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The ASCLME Project’s objective of developing a comprehensive TDA requires the input of stakeholders and decision-makers at all levels, including coastal communities.
The Project is taking a two-tiered approach to developing effective communication between and among stakeholders and decision-makers in the region. The first tier focuses on securing effective stakeholder involvement during the five years of project implementation, with special emphasis given to creating opportunities for stakeholders to inform the content of country-specific Marine Ecosystem Diagnostic Analyses (MEDAs), the TDA and ultimately, the regional SAP. The second tier focuses on the creation of effective and sustainable mechanisms that provide an opportunity for stakeholders at the community level to engage in effective, two way communication over time, and thereby help to create a flow of information from communities to decision-makers and from decision-makers to communities.
A number of tools have been developed to facilitate the first tier of communication. These include a comprehensive, tri-lingual website that has already proved effective at raising awareness of the ASCLME Project and disseminating information about the many activities taking place under its banner. The hosting of in-country receptions to mark the progress of the research ship, Dr Fridtjof Nansen, as she carries out research in the region, has also proved to be a valuable method of raising awareness of the Project. Other methods, such as the distribution of newsletters, brochures, displays and promotional items, coupled with the strategic placement of feature articles about the ASCLME Project, have also paid dividends by raising the profile of the Project, both within the region and internationally.
Films about the ASCLME Project
Over the past year, the Project has worked with Francois Odendaal Productions to create two films about the ASCLME Project. The first film is a 24-minute educational film that has been made with our sister project, WIO–LaB. It describes the natural, social and economic environment of the ASCLME region and explains how the mounting pressures of poverty, urbanisation, globalisation and climate change are having a negative impact on the natural resources of the region. The film then documents some of the many initiatives that are taking place under the banner of the GEF Western Indian Ocean LME Partnership and how the countries of the region are working together to introduce an ecosystem approach to the management of their shared marine and coastal resources.
The educational film, which is titled “Rivers of Life, Oceans of Plenty”, will be produced in English, French, Portuguese and Swahili and circulated on DVD throughout the ASCLME region. We will also make it available online as soon as it is finished. It is likely that the film will be broadcast by the national television broadcasters of many of the participating countries and also used as an educational resource by marine and coastal management agencies, NGOs, community-based organisations, universities and other educational institutions.
A second, much shorter film, is currently in production. The intention of this film is to provide decision-makers in the region with a succinct and up-to-date view of the ASCLME region, the problems facing it and the role of the ASCLME Project in helping the countries to resolve these problems. It will be circulated early in 2010, in English, French, Portuguese and Swahili.
The second tier
The second tier of project-related communication and stakeholder involvement will focus on mechanisms to ensure the sustainability and effectiveness of two way communications. A DLIST activity, which is being developed for the region, forms the basis of the communication strategy for the second tier. DLIST is a web-based information sharing platform that will link local communities into ASCLME project objectives and deliverables. DLIST will provide information sharing opportunities, including discussion forums, a hotline, online library and targeted courses. It will feature a range of tried and tested interactive outreach mechanisms that include moderated radio programmes, travelling environmental film festivals, a newsletter and local networks, all of which can be harnessed to solicit or enrich input into the TDA and SAP.
It is envisaged that the development of DLIST in the ASCLME region will lead to the formation of an active and growing Community of Practice (CoP) that includes DLIST registered users and other participants from all sectors and levels of society, including local communities.
A CoP refers to the process of social learning that evolves when people who have common goals interact as they strive towards those goals. A common pool of knowledge develops when people from many levels of society participate in discussions, share information and collectively search for new ways to overcome obstacles standing in the way of sustainable development.
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