Science, Environment and Development Group

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Wednesday, 10 December 2003
Leadership and Learning in Local Partnerships for Sustainable Development: A Framework for Analyzing the 2002 Equator Initiative Finalists
Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, and former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity; and Vanessa Timmer, Pre-doctoral Research Fellow, Center for International Development, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
9:30-11:00 am, Perkins Room (E-415), 4th Floor, Eliot Building, KSG (Map)

Abstract:

Calestous Juma and Vanessa Timmer will present their framework for analyzing the Equator Initiative 2002 Prize finalists. The finalists are 27 communities along the Equator belt that have effectively combined the goals of poverty reduction with biological diversity conservation at the local level through innovative partnerships. The Equator Initiative was launched by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the Canadian Government, and other partners in the lead-up to the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). WSSD was primarily focused on implementing the global sustainable development agenda. These community initiatives represent effective local expressions of implementing sustainable development goals and translating them into action. Juma and Timmer are analyzing the role of leadership and learning in the effectiveness of these local partnerships. Within this framework of learning, Juma and Timmer examine the construction and evolution of knowledge systems within the community initiatives and identify the interorganizational and intersectoral partnerships that have formed to shape and construct useful knowledge in iterative and sustained ways. The case studies also provide insight into effective approaches to enhance social learning and increase larger social system capacities to solve complex sustainable development problems.

Speaker biographies:

Calestous Juma is Professor of the Practice of International Development at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government and Director of the Science, Technology and Globalization Project. He is a former Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and Founding Director of the African Centre for Technology Studies in Nairobi. He is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences and the World Academy of Art and Science, member of the Kenya National Academy of Sciences, and National Associate of the U.S. National Academies. He has served on several committees of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on science advice for sustainable development, geographical information sciences, and biotechnology. He is coordinator of the United Nations Millennium Project's Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation. He has visiting appointments at the United Nations University in Tokyo and the University of Strathclyde in Scotland. He has won several international awards for his work on the environment and development. He holds a PhD in science and technology policy studies, and has written widely on science, technology and the environment. He is working on a book on biotechnology and globalization.

Vanessa Timmer is a Fulbright Research Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government and a PhD candidate from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. During her appointment at the Center for International Development (CID) at Harvard University, she is completing her PhD dissertation and working with the Initiative on Science and Technology for Sustainability (ISTS) under the supervision of Dr. Calestous Juma. Her PhD dissertation focus is on evaluating the effectiveness of civil society organizations in advancing the broad societal transition towards sustainability. This research has led her to analyze the dynamic trends and trajectories of the past thirty years from the 1972 UN Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, through the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, to the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. With the ISTS, Timmer is working with David Cash to develop the research protocol for case studies on knowledge systems for sustainable development. She is applying the case study protocol to the Equator Initiative 2002 Award recipients and co-authoring a series of case study reports on the Equator Initiative finalists with Calestous Juma. Timmer received a Bachelor of Arts (honors) in Sociology from Queen’s University, Canada, and a Master of Science in Environmental Change and Management (with distinction) at Oxford University, United Kingdom.

Presentation slides:

Juma, Calestous, and Vanessa Timmer. "Leadership and Learning in Local Partnerships for Sustainable Development: A Framework for Analyzing the 2002 Equator Initiative Finalists." PowerPoint presentation from Research Topics in Sustainable Development seminar, 10 December 2003, Center for International Development, Harvard University.

Background document:

Juma, Calestous, and Vanessa Timmer. 2003. "Social Learning and Entrepreneurship: A Framework for Analyzing the Equator Initiative and the 2002 Equator Prize Finalists." Working paper of 5 December.

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