The Inter-American Institute for Global
Change Research (IAI), Canada’s University of Alberta, Costa Rica’s
Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE), Universidad Nacional de
Costa Rica (UNA), National Forest Financing Fund (FONAFIFO) and the
United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean
(ECLAC) announce a Professional Development Seminar (PDS) on Managing
Ecosystems Services from Tropical Forests.
The PDS is funded by the IAI with
resources from the National Science Foundation (NSF). The seminar will
involve two sessions, each one a weeklong. The first session will be
held 25-30 July 2016 in Liberia, Costa Rica; the second session will be
held in 2017 in Santiago, Chile. Between sessions, participants will
interact among themselves and with IAI staff and seminar instructors
through Internet-based tools.
Announcement
English
Spanish
Description
Understanding ecosystem functioning is
fundamental to preserve the goods and services necessary for human
populations. This is particularly critical in Latin America, where high
population’s densities are concentrated in urban areas, poverty
incidence is high in rural areas and managing ecosystems is very
complex. Tropical forests are among the most important providers of
goods and services and are the basis for the livelihoods of millions of
people worldwide. There is a great need for training managers, policy
makers, and scientists to help quantify and manage ecosystem services,
as well as for learning from local communities and decision-makers that
have gained significant experience on designing and carrying out
conservation programs across the Americas.
Audience
Up to 25 participants from IAI member
countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa
Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela) covering a
diversity of roles in decision-making and research communities
including: (1) decision-makers from different tiers of government (e.g.
agriculture, finance, science and technology, environment and natural
resources); (2) graduate students and early career scientists of
agricultural, biological, earth and social sciences; and (3)
stakeholders – NGOs, community organizations, businesses, managers and
practitioners.
Program and Content
The seminar will develop an
interdisciplinary approach based on theoretical, practical and social
interaction with local communities and experts that have designed and
implemented ecosystem service programs. The course will encourage
participants to discuss theoretical frameworks, learn from applied ones,
and assess people and institutions’ success and failures from their
implementation experiences. Several experts, practitioners, local
community members, students and IAI network scientists will engage in
discussions of ecological functions, the role of social actors, and the
success and failures of economic valuation approaches as part of a
common dialogue. The seminar will involve theoretical
discussions/presentations, hands-on exercises and visit to field sites
where projects are implemented in Costa Rica.
First PDS session: The
5-day training seminar to take place in Costa Rica, a country with a
vast experience on ecosystem services valuation and implementation of
programs to pay for ecosystem services, will explore:
Topic 1: Forest ecology and provision of
ecosystem services: this section will cover fundamentals of ecology that
influence ecosystem functioning, land use planning and the provision of
ecosystem services:
• Ecosystem goods and services of tropical forests
• Existing frameworks to evaluate provision of ecosystem services
• Frameworks to incorporate social actors into decision-making process
• Interdisciplinary frameworks in the tropics for managing ecosystems
Topic 2: Economic Valuation of ecosystem services, lessons from practitioners:
• Concepts, frameworks, and applications
• Economic valuation methods
• Tools for valuating ecosystem services
Topic 3: Ecosystem services and social actors a dialogue:
• Success and failures of implemented ecosystem services programs. A dialogue with local communities.
Intersession: Between
the first and second sessions, groups established at the first session
will work on the development of PDS science and policy products (i.e.
publication, policy briefs, others to be defined). The working groups
will interact through discussion groups or electronic fora, and “meet”
virtually (about once-twice a month) with IAI staff and PDS leaders to
review progress in publication development. Virtual meetings may also
include additional tutoring on topics explored in the first session.
Second PDS session: The
second session will be held at ECLAC’s headquarters in Santiago, Chile.
The program will explore elements associated with the challenges
presented with the quantification and implementation of ecosystem
services, the presentation of individual PDS science and policy products
produced by the participants, and extend the dialogue with national and
international agencies via collaboration with CEPAL.
Application process
Language requirement:
The program will be carried out in both English and in Spanish.
Therefore, applicants must be proficient in one and have a sound
understanding of the other language in order to understand, communicate,
and participate actively.
Maiores informações em
<http://www.iai.int/?p=11917>
Fonte: e-mail enviado por IAI/pgb, em 29/03/2016.
