• Workshop on making a methodological framework for the rapid assessment of policies for SARD in the hillsides of Central America (16-17 November 2005 in Managua, Nicaragua)

The Programme for Sustainable Agriculture in the Hillsides of Central America (PASOLAC) has partnered with the SARD-M Project to conduct studies on the strengths and weaknesses of policies that can affect SARD in the hillsides of Central America, namely in Costa Rica and Nicaragua.

As a part of this partnership, a regional workshop is being organized on making a methodological framework for the rapid evaluation of policies for SARD in the hillsides of Central America on 16-17 November 2005. The workshop will be attended by people from government, civil society and international organizations involved in the formulation and implementation of policies for SARD in six Central American countries and Mexico.

The workshop will aim to:

1. Share the results of the assessments conducted in Costa Rica and Nicaragua;
2. Exchange experiences in the analysis and formulation of policies;
3. Discuss methodological issues for the analysis and formulation of policies for SARD in hillsides of other countries;
4. Derive the institutional needs for the strengthening of capacities for the formulation and design of policies for SARD in the region.


• Workshop on Strengthening SARD-M Policies for the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians (October 24 in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovak Republic)

Based on assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of mountain policies in the Carpathians conducted under the supervision of United Nations Environment Programme Vienna – Interim Secretariat of the Carpathian Convention (UNEP Vienna – ISCC), the expert Workshop aimed at identifying common policy issues to work on at the regional level in the framework of the Carpathian Convention, including recommendations for a future Protocol on sustainable agriculture and rural development in the Carpathians.

The Workshop was organised by UNEP Vienna – ISCC together with the SARD-M Project and Euromontana in conjunction with the Euromontana Conference on “Integrated Rural Development in the Mountain Areas of Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans” (25-26 October). Its results were presented to a broad international audience on October 25 in the working group on “Protecting and building on mountain potentials - the example of regional cooperation for sustainable mountain development in the Carpathians”, organized in the framework of the Conference.

The workshop was attended by 35 experts (i.e. representatives of government and civil society) from countries involved in the Carpathian Convention and from other European countries or institutions with experience in the design or implementation of such Conventions and programmes.

The participants demonstrated high level of interest in the findings of country and regional assessments, globally validated them and contributed to:

• Reviewing and enriching the SARD-M assessments recommendations;
• Identifying possible follow-up activities in the Carpathians notably:
- the expansion of the policy assessment to the four other Carpathian countries;
- an official contribution to the first Conference of the Parties of the Carpathian Convention through the output of the SARD-M policy assessment;
- the promotion of the outputs of the workshop at the Regional FAO Conference in June 2006 and at the European Commission level;
• Improving the country and regional assessment reports through concrete advises.