COMDEKS Global Knowledge Exchange Workshop held in Costa Rica

From January 23 to 26, COMDEKS hosted its Global Knowledge Exchange Workshop in San José, Costa Rica. Participants included representatives from the Ministry of Environment of Japan, the Secretariat to the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations University, the Global Environment Facility, the SGP Central Programme Management Team, as well as SGP National Coordinators from COMDEKS partner countries and SGP Upgrading Country Programmes, and other partners and stakeholders.

The 4-day workshop opened with welcoming remarks from the SGP National Coordinator from Costa Rica, Mr. Eduardo Mata, the UNDP Resident Representative, Ms. Alice Harding Shackelford, the UNDP-GEF Head of Climate Change and GEF Principal Technical Advisor, Mr. Stephen Gold, the Partnership and Resource Mobilization Coordinator from the GEF Secretariat, Ms. Pilar Barrea, the Counselor to the Japanese Embassy to Costa Rica, Mr. Taijiro Kimura, the Global Biodiversity Strategy Office Director from the Ministry of Environment of Japan, Ms. Fumiko Nakao, and the Costa Rican Minister of Environment and Energy, Mr. Edgar Gutierrez Espeleta.

The first day of the workshop focused on introducing the programme and its approach, as well as provided the opportunity for in-depth knowledge and experience sharing related to the COMDEKS methodology and landscape resilience objectives among participants. On Day 2, a site visit to partner communities in the Rio Jesús María Watershed, the target landscape in Costa Rica, was organized for participants to learn about project activities and results from the local communities. Day 3 involved a number of training and feedback sessions on relevant toolkits and guidance material used within the landscape approach. On the final workshop day, participants explored synergies with other programs and opportunities for replication and scaling up.

This workshop provided a valuable platform to 1) promote a better understanding of the Satoyama Initiative’s perspectives and activities, the achievements of COMDEKS and its partnership with SGP; 2) analyze results and conclusions of the COMDEKS programme, and share and disseminate knowledge and experiences from successful on-the-ground actions; 3) build staff technical capacity and provide opportunities for capacity building and planning for future work; and 4) promote synergies with other programs and opportunities for replication and scaling up of landscape planning and management approaches and practices.