Building block 4 – Cooperation between NOCs and local nature conservation organisations as a prerequisite for success
The IOC requires that all Olympic Forest Network projects “be developed and implemented in collaboration with the relevant experts and authorities.” All six projects that are currently part of the Network not only take this requirement into account but establish it as a corner stone of their implementation.
For example, the Papua New Guinea project involves a partnership between the NOC, local communities, the National Fisheries Authority, and the Conservation and Environment Protection Authority. The Slovenian project is partnered with the Slovenian State Forestry Company; the Spanish with the Ministry of the Environment and the Federation of Spanish Municipalities; while the Portuguese project has the technical support of the governmental Institute for Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF) and the Abramud e Sentido Verde association.
Requiring partnerships between NOCs and environment experts ensures that projects running under the Olympic Forest Network are as relevant and effective as can be with regards to nature conservation. Partnering with local experts and organisations also ensures that the Network can have meaningful impact not only on the environment, but also on the local communities where projects are run. Moreover, it facilitates local interest in, and ownership of, environmental work.
Criteria set by the IOC requiring NOC-led projects seeking to be a part of the Olympic Forest Network “to be developed and implemented in collaboration with relevant experts and authorities”.
Local organisations’ environmental knowledge and expertise.
Interest of local environmental organisations in the (communications and engagement) potential of the Olympic Movement.
Providing basic standards and guidelines helped the NOCs find the right partners and (business) solutions locally. Thanks to this local approach, NOCs could be guided by national/local experts to find the best solution in terms of added value for ecosystems and local communities.
Building block 3 – Embracing local expertise, governance, and ownership of projects
While following the direction and guidance of the IOC, NOCs are best placed to design and implement projects complying with the IOC’s global standards at local level. This means that the IOC can support and promote environmental projects, while benefiting from expertise that the NOCs can provide in the local context through. This implementation method not only promotes local solutions to global problems, but also increases local ownership, empowers local communities, and promotes cooperation between sports, local environmental groups and indigenous peoples.
In Brazil, for example, the “Brazil Olympic Committee Olympic Forest” project aims to restore a damaged part of the Tefé National Forest in the Amazon and is executed together with the Mamirauá Institute of Sustainable Development. Besides restoration, the project’s objective is to reinforce the sustainable use of the forest by the local community through planting key species such as Brazilian chestnut and açaí or providing training to the local community.
Training and upskilling of local communities (on mangrove planting/rehabilitation) is one of the main objectives also of the Papua New Guinea Olympic Committee’s “Love Your Coast Project” where they aim to train “Love Your Coast Champions”, who are to lead small conservation projects in their communities
As leader of the Olympic Movement, the IOC is responsible for coordinating relations and actions of all members of the Olympic Movement, including the National Olympic Committees. This ensures that projects and actions can be designed and implemented according to consistent regulations or guidelines, enabling continuity and best practice across the Olympic Movement’s environmental activities.
While it was important to set up general criteria that all projects would need to comply with to ensure consistency and high quality, providing NOCs with the flexibility to reflect local context and its particular risks and opportunities in how they approach the criteria proved to be equally vital.
The use of scientific data and analysis provides a sound and sustainable basis to develop scenarios and provide information for the design of sustainable plans, projects and activities. Given specific knowledge may not be always a working tool, particularly when GIS and scenario and data analysis is referred to, it is important to ensure and to include the need IT and specialist that may build knowledge, capacities and awareness in all development and biodiversity practitioners.
For this the project supported the technical contribution of a specialist and developed a series of power point to explain and to train the beneficiaries on its use and on the use of the provided scenarios, as development and ecosystems-based planning tools.
Software and human resources available
Capacity to present the solutions and results in a manner that is understandable by all and by each sector.
Maintenance of updated data
Focus on results and scenario analysis, including the linkages between climate change, poverty, population dynamics and biodiversity.
Capacity to demonstrate what mangrove loss impacts imply on coastal communities' livelihoods.
Systemic information sharing.
Best quality analysis and skills.
Practical examples on use of the products.
Linkages to sectors - conservation, biodiversity, climate change, water, land systems, economic activities - to ensure appropriation and use of the products at local and community level.
