Report of the Director-General 2000-2001 32 C/3

CSI’s positive impact can be measured through a number of ongoing initiatives:

Intersectoral field projects, interdisciplinary university chairs and interregional workshops: Interregional workshops in (i) Thailand (CSI Strategy Meeting, July 2000), (ii) Samoa (Wise Coastal Practices for Sustainable Human Development in Small Island Developing States, December 2000), (iii) Dominica (Furthering Coastal Stewardship in Small Islands, July 2001) and (iv) Mozambique (Wise Coastal Practices for Coastal Conflict Prevention and Resolution, November 2001) advanced integration and linkages among the field projects, university chairs/twinning networks and the Forum. The workshops also helped to promote linkages between CSI and non-CSI activities, advanced project assessment procedures and developed concepts such as Wise Practices Agreements for Sustainable Coastal Living and an ethical code of practice for donors/investors in coastal development. The first seven field project assessments, using the 16 established wise practice characteristics, have been completed and added to the CSI website. Such assessments serve to review progress and design the next phase of a field project. Eighteen project and university chair summaries have also been published on the CSI website.

Communications: The CSI website (www.unesco.org/csi), with its diverse range of publications, and the organization of inter-regional meetings constitute steps taken towards compensating for the lack of applicable scientific information and Internet access in many small island states and coastal regions. The multilingual Wise Coastal Practices virtual forum (user name csi, password wise; see "Successful Activities" below) provides a crucial link between locally based experiences and a global audience. Moreover, UNESCO’s Sources (February 2001) articles Coast to coast, Coastal regions on line, Going online in the Indian Ocean, Tourists to the rescue on Chumbe Island and The points man in the Philippines’ last frontier introduced its readers to the concept of Wise Coastal Practices being discussed on the Forum. CSI Paper 9 Wise Coastal Practices Towards Sustainable Small Island Living details the outcomes of the Samoa Workshop (Dec. 2000), highlighting the inter-linking of activities within and across small-island regions, and procedures for project assessment in order to implement Wise Coastal Practices. Use of new information and communication technologies to revitalise traditional/indigenous knowledge transmission is a novel approach addressing, in particular, indigenous youth. The aim is to strengthen dialogue between elders and youth by using multimedia to record indigenous knowledge and practice in a series of CD-ROMs. One CD (Yapa) addressing Aboriginal youth of the central Australian Desert has been completed with MAB and the Culture Sector, while a second, concerning the revitalization of traditional navigation knowledge in the Pacific Islands is underway involving the Communication and Information Sector and MOST.

Intersectorality: By continuing a flexible and responsive approach, CSI developed strategies to promote intersectorality within UNESCO at Headquarters and in field offices. These include building effective networks, fostering an enabling environment and establishing principles of engagement for Sectors (e.g. brain-, cost- and creditsharing), as well as a strong focus on joint problem solving, especially in field projects, while incorporating traditional knowledge sources. The field projects, university chairs/twinning and Forum encourage sectoral partners to work together to construct a shared problematic, providing a tangible framework for constructive interaction. A summary of CSI’s four years of "Experiences with Intersectorality" was presented to the "Working Group on Intersectorality" in early 2000. Evidence of CSI’s intersectoral know-how and networking was seen when both cross-cutting projects it generated were retained for inclusion in draft document 31 C/5, namely Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems in a Global Society (LINKS) and Small Islands Voice (SIV).

Lessons learnt: A challenging intersectoral endeavour like CSI, which focuses on "people and problems", can only be accomplished on the ground with high-quality and determined project leaders, chair holders and (field office) colleagues from all five programme sectors. The need to provide continuity to activities such as field projects is also important, as such efforts are often long term and need to extend beyond the duration of the typical project cycle. The necessity to build sustainability into every step of the platform’s activities cannot be over-emphasized. Furthermore, working inter-regionally allows for sharing ideas, catalyzing action, and nourishing a new momentum for forward progress. The development of UNESCO Chairs in Sustainable Coastal Development has continued to be slower than expected in part due to the additional time required for partner institutions to accept novel interdisciplinary arrangements that do not conform to existing disciplinary structures. Moreover, while CSI has attracted significant extra-budgetary and associated funds, attention has largely been focused on the engagement of UNESCO sectors to share field project activities and thus strengthen the intersectoral services to Member States.