At COP 15, Parties requested the UNCCD Secretariat to encourage, support and facilitate communities of learning and practice to pursue co-learning and collaboration for drought risk reduction and resilience capacity-building issues (Dec 23/COP. 15). As response to this decision, the UNCCD Secretariat, in collaboration with GWP, launched the Communities of Learning and Practice (CLPs) with the mission to pursue co-learning and collaboration for drought risk reduction and resilience capacity-building issues, including the use of UNCCD Drought Toolbox at all levels.
The objectives of the CLP on Drought Management-Central and Eastern Europe & Northern Mediterranean (CEE & NM) are to:
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Enhance the knowledge and technical capacities of national actors and key stakeholders working on drought management and desertification, including bridging local knowledge and indigenous practices across CEE & NM.
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Encourage the adoption, replication, and upscaling of integrated and inclusive drought management practices in CEE & NM.
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Raise the political profile of drought management and support the design and development of integrated drought management policies and governance frameworks in CEE & NM.
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Build trust, cooperation, and a shared sense of identification between national and regional actors and other key stakeholders working on drought management and desertification in CEE & NM.
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Support a paradigm shift towards proactive, gender responsive and transdisciplinary thinking on integrated drought management in CEE & NM.
The CLP-CEE&NM pertains to policy makers, scientists, international experts, researchers, students, farmers, field practitioners, and other professionals who are interested in drought-related issues in CEE&NM. Women, youth, and indigenous people are particularly welcome to join the CLP-CEE&NM. The CLP-CEE&NM will add value to knowledge sharing by allowing community members to discuss region specific ideas, challenges, and experiences.
We want to ask you if you would be interested in participating in the core group of the CLP-CEE&NM. For this purpose, UNCCD, with the support of GWP, has developed an online platform that is to be used to promote the communication among practitioners, the sharing of knowledge on drought resilience and the best practices to prepare for droughts. It is the intention of UNCCD that by creating communities of this sort, we are going to be able to improve the impact of our efforts to prepare and adapt to droughts and embrace better practices to prevent land degradation.
A core group member of the CLP-CEE&NM is expected to:
• Participate, once per quarter, in the core group meeting.
• Promote the CLP inviting others to participate.
• Contribute to the interactive use of the CLP.
• Share the CLP online platform to his/her professional networks and encourage people to use it.
• Write 2 or more ‘blog articles’ on the online platform of the CLP each year.
• Post 2 or more events and job opportunities on the CLP online platform.
• Interact with other members of the CLP, especially via the online platform, advising on better ways to deal with specific drought issues.
Thank you in advance for your kind consideration and we are looking forward to hearing from you. Please contact Suyu Liu via sliu@unccd.int if you have any question.