RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests
Training course
Registration information
Dates: 17-28 August 2015
Course location: Bangkok, Thailand
Course fee: EUR€ 2300*
*includes course materials, selected meals during training program, meeting package and field trip
Contact:[email protected]
for more inquiries and registration
Registration will close on 17 July 2015 or when the maximum number of participants (22) has been reached
Course focus
Climate change will have, and is already having, wide-ranging environmental and socio-economical effects on water resources, agriculture and food security, human health, terrestrial ecosystems, biodiversity and coastal zones, and more. However, although climate change will affect everyone, only a minority is familiar with the technical jargon of the field, and the policy debates on forest governance schemes and their implementation on the ground, such as the REDD+ mechanism, are moving forward and will have an impact on the rights of local people. Moreover, although the focus of international climate change conventions on the rights and participation of local people in such new schemes has increased, the reality is that progress has been slow.
To ensure the rights of local people as the implementation of forest government schemes gets underway, safeguards are required. One example is Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), which ensures local people know their rights before any project is undertaken. Another is the framework of community forestry, which enhances local people’s participation in decision-making and helps to secure their forest-based livelihoods. But while some progress has been made in Asia and the Pacific, the nature of local people’s livelihoods has remained subsistence-based due to the poor quality of forests handed over to local communities; unfavorable legal and regulatory frameworks; limited financial resources; lack of business and technical skills; and limited collaboration between local communities and the private sector among other issues, including climate change.
RECOFTC has developed a two-week long customized course to address these topics with participants from Partnership for Land use Science (FOREST PLUS) Program, and is inviting further participants to join as well. This customized course will explore key concepts related REDD+, FPIC and other safeguards developments and will consider how such safeguards can enhance local people’s participation. The course includes a two-day field trip during which participants will practice applying the concepts and tools they have learned during classroom instruction.
REDD+, livelihoods and
participatory processes
Course objectives
At the end of the course, participants will:
• Be able to explain key concepts and current developments regarding climate change, REDD+ and forest-based livelihoods;
• Examine what FPIC means in the design and implementation of forestry and forest-based livelihood development initiatives in their own contexts;
• Understand the value of using participatory principles and techniques and other appropriate tools for forestry and livelihood development initiatives; and
• Apply the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA) framework and explain the importance of using a participatory approach for screening forest products and services that can be developed into community enterprises.
Who should join?
Field practitioners/grassroots facilitators/managers/trainers who:
• Have at least 2 years of experience and a working knowledge of forest management and forest-based climate change issues;
• Are involved in forests, climate change and relevant community development and/or grassroots stakeholders empowerment, pro-people and equity approaches including gender considerations and indigenous issues; and
• Are involved in setting up and conducting participatory multi-stakeholder platforms that contribute to the discourse on climate change and sustainable forest management.
Course content
The course will draw on the shared experience of the trainers and participants covering the following topics:
• Climate change;
• REDD+;
• Participatory processes and social safeguards, including the FPIC process; and
• Forest-based livelihood development.
To reserve your place in this course or for more information, please email:
RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forestds
PO Box 1111, Kasetsart Post Office, Bangkok 10903, Thailand Tel: +66 (0)2 940 5700 Fax: +66 (0)2 561 4880
RECOFTC holds a unique and important place in the world of forestry. It is the only international not-for-profit organization that specializes in capacity development for community forestry. With over 25 years of international experience and a dynamic approach to capacity development,
RECOFTC delivers innovative solutions for people and forests.
