Final Report  Of 

2012 ESD COE Expert Meeting  

ACCU ­ UNESCO Asia Pacific COE Programme for ESD 

 

 

Dhaka, Bangladesh 16­19 July 2012 

    

  

  

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter One  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter  One 

 

Genesis of the ESD Programme   In the year 2002, the United Nations declared a special decade, well-known as the “The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)” to be effective from the year 2005 (UNDESD, 2005-2014). The decade was declared with the noble objective of providing everyone with the opportunity to benefit from education and learn the values, behaviour and lifestyles required for a positive societal transformation and a sustainable future. The goal was set to achieve sustainable development through education. In effect, the Decade was meant to achieve societal transformation for a more sustainable future in terms of environmental sustainability, economic viability, and a just society through education and social empowerment.

With the launching of the decade (UNDESD) in 2005, among many other programmes UNESCO gave the responsibility to the Asia-Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO (ACCU) to implement the ACCU-UNESCO ESD Programme covering the Asia and the Pacific region with support from the UNESCO/Japanese Funds-in-Trust. For promotion of education for sustainable development, the International Selection Committee selected five organizations to be the “Centre of Excellence” (COE) in the Asia Pacific Region. Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) was selected as one of the COEs to promote ESD in Bangladesh. As COE of the ACCU-UNESCO ESD Programme, DAM is implementing a project entitled, “Advocacy and Communications for Communities to access Education and Social Services (ACCESS)” with financial support from the ACCU-UNESCO Asia-Pacific COE Programme for ESD supported by the Japanese Funds-in-Trust. Concept of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)  The concept of Sustainable Development (SD) seeks to meet the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations. Sustainable Development is a vision of development that encompasses respect for all human and non-human and natural resources, as well as integrating concerns such as poverty reduction, gender equality, human rights, Education for All (EFA), health, human security and intercultural dialogue. ESD aims to help people develop the attitudes, skills, perspectives and knowledge to make informed decisions and act for the benefit of themselves and for others, now and in the future. The United Nations Decade for Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD: 2005-2014) seeks to integrate the principles, values and practices of sustainable development into all aspects of education and learning, in order to address the social, economic, cultural and environmental issues we face in the 21st century. The goal of ESD is to create a better world for current and future generations of all living things on planet Earth. ESD therefore aims to improve access to quality basic education, reorient education curricula, train and raise public awareness and help people develop their behaviours,

skills and knowledge they need. ESD is also a vision of education that empowers individuals to create a sustainable future. ESD is therefore not a particular programme or project, but is rather an umbrella for many forms of education that already exist, and new ones that remain to be created. ESD promotes efforts to rethink educational programmes and systems that currently support unsustainable societies. Meeting of the “COEs” to promote ESD   In the framework of ACCU-UNESCO Asia-Pacific COE Programme for ESD, the 2012 ESD COE Experts Meeting was held for the first time to facilitate cross fertilization of ideas among COE organizations. Ideas and location of such a meeting was discussed during the side event of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Educational Cooperation: Synergies and Linkages of EFA, ESD and ASPnet for Sustainable Asia and the Pacific (Tokyo, 19-21 February 2011) organized by ACCU with the support from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan. The 2012 ESD COE Experts Meeting was held in Bangladesh from 16-19 July 2012. Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) acted as the host and organized all the events that also included field level monitoring of DAM’s field programme.

Chapter  Two 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter  Two 

 

ESD­COE Experts Meeting Objectives  

The overall objective of the ESD-COE Experts Meeting, as stated by ACCU was:

• “To have more concerted effort by COEs to further promote ESD towards the end of the UN Decade and beyond”.

The specific objectives were set as follows:

• To share ESD activities, approaches, good practices and learning of COEs. • To monitor activity sites of DAM and learn from a case of ESD and NFE approach to

achieve sustainable development of the poor and the marginalized under severe living conditions caused by changing land use and impact of climate change.

• To develop plans for the fifth and the final mandate year of the COE programme including a general plan for the ESD–COE publication of good practices and impact of activities.

