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GEF IW Experience Notes

GEF IW Experience Notes are summaries of highlights, conclusions and lessons learned. The GEF’s International Waters Experience Notes help the transboundary water management (TWM) community share its practical experiences to promote better TWM. Experiences include successful practices, approaches, strategies, lessons, methodologies, etc., that emerge in the context of TWM. Completed forms may be 3-7 pages long, and serve as the basis for Notes disseminated via GEF IW:LEARN and its iwlearn.net Web site. Experience notes are being requested periodically from GEF IW projects (e.g., through monitoring and evaluation, workshops, etc.), including those focussed on freshwater basins and on Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs).
FileExperience Note: Building Community Acceptance for Constructed Treatment Wetlands
The project's development objective is to improve the provision of water supply and sanitation services in the selected Albanian cities. Albania had no wastewater treatment facilities and raw sewage is discharged untreated into seas and rivers. Municipal waste water treatment is being put in place by the introduction of engineering wetlands. This however, poses questions of social acceptance within the community. The extent of social development participation in this project early on makes for a substantial and meaningful upstream consultation exercise, which in turn influences project design. Poverty and social aspects are covered in exemplary fashion, including careful and patient engagement of local stakeholders in a process that also has design impact. Favorable local media coverage of the consultation, assessment and communications process contributes to local stakeholder engagement in the project. Synergy between different units working in the team works well and management draws on the positive aspects of this project as an input to a larger country dialogue. The experience is significant for demonstrating that careful project preparation results in having an improved, efficient and sustainable waste water treatment facility even at the face of social acceptability challenges. Tracy Hart
FileExperience Note: Designing Constructed Wetlands for Multiple Uses
The Ningbo Water and Environment Project is being implemented in the Ningbo Municipality of Zhejiang Province in China, south of the Hangzhou Bay. This project aims to reduce land-based pollution along the Cixi coast and the East China Sea, promote innovative low cost wastewater treatment techniques and encourage coastal zone conservation through: a) the construction of a wetland for tertiary treatment of one Cixi city wastewater treatment plant, b) the development of a wetland center with multiple purposes (including wetland restoration, non-point source pollution reduction, bird watching and environmental education) and; c) the dissemination of trainings and workshops to promote various project experiences. This project represents current good practice for multipurpose design for constructed wetland design and wetland restoration.
FileExperience Note: Small Grants Programme (SGP) in the GEF/UNDP Danube Regional Project (DRP)
Among some 80 activities pursued by the UNDP-GEF Danube Regional Project, its Small Grants Programme (SGP) has had a particularly remarkable impact. The SGP was the DRP's main vehicle for engaging local stakeholders and the public through NGO involvement and capacity building for actions at the local level to support the Danube SAP. In total, 120 National Grants and 10 Regional Grants were distributed to NGOs in 11 countries in the Danube River Basin. Projects were monitored and evaluated by the DRP through regular reporting and site visits. The best practices of NGO projects were highlighted in stories submitted to both national and international media. The SGP support NGO activities to reduce nutrient pollution, along with other projects and tools implemented by the DRP, has contributed to significant and measurable improvements in the water quality of the Danube and the Black Sea. Specific heuristics are presented here to help other projects replicate DRP's interactive SGP approach -- through design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation phases. Kari Aina Eik Kari.aina.eik@unvienna.org Danube Regional Project Dann Sklarew, editor GEF IW:LEARN
FileExperience Note: International Development of NGOs: Danube Environmental Forum (DEF)
The Danube Environmental Forum (DEF) is a network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which is dedicated to protecting the Danube River and its tributaries, their biodiversity and national resources by enhancing cooperation among governments and stakeholders. Targeting pollution reduction and transboundary cooperation in the same basin, the UNDP-GEF Danube Regional Project (DRP) has worked to build and strengthen the DEF regional NGO network and to establish a Regional Secretariat to coordinate its widespread, multi-country activities and projects. DEF now has a strong Secretariat, 174 member organizations and national focal points from 13 Danube countries. Activities such as an annual basin-wide Danube Day as well as their participation in the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River Basin (ICPDR) are among its successes. DEF challenges included selecting a small set of common issues to focus network efforts and developing financial sustainability. DRP seed funding to support such efforts and institution-building was critical for the DEF and its members to reach new heights in positive regional impact. Through a similar process, other projects and NGO networks can take advantage of regional economies of scale and networking to support public involvement across their transboundary water basins. Kari Aina Eik Kari.aina.eik@unvienna.org Danube Regional Project Dann Sklarew, editor GEF IW:LEARN
