EIS-AFRICA

The SADC Environmental Information Systems Training and Education Sub-Program (SETES) Network: Phase II

  By Prof. Musisi Nkambwe (University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana)

 

The SADC Environmental Information Systems Education and Training Sub-Program (SETES) network recently received two grants to start its Phase II: US $367,000 from USAID's Regional Center for Southern Africa (USAID/RCSA), and  $24000 from UNESCO/Paris.  Both grants have been awarded to advance the stated objectives of the SETES which are:

§    To develop a long range education and training program for the development of EIS in the SADC region;

§    To facilitate the already existing SETES network of universities to work in partnership in developing EIS education as a regular and continuous element in their curricular;

§    To speed up the building of capacity for the evolution of EIS in the SETES network by encouraging the development of partnerships among .national .universities, institutes and other institutions of higher learning;

§    To use the SETES network to build self-sustaining nation-wide education and training networks wherever possible in SADC member states that .will be .involved in SETES;

§    To build on the existing strengths in the research and academic curricular in the various universities in the SETES network and develop a EIS .research, .training and education program to which each of the departments will contribute uniquely based on its strongest field of research.

Phase II is the SETES network's operative phase follows the approval of the design of its structure by the SADC Council of Ministers in Phase I. In carrying out Phase II, SETES is working within the strategic objectives of the SADC Environment Program on one hand, but also working in partnership with both the USAID/RCSA and UNESCO to advance related strategic objectives in their development programs in the SADC region  on the other.  For SADC the strategic objective relates to its overall environment program; for the USAID/RCSA, the objectives are within its program on the utilization and management  of trans-boundary natural resources, while for UNESCO, the objectives are those of its Participation Program on capacity building for environmental protection. 

The network, under the general direction of the SADC Environment and Land Management Sector, (SADC/ELMS), is part of  SADC's effort to promote the use of EIS in the SADC region.  SETES in particular aims at strengthening capacity at the nine universities in the network and using each of the universities as a node for developing national networks of EIS trainers at the District and local level for the continuous utilization of EIS at all levels for collecting, organizing and analyzing data for decision making in natural resources management and environmental protection.  The network has been designed on EIS-AFRICA's  Working Group 5  (Training and Capacity Building) proposals which have suggested the building of an Africa-wide network of networks for training and capacity building in EIS.  SETES is looked at as a model network piloting this proposal  (see EIS News, April,1988, p.10).

 Phase I of SETES  was carried out in 1998 with technical assistance from UNEP and financial assistance from UNEP and USAID.  It set the stage for the development of a network for training and education in EIS in the SADC Region..  Since then the network has developed to have nine universities, namely: the universities of Botswana, Lesotho,  Malawi (Chancellor College), Namibia,  Swaziland, Venda, Zambiaa, Zimbabwe and the University College of  Lands and Architectural Studies (UCLAS).    A consultants' report at the end of Phase I, together with consultation within the network, direction from the SADC\ELMS (which guides and links SETES to the rest of SADC programs) and advice from UNEP, it was realized that the overall objective might take a long time to achieve.  It was decided therefore that SETES should start a catalytic process that would:

§       Provide momentum that would make it possible to continue the development of skills in EIS at an increasing pace beyond the life of the strongly donor supported phases of EIS development within the SADC region;

§       Encourage donors to look at the development of SETES as a key investment, with plans for regular outputs and self-supporting sustainability;

§       Strongly encourage south-south networking, as a means of encouraging north-south cooperation in EIS research and training and capacity building

§       During the formative stage, develop projects that would serve the interests of the SADC region as a primary concern, but also consider the strategic objectives of sponsoring donors or organizations in selecting areas of operation.

Phase II has been carefully designed, using the decisions listed above as the guiding principles.  While EIS has long been used in many of the countries in the region, its development has been limited to individual projects (e.g. Lesotho, Swaziland, Malawi) and the training and education program was  directed at personnel in the individual projects, giving them skills to improve their productivity at their desks.   While this approach made significant contribution to the development of EIS in the region, it had no multiplicative effects.  The national centers of higher learning lagged behind in the development of these skills.  Phase II of SETES is designed to reduce the relative importance of this approach and speed up the acquisition of EIS skills. 

