Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Moreover, the funding should be seen as a contribution to the total expected project
costs, and it is expected that projects search for and receive additional funding from
other interested parties.
The fifth expectation is that the projects will have
real impacts on policy and
practice
. For most research oriented projects, the final objective stops short at the gen-
eration of knowledge and the improved understanding of a topic. It is assumed that the
research findings will gradually trickle down to policy makers and other development
agents. The CoCooN call for proposals, however, asks for explicit outcomes and tar-
gets at the level of development and policy change (change of behaviour, adoption of
new practices, adjustment of policies, etc.). To ensure these results, active involvement
of relevant policy makers and development agents in the design and execution of the
project is needed from the earliest phases and onwards. For projects to be able to pro-
vide appropriate and timely inputs to bringing about policy changes, it also requires
that project partners understand the dynamics and logic of relevant policies.
The sixth expectation refers to
capacity development of the research institutions
and non-research institutions involved
. The capacities aimed for do not only include
research skills, but capacities such as knowledge sharing and accessing, as well as
communication between research and non-research institutions. It is assumed that
in order to have an impact on conflict and cooperation regarding natural resources,
knowledge management skills are critical, as are communication and collaboration
skills. Capacity development in these fields was expected to not only emerge through
training, but additionally, in fact primarily, through 'learning by doing'. This aspect
is elaborated as part of the third sub-objective (outputs and outcomes), with explicit
requirements to elaborate on capacity building aspects beyond research capacities.
The seventh expectation is that of
learning and sharing of experiences beyond the
individual projects
, at the level of the CoCooN programme (between the individual
projects), as well as at regional and international levels, and between the projects and
other relevant institutions. The proposals are required to mention the linkages with
other relevant international networks, platforms or programmes, and demonstrate
how results would feed into these. It is expected that the projects also initiate new
ways of learning and regional exchange in order to share findings. This aspect is fur-
ther addressed as one component of the communication strategy, that of international
collaboration (see below).
The eighth expectation is that
communication is managed as a cross-cutting focus
within each CoCooN project. Each project proposal was therefore required to contain
a communication strategy, including communication objectives, products and means
of communication. The strategy distinguishes between (i) stakeholder involvement,
(ii) international collaboration, and (iii) output dissemination. Communication is not
something to be addressed at the end of the project, as is commonly done, but instead
from the very onset.
11.3 INITIAL OBSERVATIONS ON PROGRESS
We will now discuss the extent to which the design principles have been put in practice
in order to meet the set expectations and the extent to which these have been imple-
mented thus far. This discussion is based on initial project proposals, as well as the
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