LeaRN holds national consultations in Vietnam and Cambodia

The Learning and Research Network (LeaRN) held national consultations in Vietnam and Cambodia on 30 July and 1 August 2005 respectively in accordance with the agreements reached during the Regional Workshop last April 2005 at Lake Island Resort in the Philippines. The national consultations were aimed at further clarifying the concept of "learning communities" which are envisioned to constitute one of the basic country-level units of LeaRN. LeaRN sees strengthening of these local learning communities and national CBCRM networks in Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka as its next thrusts in the region.

Members of the LeaRN Coordinating Committee and Secretariat were joined by local LeaRN coordinators in facilitating the national consultation meetings. The consultation in Vietnam was organized by the Tam Giang Lagoon Project Team based at the Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, with Dr. Truong Van Tuyen as lead convenor. Meanwhile, the consultation in Cambodia was organized by the CBNRM Learning Institute with its SL Project Manager Sim Bunthoeun as lead person. Around 25 CBCRM practitioners attended the Vietnam consultation, while 20 people from NGOs, government institutions and universities participated in the Cambodian workshop. The workshop facilitators helped the participants identify and clarify activities being undertaken, issues being addressed, as well as challenges being faced by their respective organizations.

The participants also discussed ways by which national and regional networks could help address their various capacity-building needs. Among other things, they suggested the dissemination of popular CBCRM learning materials, sharing and learning workshops, meetings among country networks, and training workshops on documentation. "Overall, the two consultations were instructive in surfacing how much has already been done by groups in both countries. Hue University and CBNRM LI proved to be very capable focal organizations in their respective countries and could provide the leadership in strengthening national networks of CBCRM practitioners that continue to share and learn from each other, " concluded LeaRN Coordinator Julian Michael Reynaldo. go back to CBCRM RC homepage