advocates for the sustainable use of resources/conservation for improving water and food security and ecosystem-based adapation.
Technical knowledge and leadership skills are important to inspire the rest of the community and ensure decision making for communal lands in the Assembly with a view of building up resilience.
With the ejido Assembly making decisions regarding the use of common goods and ecosystem services, governance for adaptation is strengthened. However, there still lacks further organization of the ejido’s social capital and articulation with other organizations, civil associations and the municipality, in order to convert the problems faced by the owners and possessors of forest lands into opportunities.
Governance must continue to be strengthened in order to give sustainability to EbA actions, so that their continuity is not dependent on external assistance.