Expected Outcome 

The meeting was expected to yield the following outcome:

• Ground level experience and expertise would be shared based on documented innovative and creative approaches of ESD.

• Specific issues would be identified, based on the COE project implemented by DAM, for generating debate among the ESD COE experts in order to discuss the role of COE programme for ESD for alternative livelihoods, poverty reduction and sustainable socio-economic growth with equality of life and livelihoods through and with the empowerment of the disadvantaged population groups.

• The expertise and resources available in the participating COE countries would be explored for effective use by the COE countries.

• Effective stakeholders meeting and advocacy mechanism would be discussed to persuade the governments, donor community, private sector, civil society and CBOs to develop a sustainable environment and disaster risk reduction support systems through COE programme to promote sustainable development

Participants to the meeting  A total of 10 experts from five countries of Asia and the Pacific participated in the meeting held at Dhaka and Satkhira, Bangladesh from 16-19 July 2012. The experts attending the meeting were:

Australia

• Ms. Louise Felicity Ellerton, Programme Manager (Pacific), Asia-Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE), Australia

Philippines • Mr. Sahid Calim Ali of Asia Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE), Philippines

Bangladesh • Dr. Khawja Shamsul Huda, Director, Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Dhaka,

Bangladesh • Mr. Baran Barua, Programme Coordinator, DAM, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sri Lanka • Ms. Shivani Wijeratne, Finance Coordinator, TVE Asia Pacific, Sri Lanka • Ms. Nadeeja Abeyasekera, IT/New Media Manager, TVE Asia Pacific, Sri Lanka

Thailand • Dr. Chamniern Paul Vorratnchaiphan, Consultant, Thailand Environmental Institute

(TEI), Thailand • Ms. Kamolrat Photi, Project Coordinator, Thailand Environmental Institute

(TEI), Thailand

Japan (ACCU) • Ms. SHIBAO Tomoko, Deputy Director, Programme Division, Asia-Pacific Cultural

Center For UNESCO (ACCU), Japan • Ms. Matsuo Naoko, ACCU, Japan

Apart from the above participants, Kazi Rafiqul Alam, President, Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Dhaka, Bangladesh, and Mr. Shahnewaz Khan, CEO, CINED of Dhaka Ahsania Mission also attended some sessions of the meeting. Mr. Rajkumar Sadhukhan, Deputy Director, DAM International, worked as the rapporteur of the meeting and prepared the draft of the report.  Organization of the Meeting Dhaka Ahsania Mission hosted the meeting and made all arrangements to ensure that the objectives of the meeting were adequately met. Financial support to cover all the expenses of the meeting was provided by UNESCO through ACCU in collaboration with Japanese Funds-in-Trust. The meeting was held at Dhaka and at Munshigonj Union under Shyamnagar Upazial of Satkhira District. The meeting was organized in three parts: an inaugural session, two days of working sessions followed by field visits to DAM’s ESD programme sites located in Munshigonj, Burigoalini, Gabura and Paddapukur unions under Shayamnagar Upazila of Satkhira District neighbouring the Sundarbans, and a brief visit to the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest cover in the world and also a World Heritage Site.

             

Chapter  Three                 

Chapter – Three  

Inaugural Session The inaugural Session was chaired by Mr. Kazi Rafiqul Alam, President, Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), Mr. Kiichi Oyasu, Officer-in-Charge, UNESCO Dhaka, attended as the Chief Guest and Ms. SHIBAO Tomoko, Deputy Director, Programme Division, ACCU Japan, attended as the Special Guest. 

In his address of welcome Dr. Khawja Shamsul Huda, Director, Environment, Climate Change & Ultra Poor Programme, warmly welcomed the distinguished international experts and noted that Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM) was proud to host the meeting with the support of ACCU-UNESCO and Japanese Funds-in-Trust. He noted that DAM has been implementing the ESD programme in the southeastern coastal part of Bangladesh, Shyamnagar Upazila, well known for

its vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change induced events. The field trip to the project site, he noted, will give everyone an opportunity to more closely see the interventions, particularly community mobilization through education and awareness raising and motivational campaign. He noted that the meeting is expected to facilitate cross-fertilization of ideas and experiences across Asia Pacific

region through sharing ESD activities, approaches, good practices and learning of COEs. The Experts Meeting offered an ideal opportunity for participants from four COE countries to learn about each other’s programme and learn lessons that could have applied significance in their own country programmes.

