Just before summer, on June 27th we participated in a panel discussion on inclusive conservation in a learning event organized by WWF Netherlands. Several organizations joined in a discussion on inclusive, decolonial, rights-based, and community-led approaches in conservation. We discussed the barriers, gaps and opportunities in how power is shared, inclusion promoted, and accountability practiced in our work. The question raised was: as Dutch-based organizations, are we doing enough to really work inclusive? In 2023 Both ENDS started an Examination of Power process to research how power is experienced in our partnerships. I share a couple of practical tips and insights that I feel might benefit the greater conversation around Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) in our sector.
and Kyra Pohlan
In today’s interconnected world, international forums play a pivotal role in shaping policies and strategies that impact communities and the environment worldwide. These gatherings, whether they focus on climate change, water resources, or biodiversity, are critical venues where decisions are made that affect the lives of billions of people and species. However, for these decisions to be truly inclusive and effective, they must be informed by the voices of those most affected by climate change and environmental degradation.
A broad coalition of Dutch companies, knowledge institutes and civil society organizations wants to work together with the new government to make a real difference in improving global food security. The main focus will lie on supporting farmers and consumers in the Netherlands and beyond, and promoting climate-proof food systems in low- and middle-income countries. The coalition believes that, with our knowledge, expertise, experience and reputation for international cooperation and trade, the Netherlands must adopt an ambitious strategy for making our food systems more sustainable, and so contribute to achieving the targets in the Paris Climate Accord and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The global funding landscape for civil society movements is changing, and is increasingly faced with policies that restrict funding streams, limit philanthropic work, and silence critical voices. These are not incidental shifts but part of a broader pattern that erodes the support for those international networks and movements under the guise ‘necessary financial cuts’, ‘aid reform’ or ‘efficiency’.
For generations, the people of Bangladesh’ flood-prone deltas have shaped their natural environment to support agricultural production. They used temporary embankments to keep tidal waters out of the floodplains for most of the year and let the rivers flow freely during monsoon season, allowing the sediment to settle on the floodplains as an important part of the delta formation process.
Both ENDS and the Land Portal Foundation invite you to the fourth webinar in the Whose Land? Inclusive Pathways to Land Governance series. This fourth Whose Land? webinar will focus on the question: How can donors fund land governance initiatives through an inclusive process?
More information about this event is available on Landportal.org
This event will present The Transformative Water Pact (TWP), an innovative framework for water governance that has been developed by environmental justice experts from around the world. The TWP will serve as a starting point for dialogue between representatives of the government of Colombia, academia, regional and international NGOs in relation to Colombia's current ambitions in multi-scalar water governance.