Environment News from IIED
Security focus on climate change could blur real issues
A growing focus on national and international security challenges posed by climate change could detract attention from the root causes of the problem, the needs of the most vulnerable people and the search for appropriate solutions.
Contact:For interviews, contact Corinne Schoch (corinne.schoch@iied.org) / Tel: +44 (0)2034637399
Notes to editors:The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent, non-profit research institute. Set up in 1971 and based in London, IIED provides expertise and leadership in researching and achieving sustainable development (see: www.iied.org).
Journalists win fellowships to report on key climate-change conference
The Climate Change Media Partnership (CCMP) has awarded journalists from 14 countries with fellowships to attend crucial UN talks in Durban that could spell the demise or rebirth of the Kyoto Protocol.
Contact:
For more information contact:
Mike Shanahan (IIED) – mike.shanahan@iied.org
Tim Williams (Panos London) – tim.williams@panos.org.uk
James Fahn (Internews) – jfahn@internews.org
Funding for the 2011 CCMP programme comes from: The Kendeda Fund, the Smart Family Foundation, the Climate and Development Knowledge Network, Tanzania Natural Resource Forum, CIFOR, Hewlett Packard and – through in-kind contributions – Internews, Panos London and the International Institute for Environment and Development.
D and C Days Film Competition 2011 Judges
Brief biographies of our international panel of Judges for this year's Development and Climate days film competition
Small producer agency in the globalised market. Latin American Learning Network meeting, Lima, September 2011
The Latin American Learning Network members of the Knowledge Programme ‘Small producer agency in the globalised market’ convened in Lima from 12 to 16 September. They organised and participated in a series of meetings and events in conjunction with various prestigious organisations. The highlight of the programme was the International Forum ‘Small-scale producers: Actors in Globalised Markets and Food Security?’ on 14 September, organised by the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.
Links:Foro internacional: Agricultores de pequeña escala, mercados y seguridad alimentaria (Mainumby)
La realidad de los agricultores de pequeña escala (PUCP)
Desarrollo Territorial Rural con Identidad Cultural (Rimisp)
Junta Nacional del Café de Perú (JNC)
Asociación Peruana de Gastronomía (APEGA)
Contact:
Expertos agrarios de India y África defienden asociatividad Short article in Peruvian newspaper La Republica 20/9/11
Productores de pequeña escala como actores en el mercado globalizado. Encuentro de la Red de Aprendizaje Latinoamericana, Lima, setiembre Spanish version of this article
Donor nations get low scores on climate finance transparency scorecard
Developed countries are being far from transparent about the climate-change finance they promised to developing nations at the Copenhagen summit in 2009, according to a scorecard published today (19 September) by IIED.
Contact:
Contacts for interviews
David Ciplet (Brown University) -- david_ciplet@brown.edu; 011 510 846 5020
J. Timmons Roberts (Brown University) -- j_timmons_roberts@brown.edu; +1 401-441-2103
Martin Stadelmann (Center for Comparative and International Studies, ETH and University of Zurich) -- martin.stadelmann@pw.uzh.ch; +41 44 634 50 91
Saleemul Huq (IIED); Saleemul.huq@iied.org; +44 (0)203 4367399
Achala Chandani (IIED) Achala.Chandani@iied.org; +44 (0)203 4367399
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent, non-profit research institute. Set up in 1971 and based in London, IIED provides expertise and leadership in researching and achieving sustainable development (see: www.iied.org).
Strengthening local voices in the governance of food systems, land use and the environment
The aim of this action research is to identify and support processes that can help democratise the governance of food systems, land use and the environment. It seeks to find more equitable ways of including citizens in policy making and in the design of technologies and institutions that shape food systems and the environment.
About this project Aims:The aim of this action research is to identify and support processes that can help democratise the governance of food systems, land use and the environment. It seeks to find more equitable ways of including citizens in policy making and in the design of technologies and institutions that shape food systems and the environment.
The following themes and case studies have been identified through discussion with partners and an analysis of emerging global challenges. In each case, different participatory methodologies and institutional innovations are combined to create safe spaces for citizen deliberation and inclusion in policy making, institutional choices, risk assessments, and the design of technologies.
Follow the link for more information and publications relating to each theme.
