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2014 TAI Global Gathering

The Fifth Global Gathering of the Access Initiative: Using Information, Data and Technology to Protect Forests and Strengthen the Rights of Forest-Dependent Communities THEMES AND OBJECTIVES The Fifth Global Gathering is organized around the theme: Using Information, Data and Technology to Protect Forests and Strengthen the Rights of Forest-Dependent Communities. The three-day Gathering will be an opportunity for partners to share experiences, build skills, and evaluate new approaches to their work while developing communities of practice and joint programming. The gathering will include skill-building workshops and plenary sessions that explore the use of high and low technology approaches to: a) Improve the quality and availability of information on forest sector activities b) Empower civil society and communities to generate independent information to hold governments accountable for forest sector activities c) Promote advocacy and campaigns for forest protection. The gathering will also provide opportunity for participants to engage in discussions about joint seed projects that may be eligible for funding under the Global Forest Watch civil society fund using the Global Forest Watch platform. Objectives: Improve transparency, participation, and accountability in the forest sector To convene representatives from technology groups, civil society and forest-dependent communities to share experience and build expertise on how to make more impactful use of information technology to protect forests and natural resources and strengthen the rights of forest dependent communities . To develop or strengthen partner networks to promote proactive transparency of accurate forest information in the priority forest regions of the world including forest, land use, and concession data (logging, extractive, palm oil etc.). To launch the Global Forest Watch Small Grants Fund to a larger group of stakeholders and to share ideas for new innovative projects using this tool. To share experiences and best practices in terms of projects that aim to map community lands and their link to the protection of forests. To generate new commitments at the national and regional level to openness and participation in the forest sector (e.g., Open Government Partnership). EXPECTED OUTPUTS Through three days of strategic meetings, breakout sessions, presentations, and networking, we hope to achieve the following outputs: • Increased organizational/community awareness and capacity to use information, data and technology as an approach to protect forest and strengthen community rights • Development of new approaches to promote proactive release of forest data in TAI/GFW priority countries • Development of joint partnerships or programs of work to use new technological approaches to forest and rights protection. • Development of a Forest Commission and agenda for action within the TAI network to engage more directly on these issues in the national and international arena • Expanded network of civil society sharing information and best practices on forest governance and community rights. • Generation of new proposals for funding around the GFW small grants and Challenge Funds • New ideas and excitement around GFW’s Small Grants and Action funds

The Fifth Global Gathering of the Access Initiative: Using Information, Data and Technology to Protect Forests and Strengthen the Rights of Forest-Dependent Communities THEMES AND OBJECTIVES The Fifth Global Gathering is organized around the theme: Using Information, Data and Technology to Protect Forests and Strengthen the Rights of Forest-Dependent Communities. The three-day Gathering will be an opportunity for partners to share experiences, build skills, and evaluate new approaches to their work while developing communities of practice and joint programming. The gathering will include skill-building workshops and plenary sessions that explore the use of high and low technology approaches to: a) Improve the quality and availability of information on forest sector activities b) Empower civil society and communities to generate independent information to hold governments accountable for forest sector activities c) Promote advocacy and campaigns for forest protection. The gathering will also provide opportunity for participants to engage in discussions about joint seed projects that may be eligible for funding under the Global Forest Watch civil society fund using the Global Forest Watch platform. Objectives: Improve transparency, participation, and accountability in the forest sector To convene representatives from technology groups, civil society and forest-dependent communities to share experience and build expertise on how to make more impactful use of information technology to protect forests and natural resources and strengthen the rights of forest dependent communities . To develop or strengthen partner networks to promote proactive transparency of accurate forest information in the priority forest regions of the world including forest, land use, and concession data (logging, extractive, palm oil etc.). To launch the Global Forest Watch Small Grants Fund to a larger group of stakeholders and to share ideas for new innovative projects using this tool. To share experiences and best practices in terms of projects that aim to map community lands and their link to the protection of forests. To generate new commitments at the national and regional level to openness and participation in the forest sector (e.g., Open Government Partnership). EXPECTED OUTPUTS Through three days of strategic meetings, breakout sessions, presentations, and networking, we hope to achieve the following outputs: • Increased organizational/community awareness and capacity to use information, data and technology as an approach to protect forest and strengthen community rights • Development of new approaches to promote proactive release of forest data in TAI/GFW priority countries • Development of joint partnerships or programs of work to use new technological approaches to forest and rights protection. • Development of a Forest Commission and agenda for action within the TAI network to engage more directly on these issues in the national and international arena • Expanded network of civil society sharing information and best practices on forest governance and community rights. • Generation of new proposals for funding around the GFW small grants and Challenge Funds • New ideas and excitement around GFW’s Small Grants and Action funds

