Case Studies: Training & Knowledge Transfer
Asia, Training on Decentralised Forest Management Planning, 2003-2004, RECOFTC
LTS managed in conjunction with RECOFTC a tailor-made training course designed at developing awareness and skills necessary for strategic planning also provides a platform from which capacity building for decentralised management - identifying objectives, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation and improving good governance - could be practically implemented. Through a strategic planning process, different institutions can define and develop a shared understanding of their long-term vision on the basis of national and local needs, facilitate effective involvement of wider stakeholders in the creation and implementation of strategies towards achieving their goals, and improve accountability, both upwards to central government and downwards to the local constituency, through integrated monitoring activities.
Asia, Capacity Building Programme for Stakeholder Participation in National Forest Programmes, 2006-2007, Food and Agriculture Organisation
Gradually and in different countries of the world experiences are being gained in using participatory processes in national forest programmes (NFP). A community of practice on "enhancing stakeholders participation in NFPs" has been established by FAO in 2002 to bring together experts to share views, experiences, lessons learned and information on recent developments, to build or strengthen partnerships, to harmonise relevant approaches and to make them available to NFP actors world-wide. In 2005, LTS was selected to draft guidelines founded on global best practice. Although participatory approaches have been well developed and documented for local use in villages there is yet to be sufficient materials developed with clear principles and practical guidelines on methods and skills for how to make national forest policy processes more participatory. Since 2006, we are now delivering a capacity building programme to motivate and assist facilitators / mentors who are linked to NFPs in 6 different Asian countries to make these processes more participatory. Lessons from these Asian pilot countries are expected to be harnessed for application of materials and capacity building services in other countries.
Malawi, Social Forestry Training and Extension Project, 1997-2003, European Commission
This highly successful pilot project was designed to develop the capacity of the Malawi Forestry Department to interpret and implement national forest policy with an emphasis on encouraging participatory social forestry. This was achieved through training of Forestry Department staff in extension planning and implementation, developing extension frameworks to reflect district and national strategies, and improving forestry education to include community-based issues. LTS was responsible for overall project management and administration including the recruitment and administration of staff, and provision of all technical support. This involved planning and implementing a comprehensive programme of in-service training to strengthen the extension planning and implementation capacity of the Forest Department focussing on headquarters and the five districts. LTS developed national and district level frameworks for forestry extension to reflect the strategies and priorities of the emerging National Forest Programme.
Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, Support to Forestry College Curriculum Revision, 2003-2005, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finland.
The new Forestry Colleges Curriculum Development Project aimed to revise the forestry curricula, build the capacity of College teachers to carry out curricula review, update teaching methods and produce new materials. The project objective was to link and build capacity for the national forestry programme in its early stages of implementation in order that lack of skills are no longer a constraint to its success. The Project also aimed to promote female student involvement, establish a monitoring and evaluation system and upgrade College facilities with a view to setting up systems for self -financing of the college in the future. International and regional networking were key strategies for change in this project.
South Africa, Eastern Cape Community Forestry Pilot Project, Rural Development Forestry Education and Training Project & DFID Forest Sector Assistance Strategy, 2000, UK Department for International Development
LTS provided a Team Leader and forestry specialist to assess two DFID forestry projects and the DFID forest sector assistance strategy. DFID's assistance to the South African forest sector began in mid 1995, which resulted in the preparation of a strategy for assistance to the forest sector. This strategy - prepared through a participatory process involving a wide range of stakeholders from public, and corporate sectors and civil society - was formally agreed with the Minster responsible for Forests in March 1996. Part of this strategy was the establishment of two forestry projects initially identified within the Strategy - the Rural Development Forestry Education and Training project and the Eastern Cape Community Forestry Pilot Project.
