FAO and other international partners set to launch 2nd Drylands Summer School in Kenya
Sharing a common vision over rangelands, FAO and several key partners have promoted the celebration of the Second Drylands Summer School, aiming to build resilient drylands by training experts to advocate for transformative land management. The Summer School will take place at the CIFOR-ICRAF Campus in Nairobi, Kenya, from Thursday, 12 September to Monday, 15 September with the possibility of an additional field trip to be confirmed.
Drylands and rangelands sustain over 2 billion people globally, but face challenges from conversion to agricultural and other land use, climate change, inappropriate restoration and afforestation programs and unsustainable practices. FAO and other international institutions aim to understand and promote participation, better knowledge and good practices for the protection, sustainable management, and restoration of drylands.
This 2nd Summer School will build capacities to follow-up, monitor, and provide feedback on solutions to sustainably manage dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral resources, with a special
focus on pastoralism-based systems. It will further train experts, practitioners and researchers on the transformational approach to dryland resilient systems.
The Summer School will combine a professionally facilitated program based on group dialogue, peer-to-peer learning and field visits with master classes and technical lectures, mixing theoretical knowledge and practical skills. The course will be built on the principles of experiential learning, which places the participants’ knowledge and experience at the center. Through games, exercises, field work and reflection, the participants will arrive at a deeper understanding of their own projects and learn how to improve their impact.
The summer school is sponsored by the G20 Global Land Initiative, working alongside other partners including the Center for International Forestry Research – World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) with its Secretariat at the Centre for Development and Environment (CDE) of the University of Bern, The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), the Agricultural Research Council of South Africa and the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists (IYRP).
The Summer School offers 25 places, available to experts, planners and policy makers who have expertise or operational responsibilities in management of drylands production systems.
Participant’s prerequisites include the completion of FAO Transforming dryland forests and agrosilvopastoral systems course, (3h49m duration), and the preparation of a generic case study about experiences targeting management of agrosilvopastoral systems, filling a 2/3 pages template that would be provided by the organization.
Whilst the Summer School itself is free, participants will need to cover their travel, accommodation and internal transport costs. The summer school team will facilitate logistics as much as possible. Upon completion of the Summer School, a digital badge certification will be provided.
If you are interested, please fill this form and we will keep you updated of any developments.
Save the date: Nairobi – Kenya, 12-15 September 2024!