FileExperience Note: Lessons-learned Reporting on Stakeholder Involvement: WIO-LaB
While this existing political and institutional framework provides a good ground for political embedding of strategy formulation and decision-making, the capacity for stakeholder involvement (technical, financial and human resources) of the dedicated focal point institutions and individual focal persons may in cases be limited; experience with wide stakeholder involvement (or the motivation to assure such) may be limited or even non existent. The WIO-LaB strategy for stakeholder participation is based upon a stakeholder involvement strategy that distinguishes between three levels of stakeholder involvement. The project has been underway for 15 months, and the approach is proven to be successful so far, in particular as it concerns the regional-level stakeholder involvement. However, the success rate of the national stakeholder involvement activities is still to be proven, with many of the project countries still establishing their strategies and structures.
FileExperience Note: Lessons-learned Reporting on Project Management Structure: WIO-LaB
The WIO-LaB project workplan is based upon the Nairobi Convention workplan. The synergy between the project and the policy/programme level, provides an important advantage. Despite these important advantages, it should be noted that the capacity of the focal points (technical, financial and human resources) for coordination of the different project activities, which cover a wide range of issues, may in cases be limited. A second challenge concerns the large diversity in the respective institutional, cultural and socio-economic settings of the respective countries. Apart from official structures, the WIOLaB PMU has furthermore established/supported a number of more informal structures for stakeholder consultation and involvement. Although the adopted structure builds upon the existing structure of the Nairobi Convention, the approach would generally be replicable in other situations.
FileExperience Note: How Codes of Good Agricultural Practices Contribute to Nutrient Reduction
The overall project development objective has been to increase significantly the use of environment-friendly agricultural practices in the project area and thereby reduce nutrient discharge from agricultural sources in Romania to the Danube River and Black Sea. The issue was strengthening national policy and regulatory capacity regarding water protection against pollution with nutrients originating from agriculture. The project addressed the through two activities: (i) providing technical assistance (training) to the Romanian Ministries related to the application of the EU Nitrate Directive; and, more specifically, (ii) preparing, editing and printing the Code of Good Agricultural Practices, coupled with (iiii) testing and demonstration of environment friendly agricultural practices. This experience is central to implementing nutrient reduction in transboundary waters.
FileExperience Note: Lake Chad: Tackling Implementation Challenges Early On
This note covers how the Lake Chad Basin GEF project has responded to initial delays in project implementation. First, the project identified and address weaknesses in inadequate project management at the level of the Project Management Unit. Second, the project addressed the need for more inclusive involvement of the regional basin institution, the Lake Chad Basin Commission (LCBC) in project implementation, as well as the need to build its institutional and fiduciary capacity. Finally, the project has improved coordination among the two implementing agencies (World Bank and UNDP), the executing agency (UNOPS), the regional basin institution (LCBC) and the Project Management Unit (PMU).
FileExperience Note: Lessons-learned Reporting on Demonstration Site Selection and Design: WIO-LaB
Abstract: The challenge in this is thus to ensure that relevant technical actors are involved in the design and review process, and that were needed capacity at the national level is attracted from supporting institutions. The process for development and selection of demonstration projects, as applied for the WIOLaB project, applies very much a consultative approach. The note describes both the selection process and criteria for selection. Projects were also ranked and selected through a transparent (non-weighted) multi-criteria analysis, a sample of which is included. The approach is generally applicable in projects applying a similar project management structure.
