Deadline: December 18th 2023 | Locally Controlled Forest Restoration Training Programme
The LoCoFoRest (Locally Controlled Forest Restoration) training programme, which is being announced by the Swedish Forest Agency (SFA) in collaboration with the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the Eco-Innovation Foundation (EIF), aims to address a crucial question: How can we increase the restoration of forest landscapes while ensuring the well-being of nearby communities and preserving and enhancing ecosystem services?
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The Swedish International Agency for Development Cooperation (Sida) provides funding for the programme.
The importance of forest landscapes is expected to grow as the globe moves from a fossil fuel-based economy to a circular bioeconomy. Natural forests that are well-managed are essential for reducing the effects of climate change, maintaining water availability and quality, and satisfying the world’s expanding need for wood-based goods.
The aim
- Building capacity within national, regional, and local institutions and groups is the goal of LoCoFoRest.
- The course will equip participants with the know-how to improve their organisations’ ability to assist entrepreneurs and local communities in restoring forests and landscapes in a scalable manner, as well as to capitalise on new value chains and the expanding needs of a biobased economy.
Sub-program Elements
- Component 1: Online course and start-up meeting
- The training plan begins with four months of online self-guided studies along with frequent, brief virtual seminars following a regional or national start-up conference. The primary purpose of the start-up meeting is for participants to get to know one another and the programme team. The programme team will also discuss the suggested Change Projects and whether or not joint CPs between participants may be accomplished.
- Making sure everyone has a basic understanding of FLR’s essential components is the aim of the next online course. The course consists of five modules. The first examines the goals of the LoCoFoRest initiative in light of UN Agenda 2030, the diversity of present FLR commitments, and their success or failure. The economic, social, and ecological facets of FLR are covered in later modules, along with the connections between them. A last section covers the Change Project methodology. The majority of modules have three to four tasks, with each task being planned to take no more than eight hours, or less than a full working day.
- However, the amount of time required for each task can change based on how well-versed a person is in the particular subject.
Part Two: Comprehensive Midterm Workshop
- The core of the training plan is the intense midterm workshop. Talking about how LoCoFoRest can be established in your nation or area and how participants can apply the LoCoFoRest CP approach are the goals of the discussion.
- The week will mostly consist of field trips and interactive exercises with coaches and other participants to complete the CP plans of each participant. In addition, the workshop will be contextualised by a brief discussion of the history of the Swedish forest sector, the forces behind the historic restoration of degraded forests, and the creation of governance structures and laws to strike a balance between ecological, social, and economic interests. Expert presentations are interwoven with participatory activities, group discussions, field trips, and visits to various players in the forest industry.
Component 3: Project for Coached Change
- In their ITP application, applicants must recommend a change project that has been accepted by their organisation or organisations. It is acceptable and even encouraged for applicants from various organisations to propose a collaborative initiative. Participants, coaches, and the programme team will receive assistance in developing CP objectives and project plans during the start-up meeting and the mid-term workshop. Following the workshop, mentors will stay in virtual contact for four to six months to assist and monitor the plan’s implementation as well as to address any new issues or queries that may arise. For general help, the ITP may also offer a local contact in each nation.
Component 4: Regional/National Conference on CP Reporting Final Draught
- At a final regional or national meeting, which often falls around the start-up meeting of the following course-round, the finalised CP will be presented.
Component 5: Seminars and the Alumni Platform
- Participants are invited to sign up for a worldwide interactive online alumni platform after presenting their CP.
Programme Duration
- The period of LoCoFoRest is 2021–2025. Although there was a slight delay in the programme during the epidemic, it is currently operating as intended.
Object Group
- Participants from the following sectors are sought after: academic institutions, private industry, civil society, national, regional, and local government agencies involved in natural resource management, water and biodiversity conservation, processing forest products, and forest ecosystem service management.
- Candidates are people who work for these establishments and organisations, and they need their employer’s consent.
- Rounds from Ethiopia, Lao PDR, Nepal, Thailand, and Vietnam are included in the English language programme.
- Programme rounds from Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Senegal, and Togo are available in French (see the LoCoFoRest website in French).
Eligibility
- You are quite welcome to apply if you are a citizen of Ethiopia, Nepal, Thailand, Laos, or Vietnam and you believe that you and your organisation could benefit from this initiative.
- Although it must be approved by the employer, the application should be submitted by the individual applicant. Applications submitted using the signed application form that is attached will only be taken into consideration.
- They anticipate that motivated and engaged participants will take the initiative to apply, but it is also feasible for an engaged hiring organisation to act as a motivator and give applicants priority.
For more information, visit the Swedish Forest Agency.