Mr. Kiichi Oyasu in his presentation extended sincere thanks to DAM and ACCU for organizing the ESD COE Experts meeting in collaboration with UNESCO. Recollecting his long association with ACCU and DAM, he noted that he had been a part of many initiatives and events undertaken by ACCU-DAM in the past in the areas of EFA, ESD and non-formal education. DAM has been a long term partner of UNESCO in Bangladesh and Asia Pacific region. Mr. Oyasu noted that the concept of

ESD was still vague. In a recent UNESCO regional consultation meeting held in Vietnam, although representatives from members states underscored the importance of ESD in the context of post MDGs and Rio+20 discussions, they felt that ESD was rather abstract and programme modalities need to be reviewed and improved to make ESD more concrete and visible. Mr. Oyasu expressed his optimism that the meeting will bear positive outcome in terms having a clear perception about ESD. He further noted that there could be many entry points to promote ESD such as environment protection, disaster risk reduction, garbage control, livelihood, agriculture, food security and safety, preservation of tangible and intangible culture, etc.; however, it would be critically important to consolidate good practices and identify some generic principles for the promotion of ESD. The key issues of ESD are participation and ownership of different stakeholders and dynamic networking at different levels from community to international levels encouraging collaboration of all the stakeholders including government, NGOs, development partners and civil society for visioning and working together for sustainable future. Mr. Oyasu expressed the hope that the field trip will allow the participants to see a balance between the initiatives of social services providers and bottom up community learning and development process to lead sustainable communities and societies.

Ms. Shibao Tomoko, ACCU, noted that DAM and ACCU have a long history of partnership and DAM was one of the five organizations that were selected as the Center of Excellence. She expressed her optimism that DAM’s ESD programme will offer learning opportunities for other participating countries. She presented a revised programme schedule and also requested countries to make

presentations on their respective programmes.

Mr. Kazi Rafiqul Alam, President of Dhaka Ahsania Mission in his speech as Chairperson welcomed distinguished international participants and also noted that it was a great pleasure for DAM to host the Experts Meeting. Mr. Alam recalled with gratitude the support that DAM had received in the past from UNESCO and ACCU over the past three decades. He particularly mentioned the support received from ACCU for setting up BLRC, developing various training manuals and materials organizing

regional workshops and supporting field projects. Mr. Alam also gave a brief on the historical development of DAM and his role in its development process. Mr. Alam noted that DAM’s interventions are focused on poverty alleviation and socio-economic empowerment of the disadvantaged poor. DAM functions both at the grassroots level, as well as at the national and international levels. The major functions of DAM are implementation of community-based programmes, publication of education & communication materials; it also operates educational, vocational and health institutions, provides wide range of training and consultancy services, and undertakes advocacy for policy changes on strategic issues. DAM is currently running 30,000 NFE Centres spread all over the country. It is operating environment and climate change projects at Bashkhali, Chittagong and Sundarbans in Satkhira District. He again thanked the participants and hoped that their stay will be a pleasant and fruitful one. The inaugural session was followed by a brief break before the start of the working session when tea and snacks were served.

Chapter  Four  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four 

 Working Session               Day 1, 16 July 2012  Presentation by Thailand Environment Institute (TEI):  Center of Excellence (COE) Programme for ESD­­Thailand 

The working session was facilitated by Ms. Shibao Tomoko. She requested participants from Thailand Environment Institute (TEI) to make their presentation. The presentation on TEI was made by Dr. Chamniern Paul Vorratnchaiphan. Dr. Vorratnchaiphan started off by giving a brief introduction to TEI. He noted that TEI was established as a non-profit organization in 1993. It focused on four strategic issues which include: (i) climate change, (ii) man-made environment, (iii) natural resources, and (iv) education for sustainable development. It operates through some strategic partners that include 7 major ministries, international development agencies, ASEAN local governments’ associations, and Thailand Business Council for Sustainable Development. It has 130 staff involved in policy research, field action and training. Its programmatic interventions are focused on specific target groups that include 250 municipalities and 320 schools spread over 76 provinces.