FileExperience Note: Lessons-learned on Project Management Structure: Rio São Francisco
In order to execute the project, ANA made special institutional arrangements and cooperation agreements with the main federal, state and municipal institutions as well as NGOs involved in the project thus providing a strong institutional framework for the project. In order to overcome the previous lack of integration among subprojects, the Technical Coordination established a program of meetings for clusters of subprojects working in similar thematic areas. The management structure adopted for the São Francisco Project could be replicated in single-country projects or used for the national level management structures in multi-country projects. In the Brazilian case, the national executing agency was a strong institution both politically and technically and was able to establish a solid institutional framework for the execution of project activities. At the same time, the Basin was rapidly placed at the top governmental agenda and received priority for the implementation of the national policy instruments.
FileExperience Note: Lessons-learned Reporting on Stakeholder Involvement: Pantanal and Upper Paraguay
The new Brazilian Water Law placed special emphasis on the implementation of decentralized and participatory management of water resources at the basin level. The approach taken during the early project preparation phase was based on the assumption that the most effective way to actively involve main stakeholders in the project is to involve them directly in the formulation and execution of project activities. The established collaboration with universities, research institutes, NGOs, consultants, local governments, and governmental institutions during the SAP formulation phase creates the basis for the institutional arrangements required to implement the SAP, and ensures the active and effective participation of local stakeholders in the implementation process. The Pantanal experience in involving basin stakeholders was implemented in the conditions of a single country and in the context of relatively well- established and qualified institutions, social organizations, and water users which were capable of mobilizing technical and research resources for their direct participation in the proposed demonstration projects and feasibility studies.
FileExperience Note: Lessons-learned Reporting on Demonstration Site Selection and Design: IWCAM
The overall project sought to include demonstration projects in order to deliver actual achievements in mitigation and resolution of threats and root causes. The agencies developing the project needed to be politically sensitive to the possibility of not all countries running projects and manage the process of criteria-setting in order to ensure that consensus was reached before any demo projects were identified. The project chose demonstration projects using a methodology which included the following steps: hotspot/sensitive area selection process, agreement on IWCAM GEF Operational Program (OP) 9 eligible issues, adoption of selection criteria for project submissions, submission of concept papers, development of full demonstration project Submissions, and adoption of the submissions by the IWCAM Steering Committee. A partnership conference was organised, to involve potential partners and donors in the elaboration of the demo submissions. This approach allowed for objective evaluation at the country-level of the priority areas for attention and also allowed for some diplomacy and negotiation, which is needed when consensus-building is a desirable outcome. The project experiences in selecting and preparing the nine demonstration projects are applicable to similar SIDS projects under similar conditions.
FileExperience Note: Regional Conference on Parliamentary Environment and Sustainable Use of Marine Resources in the Yellow Sea
Attracting high-level political commitment is an ongoing process that many GEF projects must address during implementation. To use these important roles wisely, a mechanism was required to involve the members of the parliamentary organizations. More than 50 persons from the participating countries of the Yellow Sea Project attended a conference, including 14 members from the parliamentary bodies. As a result, the parliamentary members deepened their understanding about the environmental problems in the Yellow Sea, exchanged opinions about how to address its problems, and established a mechanism to advance dialogue and cooperation between the two countries at the parliamentary level. The Yellow Sea parliamentary conference was the first time a Global Environment Facility-funded project has organised such an event with participants from parliamentary bodies participating in the project.
FileRisk Management in the Iullemeden Aquifer System - Abdel Kader Dodo - Iullemeden Aquifer
Presentationa at the 4th World Water Forum
FileGEF IW Experience Notes Format
FileGEF IW Experience Note Form
FileGEF IW Experience Notes Format
FileGestion Integrada de Last Actividades (Espanol) - Jose Luiz de Souza
Presentation given by Jose Luiz de Souza at the 4th World Water Forum
FileRegional Programme on Partnerships in Environmental Management For the Seas of East Asia - Stella Regina Bernad - PEMSEA
Presentation by Stella Regina Bernad at the 4th World Water Forum.
FileLocal Actions of the Guaraní Aquifer System Project - Elena Benitez - Guarani
Presentation by Elena Benitez at the 4th World Water Forum
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