Deadline: 25-Sep-21
Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), in collaboration with South Eastern Kenya University, Machakos University, Kenyatta University, The University of Nairobi, Centre for Marine and Environmental Research of the University of Algarve and ERACOMA, are organizing a regional training workshop on “Building Capacities of Local Practitioners for the Assessment of the Dynamics of Ecosystems in the Emerging Coastal Towns in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) Region” that will be held in the coast region of Kenya from 15th to 20th November 2021.
The training course is sponsored by the Western Indian Ocean Marine Science Association (WIOMSA), through its Cities and Coasts Programme.
This training aims to equip coastal conservation practitioners, urban planners, natural resource managers, landscape architects and decision makers with knowledge, skills and tools for identifying, classifying, and quantifying ecosystem services (ES) in their jurisdiction, especially in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) region. The training will be organized as a hybrid workshop with a limited number of participants attending in-person and selected individuals from the rest of the WIO region participating virtually.
Training Topics
Topics to be covered will include:
- Linkages between marine and coastal ecosystems and the respective ecosystem services
- Contribution of ecosystem services to economic and other aspects of human well-being
- Impacts of cities/urban development on coastal and marine ecosystems using the DIPSIR framework
- Assessment and valuation methodology of biodiversity and ecosystem services, and contribution to sustainable marine and coastal development
- Qualitative and quantitative techniques of conducting ecosystem assessment and valuation
- The various monetary and non-monetary values that are attached to ecosystems by communities
- Planning and supporting stepwise processes of conducting biophysical assessment and valuations, and how to integrate them into decision making using the TESSA toolkit
- Process of accessing open-source satellite images (from Sentinel-2 and Landsat missions) and software’s (e.g. Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP) for mapping
The training is free for the selected participants. Additionally, in-person participants will be provided with transport, accommodation and meals in or near the venue for the training. Training will be conducted in English, so trainees must have working proficiency in the English language.
Eligibility Criteria
- Participants must be early or mid-career city/urban planning practitioners and managers; as well as landscape architects marine and coastal resource managers from the WIO region (Comoros, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, France (Reunion), Madagascar, Seychelles, Mauritius, and Somalia);
- Participants should have considerable working knowledge of natural resources conservation and social sciences, so they can work together to mainstream ecosystem services assessment through quantification and valuation of marine and coastal ecosystem services into urban planning and decision-making.
- Participants must be available to complete ALL days of the training;
- Participants should demonstrate a desire for ecosystem services assessment;
- Participants with a relevant Bachelor’s degree and above and are involved in site management, city and urban planning or are practitioners,
- Applicants must have their application endorsed by their management authority, organization and government.
For more information, visit https://bit.ly/3BsKKBU
