IPBES African Young Fellows Capacity Building Initiative

Project title	IPBES African Young Fellows Capacity Building Initiative
Implementing Institutions	Bayreuth University, Bayreuth Center for Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER)
Country/Countries	Ghana, South Africa, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Boswana, Kenya
Abstract	Most early career experts from Africa lack the scientific and technological capacity to develop, process, and utilize the human resources .There is a need for scientific and technical manpower to enable the co-ordination of the sub-regional assessment among Young fellows and other early career experts within our networks.There is an urgent need to train the next generation of researchers to assist Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research and also in the implementation of IPBES Process.
Project Description	Since the establishment of the Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) to strengthen the science-policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity, long-term human well-being and sustainable development in 2012, one of the most important work programmes is the Objective 1: strengthening the capacity and knowledge foundations of the science-policy interface to implement key functions of the Platform. Since 2015 there has been a growing acknowledgement of engaging young scientists and early career experts in the IPBES process hence the proposed programme on young fellows. The fellowship programme seeks to address several of the identified highest priority needs for capacity-building, in particular those concerned with enhancing the capacity to participate effectively in implementing the Platform work programmes. This programme would support the work of a number of expert groups established by the Plenary, and will also support the work of the task force on knowledge and data and the task force on indigenous and local knowledge systems. Above all the young fellowship programme would complement the work of our seasoned African experts who could mentor the fellows to be able to take up the challenging task of biodiversity and ecosystem scientific research and policy discourse.
Project Objectives and expected Achievables	The project objectives are: 1. To strengthen the training capacity of the African Young Fellows and enhance South - South collaborations and technical skill transfer which allows young researchers and other professionals to take part in the Platform’s activities. 2. To produce a cadre of young talented professionals through this integrated capacity building which includes the exchange of individuals or exchange visits between institutions relevant to the work of the Platform. These objectives would be achieved through several workshops/trainings organised by the young fellows through the TSU capacity building and the TSU Africa Regional Assessment Units. These workshops would address technical training needs of the young fellows such as economic and GIS trainings, exchange programmes within Africa and excellent understanding of the IPBES processes. These could be obtained in two years (2016-2017). The project would also ensure that knowledge gained during these trainings are further shared among peers through training of trainers and peer to peer exchanges.
Timeframe	3 years
Geographic Scale	Multinational
Seeking Resources for:	Project development, Project implementation
Type of Resources/Support needed:	Financial, Technical