For the integration of multi-sectorial data and multiple partners databases, as well as post action awareness raising efforts, IUCN mobilised its members, donor community, conservation actors and biodiversity and GIS specialists, around the Government technical group. Along the document development, several meetings were organised to ensure engagement and participation, with the focus on wider and qualitative data. The partnerships contributed for actors coordination, integration of several studies and the inclusion and the links to biodiversity components, particularly mangroves.
The exercise facilitated a joint and common voice on mangrove protection and status to the Nairobi Secretariat, to WIOMSA and furthermore to the integration on and support to the Global Mangrove Alliance and to the Great Blue Wall.
The exercise was complimented with a training of trainers MSP workshop that built capacities in planning specialist to integrate coastal and marine components into local development plans.
Focus on mangrove and mangrove actors, IUCN membership mobilisation capacity, high level technicians and sound and transparent dialogue with Government.
Open and continuous dialogue, with focused technical content, to maintain all partners interested and engaged,
Functional database and GIS facilities to keep presenting results and how to use them,
Assure IUCN role and mandate is exercised with all members aligned and in support of the action,
Maintain decision makers aware of the results and provide evidence of how it contributes to sustainable policies and activities
Technical financial cooperation was provided to four projects in the country's Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM), mobilising both public and private investment funds. Two calls were made to access non-reimbursable funds through the Urban Green and Biodiverse Fund (FRUV), administered by Fundecooperación para el Desarrollo Sostenible (Fundecooperación). Fundecooperación made non-reimbursable resources available to four public-private initiatives whose objective was to promote initiatives in the GAM that would have an economic impact on the beneficiaries while integrating the sustainable use or conservation of biodiversity.
Before issuing the call for projects, work must be done with the organisations to prepare proposals in order to have robust and effective project proposals. Working on capacity building with an economic approach and strengthened the proposals submitted. Having an organisation such as Fundecooperación streamlines the process of disbursement and follow-up of the initiatives.
For the business ideas led by complex governance structures such as development associations, where all documents and decisions regarding the project must go through approval before the board of directors, longer time frames should be considered, which may double or triple the time it would usually take with organisations with a simpler structure. For future projects whose business idea depends on having a prototype validated by the potential client and/or user, it is preferable to wait until the prototype has been developed and validated in order to complete the development of the business plan with the minimum viable product already developed. It is recommended to carry out follow-up and exchange activities between and for the executing entities.
Four organisations (Coopecabañas R.L., Parque la Libertad, Asociación de Desarrollo de Cipreses de Oreamuno de Cartago (ADICO) and Coopetoyopan) received support and technical advice to co-design a business plan under a positive economic recovery approach with nature, with achievable objectives and sufficient profitability, or a business idea that complies with this, based on the capacities of the entities executing the project proposals and existing opportunities.
The technical and business capacities of the organisations financed were strengthened to facilitate the implementation of the projects, which contributed solutions that will improve urban wellbeing and contribute to the conservation of urban biodiversity and ecosystem services in the Greater Metropolitan Area (GAM) of Costa Rica.
In addition, around 150 people benefited directly from training in green recovery, nature-based solutions, e-commerce, composting, and logistical and operational improvements to their organisations. The key is to provide financial support together with technical training.
The support of a project that provides technical and financial backing for the training processes is fundamental for carrying out the different capacity building activities. Collaboration between different organisations, such as the formation of public-private alliances, encouraged the implementing organisations to have more support and allowed them to successfully execute the process (more than 20 alliances were formed). Institutional support at the GAM level, such as through MINAE and SINAC, was of great relevance for the implementation of the financing.
The technical training of the people responsible for the projects, in areas such as business administration, project management and the technical specialities of the project to be developed, is key to take advantage of this type of accompaniment. Prior to the development of the business plan, it is preferable that the projects have already advanced in the development of the prototype of their business idea, which allows for a clearer mapping of the requirements for the development and scaling of the business. The modality of technical support in this type of projects that require development of a product prototype that is tangible and has specific construction and design requirements or biological processes to be developed, requires technical support that considers a mixed face-to-face and virtual modality to make constructive contributions at the site of each project.
