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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Regional Workshop for the Asia-Pacific University Twinning Network ‘Exploring Wise Practice Agreements’
5.
Concluding Remarks
The
linkage between the UNITWIN network and the field
sites through the assessments is one of many
UNITWIN objectives. The first step to be taken in order to launch the UNITWIN
network is to conduct project assessments, which
will widen the sphere of regional knowledge about the projects, and will help
plan appropriate future activities, some of which may also advance
multi-stakeholder agreements. This will entail full documentation of the project
including the project summaries. From this
vantage the extent to which all stakeholders have been engaged can be assessed,
and appropriate measures put in place when certain groups have received
insufficient attention or have been left out.
From the brief analysis
of each of the projects in Chapter Three it is possible
to see a procedure evolving for potential multi-stakeholder agreements to be
formulated. While each situation is unique, it is clear that there is an
opportunity to use a number of tools in each situation, depending on the spatial
and temporal scales. These tools include identification of stakeholders, a
process for holding regular stakeholder consultations and the involvement of
third parties such as universities to act as facilitators. Multi-stakeholder
agreements must be viewed as a dynamic
process reflecting stakeholder interests and dialogue.
A
multi-stakeholder agreement is founded upon the following points:
An understanding of the specific environmental and social problems
Identification of the stakeholders
Consultations with the stakeholders, both in individual and joint groups,
to identify and prioritise the issues and the role of each stakeholder in
the resolution of those problems
All stakeholders need to accept the right of each other to be involved in
discussion and formulation of solutions
Incorporation of the principles of sustainable development into the
participatory process
Discussion and agreement on appropriate actions to resolve the identified
problems
Implementation of the appropriate actions
Formulation of mechanisms to continue dialogue so that actions can reflect
changing situations
Documentation of the entire process
Some
suggested activities to launch multi-stakeholder agreements are:
·
Establish contact with, and disseminate the results of the field project
(including the field project publications) to all stakeholders as well as among
other programmes, agencies and governments working in the region of the project.
·
Hold individual meetings involving the main stakeholder
groups to lay the groundwork and define issues to be discussed at the
multi-stakeholder workshops.
·
Conduct multi-stakeholder workshops with the major stakeholder groups,
and other invitees as appropriate, to discuss these issues and prepare a list of
prioritised actions for follow-up.
·
Fully document in a report, the organisation and
outcome and recommendations of the individual and multi-stakeholder workshops,
and make specific recommendations on how the process of collaboration between
the stakeholder groups can be strengthened so as to form the basis for a
multi-stakeholder agreement. This report should be disseminated to all
stakeholders and interested parties.
During
the Khuraburi workshop the concept of multi-stakeholder agreements continued to
evolve with emphasis on the need for flexibility. In particular, the
participants recognized the strength of a multi-stakeholder agreement as its
ability to be adaptive and flexible, addressing emerging issues and necessary
changes in resource use patterns based on collaboration of informed stakeholder
groups and the consideration of their interests. The multi-stakeholder agreement
involves a process that can be refocused over time as subjects, objectives and
terms need to be adjusted.
