LME:LEARN - Services

The GEF LME:LEARN project, working together with partners, supports a series of regional networks, to improve regional governance and cooperation within respective LME regions, as well as coordination between LME, MPA, MSP and ICM projects. The networks promote integration and linkage of LME, ICM, MSP, and MPA projects (linked to their participating Governments via inter-ministerial committees), regional fisheries bodies, academic communities and the private sector, as well as appropriate linkage components to Port State Measures Agreement compliance and IMO-related Conventions.

To date, GEF LME:LEARN's direct involvement has actively supported LME/ICM/MPA projects in three regional dialogue processes - in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, and Asia. Each Regional Network is coordinated by the PCU with the support of the IOC Regional Subcommissions.

The Regional Networks work on the prioritization of training needs, identify and prioritize the twinning opportunities within and across regions; identify scientific research needs and support that could be pooled within or across regions; identify means for stronger involvement of science and university communities in the regional networks; and finally, they utilise the “Inter-project Collaboration Opportunities” (ICO) mechanism to strengthen partnerships across the region.

Regional Network Annual Meetings are convened once a year which are great opportunities for networking among projects working on LMEs, MPAs, MSP, and ICM at the regional level. These meetings also integrate targeted training on thematic subjects such as Marine Spatial Planning, Ocean Governance and Economic Valuation.

We fund proposals that:

• Demonstrate how the ICO is assisting in creating conditions for lasting relations;
• Demonstrate collaborations where more than two exchanges will occur;
• Demonstrate collaborations between two of the four focal areas (LME, MPA, MSP and ICM);

Example collaborations include:

• A GEF funded MPA project applying to collaborate with a GEF funded ICM project and an LME project.
• LME with a River Basin.
• GEF funded marine and coastal project with non-GEF projects (Seascapes, transboundary basins, regional seas bodies).
• Regional/global actors together with GEF marine and coastal projects.

For further information about the ICO criteria, you may download the ICO Information document.

Projects and entities that were awarded the grant were requested to submit an ICO Note which is a three-to-six page template to capture the results of a collaboration in terms of knowledge generated and specific guidance to the wider portfolio.

The coordination team conducts synthesis and incorporation of knowledge into policy making by capturing innovative approaches to Large Marine Ecosystems (LME) governance and by developing new methods and tools available to the projects’ teams.
The LME:LEARN project generates harmonized knowledge products drawing on existing science for inclusion in new toolkits by harvesting and codifying experiences and best practices from the existing GEF Large Marine Ecosystems, Intercoastal Management, Marine Protected Areas and Marine Spatial Planning projects, project stakeholders and learning partners including other non-GEF marine and coastal initiatives to include tools to address climate variability and change, MPAs and ICM to create a harmonized set of tools to address the existing causes of the degradation of coastal and marine resources and climate variability and change.

More specifically, toolkits are being developed to include best practices from GEF projects and seek to fill gaps in these by incorporating best practices from other communities of practice. The toolkit also integrate information from a variety of existing governance manuals and toolkits.

A governance handbook for GEF funded LME/ICM/MPA projects and regional integrative approaches is also being elaborated. Partner International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) will be the handbook editor.

Further information on projects and their advancement in the field, have been made easily accessible through a Marine Portfolio.

LME:LEARN ensures knowledge is shared among stakeholders and capitalized on by working on the integration of knowledge into policy making through Science-to-Governance dedicated events with a view to integrating Regional Ocean Governance relying on an improved understanding of the knowledge/policy nexus.

Finally, in order to strengthen the role of GEF International Waters portfolio on Large Marine Ecosystems and associated ICM and MPA related activities, LME:LEARN contributes to the dissemination of scientific knowledge and showcases the achievements of LME governance projects, by reaching out to the wider community including resource managers, the broader scientific community, government representatives, private companies, universities and the general public.

LME:LEARN also informs global policy discussions including Sustainable Development Goals for coastal and ocean areas meetings, the Global Ocean Forum, ICES Science Conferences, COFI and IMO sessions, as well as intergovernmental meetings of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Seabed Authority.

IOC-LME Annual Meetings are major examples of events that contribute to the development of the LME Partnership by engaging marine, coastal management, biodiversity and coastal climate change adaptation project leaders in meeting that objective. More specifically, the meeting aims at:

• Fostering a mutually supportive global network of leaders and institutions engaged in marine and coastal ecosystem based management by providing a forum for discussions on experiences and lessons learned;
• Mobilizing knowledge resources, new scientific applications and tools to support project implementation and organizational action related to priority knowledge topics;
• Reviewing marine and coastal project progress in regions, disseminating best practices amongst projects, and discussing emerging issues requiring common responses; and
• Sharing lessons learned from existing efforts with regard to the LME Governance project priorities (i.e. regional networks, capacity building training and twinning) and identify future priorities to help guide the implementation of the project.

The meetings also provide an opportunity to discuss the contribution of GEF and other marine projects to the implementation of the Agenda 2030, particularly SDG 14 as well as other SDGs. LME:LEARN has developed a Brochure entitled The Large Marine Ecosystem Approach Can Be the Engine for Achieving SDG 14.