Current Activities

New Activities in IW:LEARN3

Focal Area/Project Manager Manual
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNDP/UNOPS (consultant TBD)

This combination publication/online interactive tool and training course will collect the common aspects of GEF IW project design, development and implementation into a knowledge product that supplements existing guidance specific to GEF Agencies. This will enable new project managers to get quickly up to speed on GEF management and reporting requirements, including proper use of the results-based management framework and GEF IW tracking tool. The objective is to improve managerial and thus project performance as well as the harmonization of GEF methodological approaches across the portfolio.

TDA-SAP Methodology and Course Revision
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNDP/UNOPS (consultant TBD)

The activity will expand and revise an existing TDA-SAP methodology and training course. The new methodology is needed to build portfolio capacity to address emerging issues not previously included (adaptive management for climate change, mainstreaming gender, financial sustainability of regional institutions, economic valuation) and also be diversified to address the different water ecosystem types.

Private Sector Engagement
Lead: Global Environment & Technology Foundation

The activity will support projects to learn how to include dialogue with the business community and succeed with engagement. Successful examples will be recorded, along with the key reasons for those successes, in targeted knowledge products on market-based instruments and public-private partnerships. In addition, the project will conduct one stakeholder-industry dialogue to draw conclusions on those findings and solicit further recommendations. The methodology will be piloted in at least one GEF IW project, where the project will develop and test public-private partnerships for implementing INRM.

Mainstreaming Climate Impacts into IW Projects
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNDP/UNOPS (consultant TBD)

The activity will involve the production of guidance materials for GEF IW projects for the incorporation of climate dimensions in shared water management. There are many volumes of toolkits and training material already in existence (alluded to below) from which content customized for GEF IW projects can be harvested and guidance extracted. From this analysis exercise, a methodology will be produced. This methodology will then be piloted in each major ecosystem type. These pilots will involve the programming of results frameworks, priorities and monitoring & evaluation to take climate impacts into account. They will also involve the benchmarking of ecosystem health with regard to climate impacts.

Global Communities of Practice for Surface Freshwater and Groundwater Projects
Lead: UNESCO (Groundwater), IUCN (Freshwater)

The activity will be designed and structured to support learning needed to enhance delivery of the GEF-IW portfolio of river basin projects, and also separately, groundwater projects. Two facilitated communities of practice amongst projects of the two ecosystems will be launched. Coalitions will be built around learning champions in basin projects and access to knowledge will be stimulated through communication products and facilities. Specific face-to-face dialogues will also be facilitated among particular subsets of projects, with a particular focus on integrating groundwater projects.

Focus on Groundwater: Support to the MENARID Programme
Lead: UNESCO

The activity will support the integration of groundwater considerations into GEF land and water projects at the MENA regional level through a community of practice and targeted workshops. The activity will focus on disseminating information on managed aquifer recharge and improved land management approaches.

Index-Insurance Pilot
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNDP/UNOPS (consultant TBD)

The aim of the activity is to work with insurance and finance institutions on addressing climate variability and change in transboundary water basins, and utilize private sector and cutting-edge approaches to insurance. The activity will involve the development of methodologies and tools for identifying climate risks, including it in management approaches of transboundary basins and identifying possible measures to address climate risks, including risk financing options. This activity is unique in that at present, we have risk financing at the national scale, but not at the transboundary scale.

Portfolio Results Dissemination (Publications, Journal Articles, Film)
Lead: UNU-INWEH (Publications, Journal), IW:LEARN PCU - UNDP/UNOPS (film)

This activity will support either the production of an International Waters quarterly publication, special issues of existing journals covering international waters-themed topics or the publication of peer-reviewed articles to existing journals. The activity will also support the publication of news, information, events and announcements concerning the GEF IW portfolio through a regular (electronic) newsletter and/or blog. Finally, in lieu of the fact that 2011 marks the 20th of the GEF, the activity will finance two major publications and film. The film will be on results of the GEF IW portfolio, the publications covering Integrated Water Resource Management and the portfolio and a third on Integrated Coastal Management and the portfolio.

