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How will the ACA Project be done?

A project team is being assembled, led by the IISD Measurement and Assessment Program, in collaboration with the CISDL and UNEP, and a Hemispheric Working Group of institutes with long-standing interest in the Americas sustainable development debates. Core partners include CINPE in Costa Rica, ECOS in Uruguay, CEMDA in Mexico, CEDA in Ecuador, and CNRI in the Caribbean; and core associates include RIDES in Chile, CEDHA in Argentina, FFLA in Ecuador, CIECA in the Dominican Republic and COMEDES from indigenous peoples. Experts from sub-regional environmental authorities such as CEHI and the CCAD, the OAS, UNEP, ECLAC, IDB, the World Bank, Latin American and Caribbean national authorities and academic sources can also participate.

The partners are developing a series of joint working papers on ESD capacity building priorities and gaps, for initial review in a project workshop in Montreal and an Experts Roundtable in Ottawa, Canada, by project partners and other experts, where the project method and plan is also being agreed. The papers focus on identifying ESD management capacity building priorities in the context of relevant national and sub-regional environmental trends and conditions.^[6] Then, an engagement strategy is being undertaken to consult relevant actors, and to raise policy interest and debate on these issues. The "core partner" institutes in LAC, subject to confirmation of funding, may organize four sub-regional workshops to discuss priorities for ESD capacity building, develop recommendations for policy-makers and test new ESD capacity building materials. The process involves national authorities, as well as civil society and business, in the process, and at all stages, builds on existing research and efforts. As such, the project combines four inter-related components, each of which can also stand alone with concrete results and deliverables:

Component 1 (Sept. 2003 – Dec. 2004)

• A Survey Analysis and Report: The Hemispheric Working Group, composed of civil society and academic institutions with a long-standing interest in these debates, are conducting a survey assessment and joint LAC analysis of institutional capacity for ESD management. The survey is being done in an open and transparent manner, seeking to build connections between civil society organisations in the countries of the Americas and their government and private sectors. It is collating and analyzing the results of recent studies, building on recent comparative analysis of existing MEAs and environmental co-operation regimes in North America, the Mercosur, the Andean Community, the Caribbean Community and Central America, as well as hemispheric initiatives. Then "reality check" interviews or consultations are being done on the ground with national authorities, civil society environmental actors, businesses and inter-governmental agencies with ESD management responsibilities, seeking to identify key hemispheric institutional gaps and priorities. An Assessment Report is being generated by the LAC and Canadian partners, identifying existing gaps and capacity building priorities, an agenda for joint hemispheric action parallel to (or part of) the FTAA, and new institutional mechanisms that could help to deliver that agenda.

Component 2 (Feb. 2004 – March 2004)

• Hemispheric Side-Events/ACA workshop: Through a small Workshop in Montreal, Canada and an Experts Roundtable event in Ottawa, Canada, and through a series of project panel events and meetings parallel to upcoming hemispheric Ministerial sessions and Summits, the core partners are determining a method to identify hemispheric ESD capacity building priorities, developing a series of working papers on existing ESD priorities and capacity development needs, and developing recommendations for ways to develop and strengthen the potential environmental provisions of the Draft FTAA. The Roundtable Dialogue in Ottawa, Canada, will give the partners a valuable opportunity for dialogue with members of the Canadian policy community.

Component 3 (April 2004 – Dec. 2004)

• Sub-Regional ESD Capacity Building Sessions: Subject to resources being made available, core sub-regional research institute partners will, in cooperation with sub-regional and national authorities, other civil society organisations, academic institutions and the private sector, organize sub-regional workshops to discuss ESD priorities, and test ESD capacity development materials. The workshops can result in:

  • Design of capacity building materials on priority Americas ESD skills and issues shared by all five sub-regions of the Americas.

  • Dialogue about ESD cooperation needs in the Americas, to determine the best mechanisms to inform and engage the public and research communities in hemispheric ESD debates on key issues.

  • Identification of ways and means of linking current ESD capacity needs with trade and social decision-making structures, with the Hemispheric Cooperation Program, and other sources of support.

These sessions will result in five sub-regional reports on "Strengthening Capacity for Environmental and Sustainable Development in the Americas," which will record the views of the participants on priorities and recommendations for designing and strengthening ESD governance in the sub-region and on a hemispheric level.

• Hemispheric Engagement Strategy: Results and materials from the Sub-Regional Workshops will be tested through an in-depth "engagement strategy" (12 months), where interviews or consultations will take place with national environment and trade ministries, other civil society actors and members of the private sector, businesses and inter-governmental agencies with environmental and sustainable development management responsibilities, seeking to identify key hemispheric trends or themes in the responses. Side-events will also be organized parallel to further hemispheric meetings, to raise the profile of ESD issues, the FTAA trade and environment agenda, and ESD capacity building needs in the region.

Component 4

• Reporting and Dissemination: The final reviewed report will be published as a book, and broken into a series of issue-focused final reports to be disseminated to government leaders from trade, development, health and environment authorities across the Americas at the Minister and Heads of State levels, to the FTAA committee of government representatives for the participation of civil society, as a submission to UNEP's Forum of Environment Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean, and to the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation, and also presented as a civil society submission to the Health and Environment Ministers of the Americas and the Pan-American Health Organization.

• Evaluation and Follow up: The partners will meet in Ottawa to evaluate the process, the reports and deliverables, and to plan follow-up related to the state of negotiations.

The ACA Project will involve the following meetings and workshops:

Components 1 and 2

• Inception meetings with research partners and project team, mainly by telephone and through a meeting parallel to the Americas Trade and Sustainable Development Forum in Miami, Florida, November 2003.

• An ACA Project Roundtable, to be held in Ottawa, Canada, March 29, 2004, at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Law, where experts from academia, civil society and government will dialogue about potential for an Americas environmental co-operation mechanism, and future research and capacity building priorities.

• An ACA Project Workshop, to review the project methods, identify relevant partners and dissemination points, and review Working Papers on ESD capacity building priorities and existing efforts, gaps and options, also institutional cooperation, to be held in Montreal, Canada, at the McGill Law Faculty, March 27-28, 2004.

• Working reviews and editing sessions with core partners as deemed necessary, to be held in Canada and LAC parallel to other hemispheric events and meetings.

Component 3

• Development of courses, manuals and briefing papers, and further analysis, for ESD capacity building.

• Subject to resources being made available, four Sub-Regional Sessions for testing of ESD capacity building materials, and discussion of further gaps, priorities and recommendations for Americas ESD cooperation, to be held in Costa Rica or Nicaragua for Central America; Ecuador for the Andes; Uruguay for Mercosur; and Barbados or the Dominican Republic for the Caribbean.

• Small Americas ESD capacity building awareness raising events, held parallel to the upcoming Miami FTAA Ministerial meeting, the Summit of the Americas in 2004, and the HEMA meetings in 2005 and to other upcoming sub-regional environmental events, to consult with policy-makers and disseminate project results.

Component 4

• An evaluation session with core partners as deemed necessary, to be held in Canada and LAC parallel to other meetings at little extra costs.

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[6] These issues, raised in the introduction, will be based on policy guidance, also available qualitative and quantitative data on ESD trends in the Americas and institutional capacities, and compiling / analyzing existing studies. A component will be included which considers the links between the environmental institutions, and their social and economic counterparts. The partners will conduct 'reality checks' on the ground in sub-regions or countries where useful.

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