South-South Exchange Mechanism

On Thursday October 31st Maya Sikand of Natural Justice attended a meeting of the South-South Exchange Mechanism at the Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo at the United Nations Office Nairobi. The UNEP South-South Exchange Mechanism is an online portal of case studies and solutions aimed at facilitating exchange and knowledge sharing on issues of sustainable development. Natural Justice have submitted a case study on Biocultural Community Protocols to the mechanism. Currently the case study is under expert review and should hopefully be included in the portal shortly. 

The main purpose of this meeting was to incorporate feedback from participating organizations into Phase II of the mechanism. Currently there are about 50 organizations globally working on case studies in diverse subject areas related to sustainable development, Academics review the cases, and it is suggested that Training Modules could be a potential next step. From the other organizations present it was suggested that a database to help connect organizations to relevant funders would also be a useful step for Phase II.

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SDI and Namati Release New Guide to Assist Liberian Communities Obtain Title to Their Lands

The government of Liberia is currently drafting new land laws that give communities ownership rights over their lands. To help communities take advantage of these new laws, the Sustainable Development Institute and Namati released a guide for Liberian communities entitled Community Guide: Protecting Community Lands and Resources. 

The Community Guide teaches communities how to go through the process of obtaining deeds for their land. It sets forth an overview of the process and informs communities of their rights to land and natural resources. It also includes a sample Memorandum of Understanding that communities can use to establish boundaries with their neighbors. More information on the guide is available here.

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First Ever Global Soil Week

Let's Talk About Soil - English from IASS Vimeo Channel on Vimeo.

While soils are the fundamental pillars of sustainable development, they are facing increasing threats. To draw attention to this challenge and to upscale actions towards sustainable soil management, the first ever Global Soil Week was hosted by the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Berlin from 18-22 November, 2012. The week sought to provide a platform to initiate follow-up actions on land and soil-related decisions made at the Rio+20 Sustainable Development Conference to offer a forum of interactive exchange and dialogue. At the week, stakeholders from science, government, business and civil society came together to share their land and soil-related experience and expertise, and to develop future plans of action for sustainable land/soil management and governance.

Several panels, platform sessions, and dialogue sessions were held on various relevant themes. One of particular interest was a dialogue session on securing the commons co-hosted by Maliasili Initiatives, the Rights and Resources Initiative, and the International Land Coalition. The session “reviewed the state of current knowledge around sustainable use and governance of communal natural resources, and examine threats to communal tenure of lands and resources in a range of different geographic contexts, and from points of reference as varied as gender dimensions, indigenous rights, biodiversity conservation, pastoralist land use, and forest governance.”

Find out more about Global Soil Week here. The International Institute for Sustainable Development's coverage from the week can be accessed here. Find out more about the week’s sessions here. 

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