GIA partners are implementing a wide range of tools and strategies to promote good governance of infrastructure projects in the Amazon. Our aim for the coming months is to support partners’ work on priority strategies, document promising experiences, and learn broader lessons that can be applied in future work.
We have created an interactive discussion board on the GIA web site to share information and experiences on promising strategies for infrastructure governance. In this newsletter, we introduce this new space for online discussion and learning, and invite partners to participate. We also share updates on several of the working groups where UF and GIA partners are advancing the use and understanding of priority strategies. Happy reading!
Please Save the Dates
Working Group presentations of results as described below – April 9, April 22, and May 13.
Final GIA workshop – three-afternoon virtual sessions on May 24, 25, and 27.
NEW Interactive Discussion Webpage
A new interactive discussion page on GIA’s website provides a space to share and discuss the effectiveness of different strategies for infrastructure governance. The page is divided into 8 topics. Six are based on the most effective strategies identified in GIA’s 2019-2020 review of 55 cases from GIA’s partners:
- Three highly effective conservation strategies related to political mobilization and negotiation (communications and awareness-raising; legal action; policy advocacy);
- Two support strategies which can create conditions for effective implementation of the above strategies (knowledge management and capacity building);
- Partnership and collaboration, especially involving grassroots organizations.
Two additional topics address overarching questions about these conservation strategies:
- Enabling and limiting factors that influence the effectiveness of strategies to promote infrastructure governance
- Synergy from the combination of strategies
We will be posting experiences relevant to all of these topics in the coming weeks and invite all GIA participants to comment, ask questions, and add your experiences..
Contribute to the interactive discussion here.
GIA’s Working Groups
Working Group 6: Communication for Political Impact (CMP 3)
“Communication for Political Action” is an essential component of effective infrastructure governance strategies. The GIA Working Group on this topic is facilitating dialogue among partners on challenges and opportunities for using communication to achieve political impact.
A round table discussion was held with Colombian and Bolivian grassroots organizations and NGOs in December (see report here). On February 26, six Brazilian partners institutions shared their innovative communication experiences focused on campaign-actions and discussed challenges and effectiveness of communication strategies. Recommendations included the necessity to speak to diverse audiences and understand diverse biases, experiences and worldviews. An additional round table with Peruvian and other partners in this Working Group is planned for March.
On April 9, we will hold a pan-Amazon GIA webinar to present our assessment of innovative communication strategies and reflect on how to learn from best practices, overcome challenges and strategize on opportunities.
Working Group 1: Comparative Analysis of Cases with Positive Results
GIA has been working with indigenous co-researchers Valentin Luna Rios, Domingo Ocampo Huasna, and Killa Becerra Jacanamejoy to document and analyze two cases of community mobilization leading to positive outcomes for infrastructure governance: (i) the Chepete Bala hydroelectric project on the Madera river basin (Bolivia), and (ii) the San Francisco – Mocoa and Bajo-Bota Caucana-Santa Rosa-Descanse-Yunguillo-Condagua roads in Yunquillo territory (Colombia). We will organize a webinar to discuss each case in its respective mosaic in March.
On April 22, we will have a pan-Amazon event to disseminate and compare these cases. Ultimately this analysis will produce lessons about effective strategies, how enabling and limiting factors influence the effectiveness of strategies, and how multiple strategies can be combined for maximum impact on infrastructure governance.
Working Group 2: Intercultural Collaboration
Given the key role of grassroots organizations for infrastructure governance, a GIA working group on “Intercultural Collaboration” is focusing on partnership and collaboration among NGOs, indigenous groups and campesino organizations. By engaging with the differing perspectives held by each of these cultures, we are learning about how these groups manage collaboration and what conditions they see as contributing to effective collaboration. We will promote a cross-cultural dialogue between the Tandachirudu Inganokuna Indigenous Association, the Citizens Veeduría in Mocoa municipality, and Colombian NGOs in April.
Final results will be presented at a pan-Amazon GIA event on May 13.
