EC FP7 Project Contract Number: 213143
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EC FP7 Project Contract number: 213143
SARNISSA: Sustainable Aquaculture Research Networks in Sub Saharan Africa www.sarnissa.org
Start Date: February 1st 2008 Duration: 36 months
INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN A SARNISSA E-WORKSHOP ON THE TOPIC OF:
NETWORKING AND CONSTRUCTIVE DIALOGUE AMONG RESEARCHERS AND POLICY MAKERS IN THE FIELD OF AQUACULTURE
Dates: 14 -25 September 2009
Moderation by: BUNDA COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF MALAWI, MALAWI (www.unima.mw ) INSTITUT de RECHERCHE AGRICOLE pour le DEVELOPPMENT, CAMEROUN (http://www.irad-cameroon.org/ ) ETC FOUNDATION, THE NETHERLANDS (www.etc-urbanagriculture.org )
Registration now open! See details below
E-mail workshop Networking and constructive dialogue between researchers and policy makers in aquaculture (September 28-October 16, 2009)
Background Aquaculture development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the potential to help the region make significant progress towards poverty alleviation, gender equality, economic development, environmental sustainability and global partnerships for development. For this to happen however, several factors of importance have been identified: (a) the improvement and strengthening of aquaculture research capacity; b) ensuring that research is related to end users (b) stronger private sector and other key stakeholder involvement in aquaculture development; (c) improved and multi-stakeholder policy making on aquaculture; (d) appropriate technology development and enhanced researcher-producer joint learning as well as (e) improved networking and dialogue between researchers, other non-governmental stakeholders and policy makers in aquaculture to enhance in-country as well as cross-country learning. This e-workshop aims to share experiences and enhance capacities of its participants for such networking and dialogue, and will:
(a) Discuss the need for networking and dialogue among researchers, other key stakeholders and policymakers in aquaculture development in Sub-Saharan Africa (b) Share and discuss strategies and experiences with networking and constructive dialogue (what works, what does not work and why) (c) Support and provide concrete recommendations to individuals and organisations (or groups) planning or willing to embark on such networking and dialogue in the near future.
What is an E-workshop? During an electronic workshop or E-workshop, participants will exchange knowledge, information, questions, needs and ideas on an electronic platform and e-mail list over a particular time period – in this case 2 weeks. As participants to this e-workshop you will receive a discussion paper and set of discussion questions before the start of the workshop. The paper and questions will be discussed during the e-workshop. Participants to the conference will contribute by email to the discussions by responding to the key questions, sharing their own experiences and reacting to postings from other participants. They may post their contribution any time during the period the conference takes place. The workshop moderators will keep track of all the ongoing discussions, provide regular summaries of the exchanges and will stimulate further debate where needed. Following the E-workshop a report with the workshop proceedings will be developed.
Objectives of the E-workshop The E-conference aims specifically: (1) To share and discuss experiences on strategies for networking and constructive dialogue among researchers, other key stakeholders and policy makers in aquaculture, (2) To stimulate personal and institutional initiatives regarding networking and dialogue among researchers, other key stakeholders and policy makers in the field of aquaculture.
This with the broader goals to: - For the policy makers and the government sector: Through inter-country/regional learning and interactions with range of other stakeholders to more effectively be able to develop their own in country aquaculture strategies, development plans and 5 -10 year aquaculture planning documents leading ultimately towards sustainable growth and aquaculture production in their own countries - For researchers: Through exchange with fellow researchers, other key stakeholders and policy- makers identify the potential for new research collaborations and inclusion of policy makers in new research projects and better understand how their work can be more effectively communicated to policy-makers in order to bear on future policy decisions. - For other key stakeholders: To develop a better understanding of aquaculture policy, research and development in their own country as well as other countries in the region, develop new partnerships, and better understand and plan for the important role they can play in future multi- stakeholder aquaculture planning and development in their country.
Benefits of participation Over the past years, the conference organisers have (co-)facilitated various e-workshops on a wide range of topics. Experience and results show that: - such workshops create a platform to facilitate the exchange and discussion of experiences between government authorities and senior technical officers in municipal or ministerial departments, sectoral governmental organisations, research organisations and other civil society key stakeholders - that through such exchanges a number of promising strategies and lessons learned regarding the workshop topics were identified that were taken up by other participants in their daily work - that virtual exchanges and interactions have resulted in new contacts with other participants in your own country and other countries and led to new partnerships and concrete collaborations.
Intended Participants The conference is a platform to facilitate exchange and discussion of regional experiences between on the one hand researchers and other non-governmental key stakeholders, and on the other, and policymakers (government staff, technical advisers) involved in aquaculture in sub- Saharan Africa. Participation is open to all such actors interested and willing to participate the entire conference period (2 weeks).
E-workshop programme The E-workshop will run from Monday 28 September-Friday 16 October 2009. The email-list and conference website will however already be accessible from Monday 21 September onwards, in order for you to familiarise yourself with the system and get acquainted to other participants. A discussion document and reference materials will be made available on the Sarnissa website (http://sarnissa.pbworks.com/) two weeks before the start of the workshop.
During the first week of the conference we will focus on local (current and past) experiences with networking and dialogue, discussing key questions like: (1) Why is there –in your view- a need for networking and dialogue among researchers, other key stakeholders and policymakers in the field of aquaculture? What happens if such dialogue is not taking place? (2) What should be the respective role of such key stakeholders and policymakers in such networking and dialogue? (3) What are in your experience the most suitable strategies for networking and dialogue in your country and region? What are your lessons learned and recommendation (“do’s” and “don’ts”) for such networking and dialogue? A summary of discussions will be provided after the first week.
During the second week, participants are requested to come forward with their ideas and proposals to engage in future networking and dialogue in their own city, regional or country. Support will be sought from other participants to improve on their proposals and working strategies.
During the conference and a few months afterwards a special website for the conference will be maintained. Here a list of all participants will be published as well as all the email contributions in chronological order of arrival. The discussion document as well as further reading and reference sources will also be available on the website. The E-workshops will be held in English for participants from Anglophone Sub-Saharan African. A parallel workshop will be held in French for participants from Francophone countries.
After these two open E-workshop, selected participants from both Anglophone and Francophone SSA will be invited to join a follow-up half-day meeting to share experiences among the two groups and enhance further cross-regional networking.
Registration You can register as a workshop participant by sending an email to Dr Jeremiah Kang'ome ([email protected]) for participation in the English conference. Participants to the French conference should send an email to: Dr Victor Pouomogne ([email protected]). Your email should include the following information: 1. Title, First name and Family name 2. Email address 3. Function/Job title 4. Organisation name, address , phone/fax and website
Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email. This email will have the workshop discussion paper attached and provide further information for participation.
More information More information on the e-conference can be obtained from the moderators (see for their email addresses under registration). We are looking forward to your participation!