ANNEX IV:	
PARTICIPATION ASSESSMENT MISSIONS: SUMMARY OF RESULTS

GEF I .W. PROJECT	
PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES	
LOCATION OF THE TRAIN-SEA-COAST COURSE     DEVELOPMENT UNIT	
PARTICIPATING INSTITUTIONS	
TRAIN-SEA-COAST TEAM	
STP TOPIC       	

RER/93/G31
“Environmental Management and Protection of the Black Sea”	
Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine	
Ovidius University  Constanza, Romania	
Black Sea University Foundation, Bucharest

Ovidius University Constanza	
Manager: Dr. Gabriela Stanciulescu

Course Developers:
Ms. Luminita Ivanciu, Black Sea University Foundation and
Mr. Eden Mamut, Ovidius University	
“Tourism and Environment for Hotel Managers”

	

RAF/92/G34
“Industrial Water Pollution Control in the Gulf of Guinea Large Marine Ecosystem”	
Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo	
Center for Environment and Development in Africa
(CEDA), Cotonou, Benin	
Center for Environment and Development in Africa (CEDA)	
Manager: Prof. Sikorou Adam

Course Developers:
Dr. Mouftane Laleye, CEDA and
Mr. Phillip Langley, CEDA	
“The Role of Women Fishers Within the Coastal Communities” 	

PDF-B
“Integrated Management of the Benguela Current Large Marine Ecosystem”	
Angola, Namibia, South Africa	
University of the Western Cape (UWC), Cape Town, South Africa 	
University of Cape Town (UCT), Cape Town
 University of the Western Cape (UWC), Cape Town  	
Manager: Prof. Derek Keats (UWC)

Course Developers :
Ms. Bernadette Brown (UWC)  Dr. Howard Waldron (UCT)	
“Marine Pollution Control”	

RLA/97/G41
“SAP for de Rio de la Plata Basin and its Maritime Front  PDF-B under formulation”	
Uruguay, Argentina	
PROBIDES (Programa de Conservacion de la Biodiversidad y Desarrollo Sustantable en los Humedales del Este)
Rocha, Uruguay	
PROBIDES, Rocha
 
The Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo

MVOTMA (Ministry of Housing,Territorial Management and Environment), Montevideo  	
Manager: Alicia Torres (PROBIDES)

Course Developers:
Dr. Flavio Escaso
Universidad de la Republica and 
Dr. Daniel Collazo
(MVOTMA)	
“Identification and Management of Sensitive Coastal and Marine Areas”	

RAB/95/G41
“Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden” 	
Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen	
To be determined	

	

RAS/92/G34
“Prevention and Management of Marine Pollution in East Asian Seas”	
Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Korea, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam	
To be determined	

	

Annex V 

IW:LEARN and Train-Sea-Coast
PDF-B:  Current Status of IW:LEARN and Train-Sea-Coast Activities
(Report as of April 1998)

Component 1: IW:LEARN 

Output 1:  Formation of IW:LEARN Implementation Team, including a plan for training
A core team is now being formed.  Training and group planning is to take place at the University of London (Royal Holloway), autumn 1998.   The  Implementation Team will initially include representatives from the following projects:  Black Sea, East Asian Seas, Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, Danube River, Lake Tanganyika, Caribbean Contaminated Bays,  Gulf of Guinea , Lake Victoria and Bermejo River.   In Year 2, the range of participants will be expanded to include:

i.)  International waters projects financed by  partner donors.   The present IW:LEARN brief and budget is being  co-submitted to DG-VIII (Sustainable Development and Natural Resources Unit), European Commission.  If approved, EC co-financing would be used primarily to expand and intensify work in Africa. 
ii.) Present PDF-Bs or projects in the GEF pipeline.  These could include:  Benguela Current Project, Caspian Environment Programme, Okavango Delta, Dnieper River, Yellow Sea, Rio de la Plata Project, South Pacific SIDS Project, Lake Chad Project, Tumen River Project, Mediterranean Sea, Western Indian Ocean, Upper Paraguay River, Bay of Bengal and others.

Output 2: A “Menu of  Distance-deliverable learning products”
Needs assessment, brainstorming, and the development of “products” began with a Feasibility Study that was carried out in 1996.   Planning and preparatory work continued intensively during the PDF-B.   The following “products” and ideas will incorporated into the 3-year work plan, following consultation with the IW:LEARN Project Advisory Panel  

Output 2.1:  Conferencing and meeting tools
Quarterly virtual meetings among project directors are now being planned.   A range of Internet conferencing tools are being tested, e.g., NetMeeting (Microsoft), IVisit (BoxTop), CU-SeeMe (White Pine), Symposium (Centra).    Initial meeting themes will respond to priorities enunciated at the UNDP-SIOCAM Needs and Resources Assessment and Planning Workshop, December 1996. 

