Course report: Climate change adaptation in agriculture and natural resource management - Integrating climate change in policy making and programming for sustainable development

At the request of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) in the Netherlands, Wageningen UR1 has initiated a support programme for climate change adaptation in Eastern Africa in 2008. In partnership with ASARECA2, IUCN – EARO3 and RUFORUM4 a scoping workshop and follow-up were organised. The focus was on capacities needed to better integrated climate change adaptation responses into agricultural, rural development and natural resources policy processes. The initiative led, among others, to the development of a new training course in 2009, implemented by the partnership, in collaboration with HoA-REC5 at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia. The regional training on Climate Change Adaptation in agriculture and NRM took place from 15 to 26 June 2009 in Addis Ababa. It was attended by 26 participants from Ethiopia (20), Uganda (3), Kenya (2) and Tanzania (1). Participants were drawn from universities, agricultural research institutes, non-governmental organisations and government departments. The course was coordinated and facilitated by a team from HoA-REC and Wageningen UR, complemented by presenters and lecturers from various universities and institutes, such as Prof. Richard Odingo (University of Nairobi), Dr. Jan Verhagen (Wageningen UR), Dr. Gebru Jember (National Meteorological Agency, Ethiopia), and Dr. Lulseged Tamene (Addis Ababa University)

Evaluatie '14-'15:Hanze Ontwerpfabriek

In het voorjaar van 2013 is naar aanleiding van een ontmoeting tijdens de eerste editie van het programma 'Teach the Teacher Ondernemerschap' de Hanze Ontwerpfabriek opgericht. Onze drijfveer als initiatiefnemers van de Hanze Ontwerpfabriek is dat antwoorden op vragen sneller gegeven kunnen worden door deze empathisch in te steken. Ook zijn we ervan overtuigd dat snel duidelijk wordt of er draagvlak is voor een oplossing en dat mogelijke oplossingen duurzamer en innovatiever zijn door deze aanpak. Na een jaar uitproberen en onszelf ontdekken heeft de Hanzehogeschool Groningen (HG) ons op 1 september 2014 in de gelegenheid gesteld een pilot uit te voeren van twee jaren om deze beloftes waar te maken. Voor u ligt het evaluatieverslag van het eerste jaar van de pilot. Hierin worden met name het proces, de producten en de leermomenten tot nu toe beschreven

Monitor Bouwen met de Natuur

Part I Introduction and justification of the Monitor Building with NatureThis report describes the Monitor Building with Nature in the IJsselmeer region. When itcomes to implementing the concept of building with nature the main issue is not how it istechnically possible, but whether stakeholders consider it possible and desirable. The monitorgives insight into perceptions of stakeholders and provides possibilities for improvements indecision making and in generating societal support for Building with Nature projects. Theproject that developed this monitor is part of the Building with Nature research andinnovations programme.The monitor has the following goals:Describe the (changes in) perceptions and actions related to ‘building with nature’ inhydraulic engineering projects. Among which:1.Describe the situation of the project at the start of the monitoring, include the history of the project, the broad context, the assignment of the project, and the (formal) involvement of stakeholders.2.Make an inventory of the (developments in) observed threats and opportunities at project level (design, project management, process).3.Make an inventory of the (developments in) observed threats and opportunities for building with nature within the external field of force.4.Make an inventory of perceptions related to improvements and the involvement of the different stakeholders.The focus of the monitor is on perceptions of people who are involved in hydraulicengineering projects. For the development of the monitor, existing monitor approaches areused. The focus of the monitor is gathering of information and has characteristics ofconstructivist monitoring. However, the monitor aims to show the diversity of the availableperceptions and actions. The focus of the monitor is not merely on ‘learning’, although whenthe monitor is used in meetings or workshops, it can contribute to learning about building with nature. The monitor is qualitative of nature, with implicit use of indicators. The monitor is one of the initiatives of monitoring within the Research programme Building with Nature. Oneother initiative is for example the monitoring of the Community of Practice in the IJsselmeerregion.Part II The Monitor – QuestionnaireIn preparing for the use of the monitor, three main questions are to be asked. The firstquestion is: what is the focus in the project? The second question is: who are the respondentsand why? There are no universal criteria, nor are these desirable. And the third question is:how do we use the questionnaire? Are we interested in doing face to face interviews, orinterviews by phone? How the questionnaire is used depends largely on the goal of themonitor and the resources (i.e. time, money, people) availableThe questionnaire consists of four different parts. Part A discusses issues related to buildingwith nature within the project and deals with stakeholders’ perceptions of the concept. Part Bdiscusses factors influencing the feasibility of building with nature. Part C is about placingissues on the agenda and possibilities for improvements. Part D rounds up the questionnaire.For analysing the results of the monitor the following elements compromise the framework ofanalysis:1.Aspects perceived as characteristic for building with nature2.Aspects of building with nature in the project3.Best practices of building with nature according to respondents4.Perceptions of factors and conditions which stimulate or obstruct building with nature.5.Perceptions of the future and future possibilities for realizing building with nature6.Perceptions of action perspectives to realize building with nature on large scale in multiple7.projects in the IJsselmeer region.Part III The Monitor testedTo test the monitor two projects were selected as pilots: the dike strengthening project Edam-Amsterdam and the silt catch pit. Applying the monitor in these projects has lead to animproved version of the monitor and lessons learned on how to apply the monitor. It was notpossible to apply the monitor itself in the dike strengthening project, although the process wasvery useful. We found that interesting projects to apply the monitor also are subject tosensitive issues. Great concern is necessary to deal with these issues. Therefore, sensitiveissues require more preparation time.In the project ‘silt catch pit’ we were able to apply the monitor and make a case description ofthe project. Applying the questionnaire and developing the case description lead toimprovements of the monitor and recommendations on its use.On the development of the monitor, the following is concluded:•Applying the monitor results in a broad insight into the feasibility of the building with nature concept, factors which are of influence and insight into the decision making in building with nature projects.•It is recommended to have an exploratory interview before using the questionnaire. This is necessary to gain enough information relevant for the case description, gain permission to apply the monitor and get in contact with the relevant stakeholders.•Applying the monitor in the silt catch pit showed that it is very suitable to find factors influencing the feasibility of building with nature in projects. Because it was only possible to develop one pilot, we recommend to again reflect critically on the monitor when applied.•Sensitive issues may make a project an (more) interesting one for applying the monitor. However, it may be more difficult to acquire permission for application and it may require more time. During application of the monitor one should be aware of the issues. Demarcation of concepts is important for the sake of comparing results, as the questionnaires are used for different persons and in different moments in time•The questionnaire can be combined with workshops or meetings to stimulate the realization of the building with nature concept.•The case description is based on a monitor that is incomplete and is part of developing the monitor. Therefore the case description should not be used as a complete example and should be considered together with the conclusions and recommendations made

