The CiVi.net project aims to analyse, transfer and disseminate successful and sustainable community based solutions with regard to ecosystem service management in Latin America. The main focus is placed on institutional settings in terms of original rules and related governance models which help to prevent and resolve tensions arising from a necessary new repartition and use of natural resources. Thereby, the role of civil society organisations (CSOs) within these governance models is in the core of the research. To meet these challenges, CiVi.net takes an action research and case study approach.
The project has chosen four case study regions in Brazil and Costa Rica where successful solutions have been worked out. These will be analysed with respect to the following questions:
- What kinds of management instruments are used to solve environmental problems and how effective are they?
- What kinds of original rules and institutional arrangements are implemented and which economic governance models have been established?
- What crucial aspects must be considered when transferring these solutions to other communities that face similar problems?
- What is the capacity of CSOs and their networks for contributing to finding, implementing and transferring such solutions?
Based on the findings, CiVi.net wants to facilitate the transfer of successful solutions to at least one other community for each selected case study region confronted with similar environmental challenges. To do so, CiVi.net will develop an ex-ante assessment approach to test the transferability of institutional solutions and of successful governance models. One of the final outputs will be a manual to assist practitioners and scientists on how to design and manage the knowledge transfer. CiVi.net will put much emphasis on the dissemination of the produced knowledge. Thus, another of its final outputs will be an innovative web-based data portal for providing and trading knowledge.