The African Landscapes Dialogue was a major success, with an overflow crowd of more than 140 leaders working across Africa and around the world putting their heads together for three days of intense collaboration to improve the practice of integrated landscape management.
Read the Outcome Summary of the Dialogue. Stay tuned for an update of the African Landscapes Action Plan based on the Dialogue outcomes, coming in May.
Take a look back at the event as it was shared on social media.
View all the excellent material shared by our participants on the Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative Slideshare.
Highlights from the African Landscapes Dialogue (Video)
Landscape leaders call for linking practice to policy
ALD is a Tremendous Gathering of Talent, Ambition and Genuine Care: Minister Gemedo Dale
See all African Landscapes Dialogue stories on the Blog for People, Food and Nature.
Leaders from community and farmer organizations, local governments, food and agri-businesses, NGOs and other stakeholders across Africa are working together through integrated landscape management to achieve multiple goals from their land and resources. They take different entry points and use different names, including forest landscape restoration, model forests, sustainable land and water management, and agriculture green growth corridors, to name just a few.
The African Landscapes Dialogue gathered these diverse communities of practice in sustainable landscapes at the beautiful campus of HOAREC&N in Ethiopia to learn together through:
The conference was hosted by the Horn of Africa Regional Environment Center & Network (HOAREC&N) at their meetingplace in the Gullele Botanic Garden in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Organizing partners include HOAREC&N, the African Model Forest Network, EcoAgriculture Partners, NEPAD/TerrAfrica, Solidaridad Network, the Water and Land Resources Center (WLRC) and the World Resources Institute.
Supporting partners include EcoAgriculture Partners, the Global Environment Facility, IUCN, the Netherlands Ministry for Economic Affairs, SwedBio, Solidaridad Network, and the World Resources Institute.
Setting the stage: An overview of Integrated Landscape Management (ILM) in Africa
Facilitated discussions featuring dynamic storytelling and detailed examination of selected cases.
Highlights of achievements from 2014-2016, part 1:
Discussion groups: Landscape partnerships and governance; Business engagement; Financing solutions
Multiple groups will gather to each review one of the many regional initiatives for sustainable landscapes in Africa (e.g. AFR100, The Great Green Wall Initiative, etc.), visiting its successes and challenges, providing feedback and insight to move it forward, and exploring opportunities to get involved/connect.
Highlights of achievements from 2014-2016, part 2:
Facilitated intensive discussion on challenges for implementing integrated landscape management.
Facilitated discussion with participants from the same country or region about particular national or regional challenges.
A panel discussion among national and local policymakers on the barriers to and opportunities for creating enabling policies for integrated landscape management, on the question “How does cross-sectoral integration work in practice?”
A showcase for innovative hands-on tools or methodologies used in integrated landscape management. Participants learn directly from each other about tools they have developed or used.
Tool presentations will be maximum 30 minutes each. All participants will have the opportunity to select which tool presentation to attend, so please write a compelling description of your tool including its audience and purpose.
Digesting the outcomes from group discussions, the “wall of ideas,” and more.
The best way to solidify commitments to action with new friends and colleagues.
The learning journey included stops at the following locales in the Central Rift Valley:
