Country-led planning forum: "Connect & Reflect"

The Global Forest Observations Initiative (GFOI) Country-led planning (CLP) forum, "Connect & Reflect," will take place from 26 to 28 November 2024 in Rome, Italy, in the context of the broader south-south knowledge exchange "Enhancing forest monitoring through global collaboration."

The GFOI CLP global forum will provide a platform for joint learning and knowledge exchanges between CLP countries. Consistent with the goals of the CLP, the forum will ultimately focus on helping countries to work towards embedding their national forest monitoring systems (NFMSs) and associated measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) procedures as a core function of government by learning from one another. Countries will be exposed to the rationale of deepening functional expertise needed for embedding NFMSs within national institutions. The forum will allow for joint discussions, south-south collaboration and assistance to countries with specific functional needs.

Please refer to the tables below for a detailed agenda of the three-day event.

TUESDAY, 26 NOVEMBER \| CLP DAY #1 Rooms: The Philippines (all day) & Nigeria (morning) Goal for the day: Gain insights into the CLP from countries’ perspectives Moderator: Maria Fernanda Jaramillo
Time	Activity	Name / Agency/Country
8:30	Meet in the lobby of FAO
09:00	GFOI CLP Registration (Philippines Room)
09:15	Welcome, introductions, objectives	Tom Harvey / GFOI
09:45	Framing of the workshop	Maria Fernanda Jaramillo / GFOI
10:00	CLP Program of Support Overview and Reflection 1. What is an NFMS? 2. The Theory of Change 3. CLP Outreach 4. The CLP Steps 5. Lessons learned	GFOI CLP Team: Ellie Reed, Peter Moore, Gabriela Nuñez
10:45	Coffee break

11:00	Continues: CLP Program of Support Overview and Reflection Q&A and feedback from countries on the CLP support program: Opportunities of improvement? Recommendations on good practices to maintain?	GFOI CLP Team: Ellie Reed, Peter Moore, Gabriela Nuñez + countries Facilitator: Maria Fernanda
12:00	Buffet lunch at the 8th floor cafeteria
13:30	Checking with participants if the messages on what the CLP is are clear Update on the CLP process in each country: why and when they started / or will decide to start; if they already started their CLP process: what was their starting point and what have they achieved to date	Country delegates + CLP team + GFOI partners and other participants Maria Fernanda to explain the general methodology for the break-out groups.
15:00		Coffee break
15:15 - 17:00		All participants
17:30	Appetizers and cocktails reception at FAO rooftop - Russian Room

WEDNESDAY, 27 NOVEMBER \| CLP DAY #2 \| Rooms: The Philippines (all day) & Nigeria (only in the morning) Goal for the day: Build a common understanding of what it means to embed the NFMS as a core function of the government and its implications Moderator: Maria Fernanda Jaramillo
Time	Activity	Name / Agency/Country	Methodological details
8:30	Coffee and refreshments
9:00	Plenary to present the synthesis of the discussions / conclusions from the breakout groups of Day 1 and collectively discuss / analyze the groups' reflections and conclusions	All participants Peter Moore will facilitate this plenary.	Plenary Each group will present a synthesis using the presenttations online they used the previous day to compile the main topics and conclusions of the conversations.
10:00	Break out mixed groups’ discussion with facilitation Proposed topics: What information should be provided by an NFMS? Who are the actual or potential users or uses of the information provided by the NFMS? What is an "embedded multipurpose NFMS" and how may this look different among countries?	All participants Same breakout groups than the previous day Maria Fernanda Jaramillo will explain the general methodology and guiding questions for this session.	Plenary only for the explanation of the exercise and the guiding questions. We will invite groups to make a presentation (create an image) on what does an embedded NFMS look like; groups will use the same presentations that they used the day before to summarize the conversations and conclusions.

12:00	Buffet lunch at the 8th floor cafeteria
13:30	Plenary: report back from breakout groups and collectively discuss / analyse the groups' reflections and conclusions	All participants Gabriela Nuñez will facilitate this plenary.	Plenary Groups will use the powerpoint on line to present conclusions of the conversations. After the presentations: facilitated conversation to clarify, identify commonalities and differences, addressing the most important elements of the analysis: is it possible or not to have / build a common understanding of what an embedded NFMS is?
15:00	Coffee break
15:15	Functional gap assessment in theory and practice: how the political economy analysis (PEA) applied to a functional gap assessment tool could be useful for the CLP process	Marco Mezzera will facilitate this session.	Plenary A presentation will be given on the structure and analytical framework of the CLP functional assessment tool, based on PEA. Why and how could this be useful for the CLP Processes in each country? The facilitated conversation will clarify ideas and discuss the analytical framework, structure of the proposed tool, and usefulness of the functional gap assessment and proposed tool.
17:15	Sessions conclude

THURSDAY, 28 NOVEMBER \| CLP DAY #3 \| Rooms: The Philippines & Nigeria (all day) Goal for the day: Identify the next steps for each CLP Process (country) Moderator: Maria Fernanda Jaramillo
Time	Activity	Name / Agency / Country	Methodological details
8:30	Coffee and refreshments
9:00	Addressing the main challenges, gaps and needs for countries to move forward in their CLP processes. Cross-learning and support exercise through ¨clinic cases¨ technique	All participants Maria Fernanda Jaramillo will explain the methodology and guide the initial step of the technique (the list and prioritization of challenges to address).	Plenary for the first moment of the exercise Participants will make a list of the main challenges, gaps and support needs for countries to move forward in their CLP processes. This list will be grouped by topic and, from there three “clinic cases¨ will be selected. Split participants in three breakout groups, one per each prioritized challenging topic or ¨clinic case.¨ Countries with only one participant should select the most relevant topic for them; countries with more participants should disperse evenly among the different cases, unless there are topics of none interest for them. Each case should have an ¨owner:¨ a person really interested in receiving feedback and ideas on how to overcome the challenge or problem; this person will moderate the group.

12:00	Buffet lunch at the 8th floor cafeteria
13:30	Plenary to present conclusions from the clinic cases	All participants Maria Fernanda Jaramillo will facilitate this plenary.	Groups will report back.
14:00	What countries envision for their CLP process implementation in the short term	All participants Maria Fernanda Jaramillo will explain the methodology.	In breakout groups by country, each country will have 60 minutes to define how they will proceed with their CLP Process in as much detail as possible.
15:00	Coffee break
15:15	Countries present their proposal on how to proceed with their CLP Process	All participants Ellie Reed will facilitate this plenary.	Plenary Each country will present a summary of the next steps - short term roadmap - in its CLP process.
16:15	Workshop wrap up and closure	Ellie Reed will give the closing remarks.	TBD