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Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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Environment
and development in coastal regions and in small islands |
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work in progress 2
Executive Summary
The long term goal of the intersectoral platform for Environment and Development in Coastal Regions and in Small Islands (CSI) is to develop an ethical code of practice to resolve conflicts over resources and values as well as to promote sustainable living in coastal regions and in small islands.
The CSI initiative, which commenced in 1996, incorporates three main modalities: pilot projects, university chairs/twinning and a global web-based discussion forum (username: csi; password: wise). Having initiated, co-sponsored, (and in a few cases inherited) some 21 pilot projects involving some 60 countries, together with two formally established university chairs and others in preliminary stages, a solid basis has been established against which concepts for sustainable coastal living can be developed and evaluated. Following a workshop in Paris in December 1998 ‘Towards Wise Coastal Development Practice’, and related electronic discussions, the web-based discussion forum ‘Wise Coastal Practices for Sustainable Human Development’ (referred to as the Forum) was launched in April 1999. The initial goals of the Forum were, firstly to determine the relevance and usefulness of wise practice concepts at a grassroots level, and secondly to discuss the findings within a wider context and with expanded participation. This report focuses on the current status of the Forum as well as the future direction of activities on the CSI platform for the period 2001-2007.
The three modalities interact so that wise practices can be formulated, tested and applied on the ground at a local level; reviewed, analysed and incorporated into teaching programmes by the university chairs/twinning at a local and regional level; critiqued, amplified and transferred by the Forum (username: csi; password: wise) at a global level.
The major themes addressed by participants in the Forum (username: csi; password: wise) are described in this report, and include small island issues, community empowerment, tourism, fisheries, local and indigenous knowledge systems, freshwater resources, coastal erosion, planning, gender issues and human rights.
In the early stages of the Forum (username: csi; password: wise), participants were asked to present example wise practices based on their own experiences and to analyse these examples using a set of wise practice characteristics that had been identified during the 1998 workshop. Fifty-two example wise practices were submitted to the Forum covering different aspects of coastal living from most regions of the world. Following this initial phase, participants were asked to comment and react to the contributions, some 118 responses have been posted on the Forum, which at the end of September 2000 had approximately 1,800 participants.
This report analyses this application of the wise practice characteristics and concludes that collectively they provide a comprehensive framework for identifying wise practices. The list of characteristics include goal-oriented criteria: long term benefit, capacity building and institutional strengthening, sustainability; means-oriented criteria: transferability, participatory process, consensus building, effective and efficient communication process, documentation and evaluation; value-based criteria: culturally respectful, gender and/or sensitivity issues, strengthening local identities, adhering to national legal policy, embodying a regional dimension, human rights. It is expected that this list, as well as the grouping of criteria will be refined as it evolves over time through field testing and further discussion.
While recognising that the Forum (username: csi; password: wise) has contributed to an improved understanding of the nature and concept of wise practices, the task remains to determine a way forward.
Building on previous efforts which have attempted to define ‘what should be done’ through ‘best practices’, the concept of ‘wise practices’ acknowledges the inequalities of the real world and provides guidance on ‘what can wisely be done with that which is available’ so as to achieve a ‘better than before state’.
Ideas for the future of the Forum (username: csi; password: wise) include focusing it towards seeking a ‘common ground’ between top-down and bottom-up approaches. One of the major themes emerging from the Forum is that of empowering communities and the public to manage their own resources. However, there is a need to find appropriate and workable power-sharing arrangements between the top-down and bottom-up extremes. In some situations there may be a need to bring the two approaches together, in others a purely community-based approach or alternatively a completely top-down approach may be the only form of acceptable management with current conditions and knowledge. Thus in seeking a common ground on the continuum between the two extremes, each situation has to be evaluated independently.
Realistic ways to widen the scope of the Forum (username: csi; password: wise) to include all societal sectors are discussed. Further involvement of professional and trade organisations, the media, other fora, international and regional organisations must be sought. Increased participation by government organisations, the private sector, communities and the public is desired. However, in some cases where such groups cannot be directly involved, e.g. because of poor or no access to the Internet, other means such as through pilot and similar projects need to be found.
Linking the local and global levels through regional and inter-regional mechanisms is another potential direction of the Forum (username: csi; password: wise). One possible mechanism is to develop regional fora, and perhaps inter-regional fora, e.g. a small islands forum. Such fora would be complementary to the global Forum and would provide for widened participation through the use of local languages, focus on specific topics, and the incorporation of other activities such as face-to-face meetings.
A further proposal is to use the results of the Forum (username: csi; password: wise), specifically the wise practice characteristics, to advance and assess the pilot project and university chair activities, so that they can be re-focused to become model wise practices for sustainable coastal and small island living.
It is recommended that the global Forum (username: csi; password: wise) be continued and allowed to evolve, although possibly directed to priority issues such as conflict resolution and the transfer and exchange of wise practices.
There is a need to prioritise and plan appropriate and worthwhile action for the next seven year period and the Forum (username: csi; password: wise) recipients are urged to play an active role in this process of prioritisation by commenting, discussing and critiquing this document.