This second phase has been divided into two sub-phases:  Phase IIA and Phase IIB.  During Phase IIA a total of 54 trainers and educators, including academics at the various universities, will attend short courses to gain new skills or improve their existing skills in EIS.  Towards the end of Phase IIA, those the 54 trained trainers will launch short courses of their own both at universities and within the sub-national networks throughout the SETES network.  The materials to be used in the training are being developed using local data sets and will be modified for each node to suit its main area of interest.  This sub-phase is looked at as a transition phase bridging the current situation and a planned future to be undertaken in Phase IIB as is discussed below.  In addition to what is discussed above, Phase IIA is putting emphasis on coordinating the short courses throughout the network, giving them at staggered  time periods to allow Trainers from different nodes to work together, and using long vacation periods which come at different periods in the year.  It is envisaged that by the end of Phase IIA there will be sufficient confidence throughout the network to develop  coordinated undergraduate and graduate curricula throughout the network.  Plans for discussing these curricula are scheduled to be discussed by the network towards the end of Phase IIA, but will be put in operation in Phase IIB.  Almost all the nodes in the network currently have at least budding undergraduate programs that include a course in some aspect of EIS. The coordination in Phase IIB will build on to these, allowing each node to make a unique contribution  in a field in which it specializes (e.g. transportation, land degradation, wildlife management etc.)

Careful selection of the nodes in the SETES network has put together Universities with different capacity to carry out the objectives of SETES.  Some (eg. Universities of Zimbabwe and Botswana) have had EIS programs for a long time while others (e.g. Universities of Lesotho and Namibia) started EIS programs recently.  Networking for building capacity in the network at all the universities in the network is ideal with trainers and trainees criss-crossing to impart or acquire EIS skills depending on the emphasis in EIS training of different nodes and the type, level and /or the specialities of the trainers available.   SETES will not seek to introduce new curriculum structures, but to strengthen existing university Departments to provide a leading role in the development and utilization of EIS in natural resources planning and management. 

Each of the national governments with nodes of SETES has shown support for the sub-program since its inception.  At the Universities  of Botswana and  Zimbabwe, for example, training of Government officers has been conducted regularly conducted   using teaching materials developed locally by participating trainers of SETES. This trend will continue ensuring the project’s sustainability and giving the sub-program greater visibility within the host institutions of the focal nodes as well as at national and regional level and will thus provide the necessary impetus for getting the host institutions to provide regular budgetary allocations to the sub-program.  In addition, short courses once started will be used to generate funds within the nodes and at national sub-networks.  The University of Botswana's Department of Environmental Science has for long used funds generated by short courses in EIS to upgrade its hardware and software and this is expected to be attempted throughout the network.   Figure 1 below provides an illustration of the expected relative financial responsibilities between donor and the individual nodes of the SETES network.

It may be noted from Figure 1 that the sub-program will not be wholly funded by external support, rather the focal nodes will provide their own inputs on an incremental basis and will ultimately take over the funding of the program. Currently, for example, all the universities in the network, to the different degrees of their ability, have either acquired or budgeted for software and hardware relevant to the progress of SETES. It is anticipated that donor funds will shoulder the basic costs that are associated with the build-up of the sub-program but this will gradually decrease once the basic capacity has been established and the focal nodes begin to assume a larger role in financing the sub-program. 

     

 

In order to avoid duplication and overlap in inputs, the project will, in collaboration with SADC/ELMS, develop linkages and establish co-ordination mechanisms with other on-going environment and development related projects in the region and in the SADC member states.

Between Phase I (completed in 1998) and Phase IIA (started in 2001)  SETES lost very valuable time which it could have used to advance the objectives of its network.  The delay has revealed risks which EIS-Africa proposed training and capacity building networks with intermittent funding may face.  By the time Phase IIA started, new situations had developed at some of the nodes.  The most important of these was the fact that individuals with whom the original proposal  for funding Phase II was developed at the Universities of Malawi, Venda, Zimbabwe and Swaziland were no longer available and new contacts had to be made with new contacts.  In its present structure, the network depends very much on the dedication of the individuals involved in its operation, particularly their willingness to cooperate in networking.  Though dedication to SETES has fortunately been retained at all the nodes through the new contacts, this might not have been the case.