Food and farming futures for small producers and indigenous peoples
Transforming agri-food research for citizen participation and the public good
Strengthening local voices in policy debates on climate change, agro-fuels and the food-energy nexus
Impacts:Marginalised and excluded social groups stand to gain most from the development and spread of more inclusive forms of governance based on the principles of deliberative and direct democracy.
It is anticipated that increased food security and other livelihood assets will accrue to these social groups as their rights, knowledge, realities and priorities are made to count more in policy processes, research priorities, technological designs, regulatory frameworks, resource allocation and institutions.
IIED will work with the following partners and their wider social networks:
India Deccan Development Society (DDS)
Iran Centre for Sustainable Development and Environment (CENESTA)
Bolivia Mainumby
Mali Kene Conseils
Peru Qolla Aymara
France Réseau Semences Paysannes
Italy The International Planning Committee on Food Sovereignty
Switzwerland Commission on Environment Economic and Social Policy
Contact:
Dr. Michel Pimbert Michel.pimbert@iied.org
Funded by:This project is funded by Oxfam NOVIB, the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Development Cooperation and the Christensen Fund.
Downloads and links Publications:Making agricultural research work for small farmers and agroecological approaches in West Africa by Michel Pimbert. Paper prepared for the International Seminar Convened under the Auspices of the Mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food:"The contribution of agroecological approaches to meet 2050 global food needs”. Brussels, June 21-‐22, 2010.
Links and publications have been organised by theme:
Publications and links about - Food and farming futures for small producers and indigenous peoples
Publications and links about - Transforming agri-food research for citizen participation and the public good
Publicationsand links about - Citizens reframing conservation policies and practice for food and livelihood security, environmental sustainability and justice
Publications and links about - Strengthening local voices policy debates on climate change, agro-fuels and the food-energy nexus
Film and audio:Science and Craft in Concert
by Michel Pimbert
Oxford Real Farming Conference, 2011
Open and respectful dialogues between scientists and food providers are needed to transform the dominant paradigm of agricultural development. But genuine and effective intercultural dialogue must be based on processes that give the least powerful actors more significant roles than before in the production and validation of knowledge as well as in defining upstream strategic research priorities and policies. This presentation highlights some of the enabling factors that are important in this regard, including:
- Free prior informed consent, jointly developed rules of engagement, and a mutually agreed code of research ethics
- formation of safe spaces for intercultural dialogue
- reversals from normal professional roles, behaviors and attitudes
- cognitive justice - acknowledging the right for different knowledge systems to exist
- extended peer review and diverse gatekeepers of knowledge
- the roles of local organizations and federations in mediating countervailing power and knowledge for food sovereignty.
Rising demand for renewable energy could drive more land grabs
Rising demand for the dominant form of renewable energy worldwide – wood – could drive yet more acquisitions of land in developing countries where food insecurity is rising and land rights are weak, say researchers at IIED.
Contact:For interviews, contact Lorenzo Cotula (Lorenzo.cotula@iied.org) or Duncan Macqueen (duncan.macqueen@iied.org) -- both can be reached at +44(0)131 226 7040
For other queries, contact:
Mike Shanahan
Press officer
International Institute for Environment and Development
3 Endsleigh Street
London WC1H 0DD
Tel: 44 (0) 207 388 2117
Fax: 44 (0) 207 388 2826
Email: mike.shanahan@iied.org
www.iied.org
The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) is an independent, non-profit research institute. Set up in 1971 and based in London, IIED provides expertise and leadership in researching and achieving sustainable development (see: www.iied.org).
2011 ecbi Regional Workshop for West Africa
The 2011 European Capacity Building Initiative (ecbi) regional workshop for West Africa took place in Dakar, Senegal from 18th-19th August. It was attended by around thirty negotiators, parliamentarians and representatives from line ministries (Finance, Planning and Environment) from thirteen West and Central African countries.
Dakar, Senegal Contact:Dr. Achala Chandani Abeysinghe, Researcher, Climate Change Group
Development and Climate Days Film Competition 2011
Call for entries: The Development and Climate Film Competition provides a platform for amateur and independent filmmakers from around the world to showcase short films on issues relating to climate change.
The informal economy: route in or out of poverty?
Could the informal economy be the route to deliver the big sustainable development ideals such as the Green Economy, Millennium Development Goals and Poverty Reduction Strategies, given that its
Contact: