Working Groups

Síðast uppfært: Föstudagur, 13. febrúar 2009 08:37 Þriðjudagur, 25. nóvember 2008 11:50

Working Groups

The International Forum on Soils, Society and Global Change emphasized discussion and dialogue, particularly through parallel working group sessions, supported by the preceeding plenary presentations.

Reports of the working groups will be available under Results. Below are the working group outlines, detailing the aims and expected outcomes of each of them as presented at the beginning of the Forum. The working groups were as follows:

Working Group 1: Soil Stewardship and Land Care

Working Group 2: Soil Management and the MEAs

Working Group 3: Carbon Sequestration and Land Restoration

Working Group 4: Knowledge Management and the Role of SLM Indicators

Working Group 5: Capacity Building Approaches in Legislative and Policy Development Techniques

Working Group Outlines

Working Group 1: Soil Stewardship and Land Care

Working Group 1 Aims:
The ethics and practice of soil stewardship are not widely accepted or practiced. If the global goals of reducing poverty and providing access to clean water, as well as stopping the loss of biodiversity and ameliorating the effects of global climate change and land degradation, are to be achieved then the knowledge and practice needs to be more widely shared and put into practice.

The aim of this working group is to discuss the basis of the land care approach to soil and land conservation and management, and to examine the feasibility of developing guiding principles on Soil Stewardship and Land Care. The working group will focus its discussion on:
sharing knowledge on land care programs and lessons learned through successful experiences in different parts of the world
the potential of land care as a land stewardship model and identifying opportunities for promoting it globally
support for, content and development of guiding principles on Soil Stewardship and Land Care
the feasibility of an international year of land care to gather support for land care initiatives and to share more widely current knowledge and good practices

Working Group 1 Activities:
Lessons from experience (land care and similar approaches)
Global promotion of the land care model and arguing the case for guiding principles
Support for, contents and development of such principles
Development and support for an international land care community of practice (COP)
The Feasibility of an International Year of Land Care

Working Group 1 Expected Outcomes:
Wide support from regions around the world for pursuing land care inititatives and for the development of guiding principles on Soil Stewardship and Land Care
Identified linkages with relevant international processes, and mapping of the intersections between landcare approaches and issues such as carbon sequestration, and approaches to tackle shortages of water, food and energy
Strategies for land care promotion, including an outline of guiding principles

Ways to finance further development and dissemination of land care initiatives

Establishment of a group of people (community of practice) to share knowledge and resources and to pursue the work after the Forum

Longer term commitment to an International Year of Land Care

Outline

Forum Organizing Committee Contacts:
Ian Hannam, University of New England, Australia; Anton Imeson, Amsterdam University, The Netherlands; Ólafur Arnalds, Agricultural University of Iceland
Working Group Chairs:
Luca Montanarella, European Commission; and Youba Sokona, Sahara and Sahel Observatory

1. Working Group Aims
The aim of this working group is to discuss and arrive at a series of recommendations to the UNFCCC, CBD and UNCCD on possible joint initiatives for preventing and/or reversing land and soil degradation. The working group will:
Identify common scientific and technical issues to the three conventions having a bearing on soil management that can also facilitate making development more sustainable and also the achievement of the MDG,
Identify tools and instruments that can facilitate the effectiveness of the implementation of the conventions through soil management.

2. Working Group 2 Activities
This group will especially consider:
Discuss the institutional arrangements at national and international levels of the three conventions and explore possibilities to improve their interrelationships in respect to soil management and how they could contribute collectively and more effectively to Sustainable Development and also helping to achieve the MDG´s and to overcome various problems raised in relation to the operations of the MEAs;
The scientific aspects of land and soil management common and/or relevant to the three conventions, and the adaptation of strategies based on sound management of land and soil;
Tools and/or instruments developed in a specific convention and relevant to the implementation of the two others conventions;
Means to have soil scientific issues more effectively addressed in the three conventions, and whether a special report of IPCC on land and soil management issues should be recommended in order to identify synergies and tradeoffs between the three conventions;
The recently released reports by IPCC and the related priority area of future actions in order to adapt to climate change, particularly in drylands;
Identifying the means to evaluate global and local benefits of improving and/or preventing land and soil management;

3. Working Group 2 Expected Outcomes
Recommendations on how to encourage increased synergies on land and soil management aspects in the implementation of the three key MEAs (Rio conventions) for soil, including:
Suggestions to improve administrative and institutional arrangements at the national and international levels;
Suitable instruments that consider the sustainable use of soil in the implementation of MEAs;

Working Group 3:
Carbon Sequestration and Land Restoration

Outline
Forum Organizing Committee Contact: Maryam Niamir-Fuller, UNDP, New York, USA
Working Group Chair: Bal Ram Singh, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway

1. Working Group 3 Aims
The aim of this working group is to discuss and arrive at a series of recommendations to the CDM, JI and Voluntary Markets on how to lift barriers and help transform the market so as to allow equitable and ethical carbon trading, and to meet expectations of sequestering 10-20% of global carbon emissions through land restoration.

2. Working Group 3 Expected Outcomes Include
Better understanding of the science of carbon sequestration (rates and dynamics) in different ecosystems, different land restoration models, above vs. below ground, and at different scales
Better understanding of the opportunities offered by the Carbon Market for sustainable financing of land restoration while also achieving sustainable development benefits (financial analyses)
Better understanding of the challenges in engaging with CDM, JI and Voluntary Markets on bio-carbon projects, and the barriers needed to lift so as to transform the market
Identification of the most promising land restoration models (best practices that are socially, environmentally and financially viable for carbon finance)
Messages on how to modify and improve the CDM and voluntary market rules and procedures so as to allow ethical and equitable carbon trading from land restoration projects

Working Group 4:
Knowledge Management and the Role of SLM Indicators

Outline
Forum Organizing Committee Contact: Zafar Adeel, UNU-INWEH
Working Group Chair: David Niemeijer, Niemeijer, Cunsult Amsterdam, The Netherlands; and Mary Seely, Desert Research Foundation of Namibia

1. Working Group 4 Aims
The aim of this working group is to analyze and discuss how knowledge management can lead to a more thorough and systematic understanding of the connections between soils, climate and society and lead to improved responses to the related challenges. The ability to evaluate these connections, using key indicators, is central to successful knowledge management.

Knowledge Management involves managing the process of creation, accumulation and application of knowledge across the scientific and policy communities involved in dealing with land degradation and climate change. This involves the creation of new knowledge (innovation) as well as the capture and dissemination of existing and indigenous knowledge. In both cases, it is important to make explicit the often tacit, subconscious or individual knowledge from local stakeholders, project staff and management, international and government agencies, NGOs, and the scientific community as well as bridge the gap between these different groups and communities. This requires capacity building and the formation of cross-cutting “knowledge networks” that extend beyond specific sectors, communities and other traditional divisions of society.

Indicators for Sustainable Land Management (SLM) can play an important role in the process of knowledge management as they can provide standardized, widely understood expressions of the status and dynamics of land and society. Indicators can also provide insight into the impact of interventions and serve as objective performance targets. Working with indicators requires a through understanding of the studied systems as well as consensus over the interpretation of these systems and any observed changes. Indicators can thus not only help codify tacit knowledge to make it explicit, but also have the potential to act as a binding factor and serve as a common language for the different involved groups and as such play a vital, dual role in knowledge management. The knowledge thus conveyed by indicators becomes vital to prioritizing actions and aligning policies to meet challenges.

2. Working Group 4 Expected Outcomes
The expected outcomes from the discussions of this working group include:
Better understanding of the need for knowledge management to capture the crucial links in the soil – climate –society triangle.
Better understanding and definition of the role and responsibilities of different stakeholders, from local land users, to policy makers and scientists in the creation and transfer of knowledge.
Identification of the capacity building approaches to meet the challenges in engaging different communities (typically operating at different scales and with other objectives) in shared knowledge management, including the provision of access to knowledge.
Identification of the some of the most successful cases of knowledge management in the field of environment-society and formulation of key messages to the Forum participants.
Better understanding of the role sustainable land management indicators can play in codifying knowledge and in developing a common language as a basis for more effective knowledge management.

Working Group 5:
Capacity Building Approaches in Legislative and Policy Development Techniques

Outline
Forum Organizing Committee Contact: Ian Hannam, University of New England, Australia
Working Group Chair: Robert Fowler, University of South Australia, Australia

1. Working Group Aims
The aim of this WG is to discuss approaches and techniques used for capacity building and to improve the legal and policy frameworks for conservation and protection of soil at the international and national levels. It will use experiences from international environmental law and policy investigations (including consideration of the current role and potential for the improved use of key MEA’s) and from various national level reforms. The emphasis in WG 5 will be on approaches and techniques for use in developing countries.

2. Working Group 5 Activities
1. Discuss the role of various MEAs (e.g. FCCC, CCD, CBD) and other relevant international instruments in achieving sustainable soil management, particularly national efforts to implement MEAs for soil conservation purposes;
2. Discuss legislative and policy guidelines and interpretative tools needed at both the international and national levels for sustainable use of soils;
3. Discuss interface between scientific capabilities and legal capabilities of international legal instruments for sustainable soil management;
4. Link with WG 2 on technical and legal capabilities of key MEAs;
5. Discuss the legal and policy aspects of the Global Soils Agenda;
6. Review draft international guidelines for legal and policy approaches for conservation and protection of soil;

3. Working Group 5 Expected Outcomes
1. Recommendations on international instruments for soils;
2. Recommendation on guidelines for developing national soil legislation (to manage ecosystems, climate change, soil degradation);
3. Recommendation on guideline for managing legal issues with contaminated soils;
4. Recommendation on guideline for national bodies to interpret and apply soil management aspects of the principal international environmental law conventions;
5. Recommendation for international guidelines for legal and policy approaches for the conservation and protection of soil;