Output 2.2.  Online seminars
The medium of “streaming audio” has been determined to be highly usable over  the range of bandwidths through which most GEF projects are or will be connected to the World Wide Web.  During the period of the project preparation, dozens of radio stations, news services, entertainment providers, and educational institutions began to offer full programming similar to that which is proposed by IW:LEARN.

Output 2.3:  NetCourses
IW:LEARN is working on concept development with the International NetCourse Teacher Enhancement Coalition (an educational initiative funded by the US National Science Foundation).  A proposal  related to waters content is currently under review by the UNDP Nordic Fund.   

Output 2.4: Community and Educational Outreach Program
With financial support anticipated from the UNDP Austrian Fund,  an initiative is presently being developed that would integrate educational activities across four GEF projects (Black Sea, Caspian, Danube, Mediterranean).   Involving school children in the collection of data has three important benefits:  to enhance science learning within schools;  to increase community interest and awareness of environmental issues; and expand the regional data coverage available to scientists and policymakers.  The feasibility of school children and non-professional scientists collecting meaningful data has been demonstrated in several science education projects funded by the US National Science Foundation (school children) and by Earthwatch (adult volunteers).  GEF funds for this activity would be used to cover incremental costs incurred within GEF projects only.  The infoDev grant will cover a training component.  Matched co-financing from the Heinz Family Foundation would cover US costs.

Output 2.5:  Collaborative Work Tools
	The IW:LEARN work plan was not developed in this area during the PDF.  However, rapid advances are continuously being made in the development of new groupware products. A set of these products will be proposed for testing within the contexts of GEF waters projects.

Output 2.6: Dedicated Hook-ups to International Scientific Meetings
A co-financing proposal is currently under discussion with the US National Science Foundation (“The Use of a Dedicated Extranet at International Meetings to Extend Collaborations Between Ocean Scientists in the US and Developing Countries”).   Grant funding to UNDP-GEF from infoDev will enable IW:LEARN to systematically pre-test this idea at two upcoming international meetings.

Output 2.7:  Advanced Distance Training Program
A masters-level distance degree program is currently being considered in partnership with the Centre for Developing Areas Research, University of London (Royal Holloway).  Members of the IW:LEARN Implementation Team could serve as the first student cohort.  A generalist social science academic structure (geography, development studies) would be tailored with specialized options in international waters and use of information technology.   A co-financing grant to UNDP/GEF for $140,000 (infoDev) will support, in part, operational research on “alternative financial aid packages”.   Distance study could be made even more affordable by widening the range of financing options that developing country environmental professionals can use.  The co-financed operational study will examine mechanisms such as post-degree employment guarantees, scholarships and fellowships for distance study, paid virtual internships, and guaranteed loans.

Component 2: Train-Sea-Coast

The main objectives of the PDF have been to provide the basis for the setting up and operation of the six new CDUs.  The output are six well established TSC/CDUs geared to the training needs of IW projects and having an agreed plan for course development, delivery and sharing.

For this purpose, Activity 1 of the PDF was to undertake six TSC Participation Assessment Missions (first mission).  The Coordinator of the Train-Sea-Coast and an international training consultant conducted this.  An extract from the results of these missions is presented in Annex 5.  Six assessment mission reports dealing with the organizational set up for the six CDUs, local needs, commitments and personnel, are available on request.

The Assessment missions were organized in the following manner.  First, consultations with each of the Managers of the six IW projects for TSC activities, resulted in:

a) The selection of one or more countries within each of the regions covered by the projects.  In each of these countries, universities or NGOs that were though to be suitable for hosting the  CDUs were also nominated.

b) A training needs assessment for the region.  Based on this, a suitable topic for the first Standardized Training Package (STP) was identified for each region.

Second, and following the consultations at the project level, the TSC Coordinator and the consultant visited the training institutions and/or NGOs nominated as having potential to host the CDU and assessed each of the candidate institutions in order to:

a) Ascertain the interest and capability of the organization to become an active member of the TRAIN-SEA-COAST Programme

b) Obtain a firm commitment from the organization to provide the necessary human and physical resources to establish the CDU and to prepare the selected STP

c) Select two suitable Course Developers

Activity 2 of the PDF included the negotiation of host-institutions agreements of the TSC network (second mission).  In addition, prior to leaving to attend the Planning Meeting the two course developers selected from each of the CDUs, together with the CDU manager, should draw up a plan for the setting up and operation of the CDU.  This should include office arrangements, work schedules and general logistic and other matters.  A guideline for the establishment of the CDU was provided to each of the institutions selected.

Activity 3 of the PDF included the organization and implementation of a planning meeting with two participants from each CDU in order to achieve a full understanding of the TSC methodology and an agreed plan for course development, delivery and sharing.