Heavy and Weighty

Do not fret over your heavy troubles, for they are heralds of weighty mercies. Charles Spurgeon

Pillars for Flourishing Transboundary Coordination

James K. Gasana wrote about "Governing TCBAs"- Trans-boundary Conservation Areas. That's an area of land between two countries that is important for conservation. It is challenging for single entities to protect areas- and it becomes very layered and complic
ated between countries. His example centers on Cambodia, Laos and Thailand "The Emerald Triangle". He notes it is a process that must be built through partnerships. It can't flourish without these items. I just wanted to keep a record of these items because they seemed highly relevant in many other partnership contexts.

1) Political will- from national and sub-national governments

2) Political vision- to address trans-boundary issue of shared interest through coordination of policies, institutions and management

3) Joint structures and synergies- with clear mandates at national levels, inter-institutional coordination, and stakeholder participation mechanisms that include Indigenous Peoples, local communities and municipal authorities

4) A mixture of financing mechanisms - funding from national budgets, private, bilateral and multilateral donors, the private sector, whenever feasible 

Reflective Learning

As I progress in my career (it sounds very adult to say that!) I've now done one professional presentation and one guest lecture. Woohoo! I want to keep doing a better job, so I jotted some notes for future use. Asking students/participants to reflect will enrich their experience...so here goes:

Describe: describe what you experienced
Interpret: what you experienced, what does it mean?
Explain it to others: explain how it applies to you

What surprised you?
What scared you?
What made you feel good?
What inspired you?
What will you remember?

Now I can recycle this note to myself: do not forget these questions and strategies! I only have to remember I blogged it here ;)