Workshop on Strengthening Cooperation and Communication with Partners

23 May, 2022

For the quality of project implementation, persistent and productive interaction with project counterparts plays a key role. Consequently, the Indo-German ‘Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES)’ project convened a 'Cooperation and Communication Workshop' for national and state level partners from 21- 22 May at New Delhi. The workshop aimed to strengthen communication, cooperation and collaboration for effective and efficient project implementation.

The event saw participation of dignitaries such as Dr Suneesh Buxy, Inspector General of Forests (Externally Aided Projects) Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC); Mr S.S. Rasaily, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) Projects Uttarakhand Forest Department; Mr Anjani Kumar Acharya, APCCF Projects Uttar Pradesh Forest Department (UPFD), Dr Uttam K Subuddhi, APCCF Mission Director, Madhya Pradesh State Bamboo Mission; Dr. Pushpendra Rana, Chief Conservator of Forest (CCF) Projects Himachal Pradesh Forest Department; Mr P.P. Singh, CCF Bundelkhand zone, Jhansi, UPFD; Dr M Sudhagar from the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGNFA) and other officials from the MoEF&CC.

The workshop commenced with a session on GIZ’s vision, mission, thematic areas and the significance of its cooperation with counterparts at eye level. This was followed by a session on how effective communication can be a pathway to high performance in terms of quality and efficient project implementation. A communication tool known as 'Responsible, Accountable, Supported, Consulted, Informed' (RASCI) Matrix for a better understanding of roles and responsibilities was discussed in detail and the counterparts were certain to use the tool in their work processes.

As part of the FES project, scoping and screening studies of working aids (guidelines, templates, approaches etc.) and digital tools for orienting project planning towards Forest Ecosystem Services Management were carried out during the preceding months. Detailed discussions and agreements with counterparts on their further developments were made.

The project also has an ongoing activity on Training Management System (TMS) and potential training modules that can be offered to the Forest Departments and the State and National Forest Training Institutes were explored in detail.

The project’s status quo wherein a presentation on the project progress till date was made to proffer the current status of the project. Areas for site selection for the agroforestry component of the project were suggested by the officers present from UPFD and MPFD. The last session focused on the development of common strategies for achieving synergies with other relevant line departments and upscaling of approaches (such as Incentive Based Mechanisms and inter sectoral convergence) developed by the project. The workshop concluded by a vote of thanks by the workshop facilitator Ms Anita Stogel and the project team leader of the FES Project, Dr Sanjay Tomar.

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About the project

Integrating the lessons from HP-FES, a follow-up project on ‘Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystem Services (FES)’ is being implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, State Forest Departments of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and GIZ India on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). It aims to strengthen forest and agroforest management to integrate the Forest Ecosystem Services approach with a focus on water availability. Read More

For more information contact: biodiv.india@giz.de