IW Science Conference & Science Learning Network
Lead: UNEP (IW Science Conference), UNU-INWEH (Network)

A biennial “GEF International Waters Science Conference” is proposed, sustaining and continuing the in-depth synopsis, analysis and synthesis of science within the GEF IW portfolio undertaken by the IW:Science project. The IW:Science Knowledge Management System would  be maintained (database, learning network, working groups) to facilitate the incorporation and synthesis of new scientific information in the lead-up to each conference event.

Enhancements to IW:LEARN.net and Information Management

Project Results Archive
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNEP/Seastart

This activity will correct a long-standing oversight of iwlearn.net, namely the lack of easily discoverable and searchable information on project results. After 20 years, almost 180 projects and more than six billion US dollars, it is still not easy enough to locate basin information on project results. The activity will result in a a comprehensive searchable archive of GEF IW project experiences and results. In addition, all existing and previous project websites will be fully archived for posterity.

Portfolio Visualization Tool
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNEP/Seastart

The activity will develop a portfolio visualization tool and decision support application linked to information resources in iwlearn.net providing access to project data using applications like Google Earth. Videos highlighting portfolio achievements will also be produced.

Integration with various UN-Water platforms
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNEP/Seastart

The activity will enhance and deepen the volume of information and data at iwlearn.net by linking and searching all known project websites through iwlearn.net as well as key websites of UN Water partners, including inter alia UNESCO, FAO, UNDP and may others. Users will be able to customize their personalized iwlearn.net portals to deliver relevant information or display it at the website (at their preference).

Website Improvements: Community of Practice Platform
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNEP/Seastart

The activity will realize a transformation of iwlearn.net and GEF project websites and user support to interactive and user-driven functionality (blogs, password protected areas, wiki’s, social networking applications, discussion fora, etc).

Workspaces for Portfolio Sub-sets
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNEP/Seastart

The activity will deliver online workspaces for specific portfolio subgroups such as COPs, project managers and governments, and the International Waters Task Force.

Website Toolkit Enhancements and ICT Training
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNEP/Seastart

The project website toolkits, built on the same website architecture, will also receive the same additional functionality as the main site. In addition, the activity will deliver additional ICT training workshops in support of the tools and toolkits. The workshops will also cover monitoring, technical backstopping and support to GEF projects to uptake and apply GEF IW "Blue Standards” covering data collection/information archiving, ICT technologies, standards and protocols for information exchange and standardization.

Continuing IW:LEARN Services and Replication of Successful Approaches

Regional Coordination: IW:LEARN Service Line at the Regional Level
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNDP/UNOPS (various regional partners)

The activity will broadly support training workshops and inter-project staff exchanges (in particular during the gap years between the IWC’s). Good practices and achievements will be captured and disseminated through GEF IW Experience Notes. In addition, trainings (conducted by IW:LEARN partners) will occur based on regional gaps and needs analysis. In each GEF region, the project will identify a key regional partner institution. A partnership will be established to facilitate coordination among the region’s GEF projects and partners and ensure the availability region-specific information at iwlearn.net (news, events and announcements).

6^th GEF Biennial International Waters Conference
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNDP/UNOPS

The GEF Biennial International Waters Conference (IWC) is a signature learning event for the GEF IW focal area. Since 2000, the IWC has progressed from a portfolio-wide stock-taking exercise into an active training and experience-sharing event. IWCs convene on average 300 participants from about 70 projects, 80 countries and the GEF agencies to share practical experience, apply evolving policies and procedures, address emerging priorities and improve overall project performance. The next GEF International Waters Conference will take in 2011 somewhere in the Mediterranean Sea basin.

Mediterranean Regional Dialogues
Lead: Global Water Partnership - Mediterranean

The activity scales-up a successfully tested approach to facilitating regional cooperation over transboundary water resources, namely the Athens-Petersberg Process (in partnership with the German and Greek governments, the World Bank, UNECE and the Swedish EPA). The activity will feature roundtable dialogues, targeted workshops, development of capacity-building materials in two focus regions within the Mediterranean Basin, namely the Western Balkans and also the Middle East.

Support to Global Dialogue Processes
Lead: IW:LEARN PCU - UNDP/UNOPS

The activity also aims to increase the outreach and interactions between the GEF IW portfolio and the broader water resources, coastal and marine management and scientific community. The intent is to share our portfolio’s innovations and also to influence the course of global dialogues on water.