Sharing Knowledge Across Landscapes

Connecting landscape leaders

Most of the knowledge about integrated landscape action resides with those who are currently undertaking initiatives on the ground. There is a need to connect these leaders together to share knowledge on approaches, tools, experiences, and lessons learned across communities of practice.

Contextualizing lessons learned

This sharing focuses particularly on tools and processes for landscape approaches to help collaborating landscapes initiatives evaluate how landscape approaches can be optimized in their respective settings.

While the challenges of cross-landscape knowledge sharing are daunting (from the costs and logistics of travel to language barriers), the rewards are often staggering.

World Bank video describes a successful international knowledge exchange

Mobilizing Networks for Knowledge Sharing

Driven by our learning network model, which convenes leaders from integrated landscape initiatives in various stages of development together to develop solutions to common regional challenges, share approaches to common landscape issues, and plan ongoing collaborations, our knowledge sharing efforts multiply the impact of innovations in integrated landscape management. To collectively build a strong international platform of learning around landscape approaches, the Initiative engages in a variety of collaborative learning activities in landscapes.

• Thematic and regional leadership courses bring together leaders from learning landscapes to build competencies in domains such as landscape governance, landscape labeling and other marketing innovations, landscape planning and design, monitoring and evaluation, leadership development  and others that  support integrated landscape approaches;
• Regional knowledge events and networking , including exchange visits, the exchange of tools and resource materials, regional conferences, and thematic workshops allow leaders to share experiences and lessons learned;
• Case studies developed together with landscape initiatives document and communicate landscapes’ defining experiences within their respective contexts from which others stand to learn;
• Collaboratively produce knowledge products, so far including a training manual on monitoring and evaluating sustainable land management from a landscape perspective, a review of the state of landscape governance, a landscape labeling guide, a spatial planning guide, a ground based photo-monitoring guide.
• Contributing to this online knowledge sharing portal, which includes profiles of landscapes, lessons learned, landscape tools and methodologies, ideas for developing financial resources and more.