Disturbance effects of boat-based tourism on waterbirds at the Ramsar-designated De Hoop Vlei, Western Cape, South Africa

Recreation and ecotourism activities are growing in demand worldwide, especially in biodiversity hotspots. Protected area managers may seek to introduce novel activities in order to generate revenue. However, disturbance effects brought about through encounters between humans and wildlife can have negative consequences, which conflict with conservation goals. De Hoop Vlei is a large coastal lake within the De Hoop Nature Reserve. It is a Ramsar site as well as a key feature of a BirdLife Important Bird Area (IBA). Proposals for motorized boat tours and kayak tours on the vlei have been made, for which this study provides an impact assessment. Repeated counts were performed in order to characterize the waterbirds present during the high water level conditions required for boating. Birds were concentrated in areas with aquatic vegetation and shallow water, mainly along the vlei's western shoreline and southern and northern ends. Two routes were designed for boat tours that would minimize disturbance by avoiding these areas as well as breeding sites. Count data were also used to revise the Ramsar and IBA assessments, which underestimated the site's conservation value. Boat tours were monitored to estimate the number of birds disturbed, and to measure agitation distances (ADs) and flight initiation distances (FIDs) in response to the boat as well as a kayak. Post-disturbance recovery was investigated, as was the likelihood of habituation using a space-for-time substitution at a site with regular boat traffic. Boat tours did not typically disturb more than 10% of birds present at the vlei, and largely avoided disturbing species of conservation concern. Responses to the kayak were more severe than to the boat, which is most likely due to the similar speeds of the two boats are similar and the kayak is more easily perceived as a threat due to its shape and stealth, the presence of a paddler, and the consistent paddling motion. Post-disturbance recovery of species was slow and incomplete after an hour, meaning that there are likely costs for foraging opportunities and breeding if important areas are disturbed. Most species did allow a closer approach at the site with regular boating, but AD did not differ between them for most species. From these results it would be dangerous to assume that habituation will mitigate against disturbance impacts. Recommendations made included that kayak tours should not be permitted. Boat tours, with correct management, can be conducted in a manner that will not be too disruptive to birds. This study is the first to document such a large difference in responses of birds to two differing boat types, and is a rare example of disturbance of birds being studied in an African context

One-year transitional programme increases knowledge to level sufficient for entry into the fourth year of the medical curriculum

BACKGROUND: To cope with a lack of doctors and in anticipation of the Bachelor-Master structure for Medicine, several Dutch universities offer graduate entry programmes for students with degrees in areas related to Medicine. The graduate entry programme is a four-year programme: after a transition period of one year students enroll in the fourth year of the regular six-year training programme. AIM: The research questions in this study were (1) whether and when graduate entry students' knowledge reached a level comparable to that of regular medical students and (2) whether there were differences in knowledge levels between graduate entry students with a university or HBO (college) degree. METHODS: The progress test results of ninety graduate entry students who were enrolled in the transitional programme between 2002 and 2004 were compared to those of regular third-year students. RESULTS: Initially, graduate entry students scored significantly lower on the progress tests, but differences disappeared within a year. No differences were found between graduate entry students with a university or HBO degree. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that the increase in knowledge after a one-year transitional period is sufficient to enroll students with related degrees in the fourth year of the regular medical training programme