Event Resources

RELATED RESOURCE(S)

2014 Global Gathering Outcome Report

EVENT RECAP

At the foot of the dark green mountains that surround Bogotá, Colombia, over 90 energetic access rights and forestry advocates spent three days learning from each other during the 2014 TAI Global Gathering. The Gathering created a space where new ideas mingled freely with established approaches, and veteran TAI members, new members and forest governance experts could build meaningful relationships. Held from October 29-31, 2014, the 2014 Global Gathering was the largest in TAI’s 13 year history and included participants from 42 countries. The event was sponsored by four WRI programs – The Access Initiative, Global Forest Watch, the Governance of Forests Initiative and the Land and Resource Rights Program – as well as the Open Society Foundation. Hosted by Colombian TAI member organization Asociación Ambiente y Sociedad, the conference was centered around the theme of “Using Information, Data and Technology to Protect Forests and Strengthen the Rights of Forest-Dependent Communities”. The innovative facilitation style of the Gathering capitalized on the strengths of this unique combination of participants was accompanied by an innovative facilitation strategy. Allen Gunn of Aspiration guided the participants through interactive sessions, which encouraged meaningful discussion and collaboration focused on concrete outcomes. The event agenda was shaped by participants on the first day of the event, and reflected common areas of interest and desired outcomes from the Gathering. The agenda retained significant flexibility to allow for new sessions to teach participants the specific skills they identified as most important to their work. The constant teaching/learning that defined the Gathering involved a skill share, dozens of interactive sessions and a ‘science fair’ where participants demonstrated their tools for effective monitoring and advocacy for access rights. The following tools were presented at the science fair: 1. Sarawak GeoPortal – Bruno Manser Fonds (Simon Kalin) 2. Open Development Cambodia – Open Development Cambodia (Terry Parnell) 3. Sapelli Mobile Tool – ExCites UCL (Gillian Conquest) 4. Pollution and Illegal Logging Maps – Digital Democracy (Gregor Maclennan) 5. GFW Commodities – Global Forest Watch (Benjamin Jones) 6. GFW Fires – Global Forest Watch (Rachael Petersen) 7. Development Alert! – Jamaica Environment Trust and The Access Initiative (Danielle Andrade, Carole Excell) 8. Environmental Democracy Index – The Access Initiative (Jesse Worker) 9. Indaba – Global Integrity (Monika Shepard) 10. Release and Transfer Registers – Environment People Law (Viktor Yurochko) 11. EIA Resource and Response Center – LIFE (Ritwick Dutta) 12. STRIPE – The Access Initiative (Elizabeth Moses) While the sessions were open to any and all who wanted to attend, the regional sessions on the last day created a space for a more structured conversation about specific network priorities. Led by the TAI Core Team members, these sessions divided participants by geographic region and produced a short list of regional priorities that will define the TAI network in the coming year(s). The regional sessions were followed by a Core Team Accountability Session, in which TAI members could ask questions and share opinions about the past and future network policies and activities. While building and cementing relationships formed the core of the Gathering, the thematic focus highlighted valuable approaches to work on access rights. The Global Gathering offered an opportunity to test the proposition that technology can revolutionize natural resource protection. Many of the sessions provoked discussions about innovative data and technology use, but also reminded participants that access to these new tools isn’t enough. Communities of practice like TAI are essential to supporting the effort to ensure that technologies with great potential are implemented well and have a positive impact. To build on the momentum and excitement created in Bogotá, the TAI Secretariat collected the principal ideas and outcomes into the 2014 Global Gathering Outcome Report. Please read through it to find more about what was discussed at the Gathering and the network’s plans for the future!