Dr. Vorratnchaiphan gave a brief introduction to the activities undertaken in years one, two and three and then touched upon interventions undertaken during year four. In the first two years the programmes of TEI were confined to: (i) Establishment of Management Framework and Network of Stakeholder Groups, (ii) Innovation in Teacher and

Community Leader Environment Education in the Context of ESD, (iii) Establishment of an Information Sharing System for ESD Communities and Networks, (iv) Research to Create an Expert Network on ESD, and (v) Development of an ESD Toolkit for Thai Readers. During year Three TEI concentrated on four specific interventions: (i) Brainstorming Session on Education Management for Sustainable Urban Development, (ii) Documentation of Best Practices on ESD of Municipalities in Thailand, (iii) Public Forum on ESD on Innovative Education Management for Sustainable Urban Development, and (iv) Establishment of Networking. In Year Four, TEI has concentrated on Promoting ESD in Thai context to Strengthen an Education Network for Sustainable Urban Development in Thailand. The interventions included: (i) organization of the

first meeting of experts on education for sustainable development (ESD) to discuss on ESD in Thailand and exchange experiences among different strategic partners, (ii) Selection of schools to participate in the project, (iii) Training of teachers on developing school-based curriculum on ESD, Community Map, (iv) Visit to the participating schools in order to join the local community in preparing an action plan and determining an integrated guideline of ESD for education management (whole school approach), (v) Plan and implement a small grant (2 schools) program to support ESD Activities in selected schools, (vi) Visit to two pilot schools in order to follow up the progress and provide suggestions for operation, and (vii) Collect good ESD practices from schools at municipality level. TEI has planned the following interventions for the 5th year: (i) Develop a network of EE and ESD schools in the 5 regions which have been working together (8-10 schools in each region under OBEC and Local Government), (ii) Organize Learning and Sharing Flora in each region for teachers to develop ESD Activities and to Integrate ESD into relevant subjects, (iii) Document all cases as ESD Good Practices under OBEC, (iv) Arrange a seminar for discussing ESD-EFA operation in Thailand after the project period. TEI envisages that the programmes will yield the following outcomes: (i) Understanding, awareness and knowledge on ESD principles and practices among teachers and other educational personnel are achieved, (ii) Awareness and opportunities for change aligned with SD principles are promoted among students, and (iii) Communication and publication of ESD Practices are implemented through websites, written documents and seminars. The presentation was followed by questions and clarification.

Presentation  by  Television  for  Education  –  Asia  Pacific  (TVE­Asia Pacific): Saving the Planet: Your Action Counts 

The presentation on behalf of TVE-Asia Pacific was made by Nadeeja Abeyasekera, IT & New Media Manager. TVE-Asia Pacific, as noted by Ms. Abeyasekera, was established in 1996 as a regional foundation to communicate sustainable development using audio-visual and new media throughout the Asia-Pacific region. It has an International Board and it works with TV broadcasters, journalists and film-makers, educational institutions and civil society groups. Ms.

Abeyasekera presented TVE interventions by year. In the first year, TVE, under its Asia-Pacific Communication Project for ESD dedicated to the UNDESD, selected 6 ESD projects from South and Southeast Asia through public online nominations and subsequent to selection built communications capacity of implementers of projects through a regional workshop in Khao Lak, Thailand. In year two, TVE filmed and edited 10 minute TV series on ESD stories in 6 countries.

TVE took the help of local organization and local crews in filming the stories. The stories were taken from Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand and the titles of the stories were:

• Floating the Future - Cambodia • Living the Change - India • It’s Alive – Laos • Voice of a Valley - Nepal • Rising from the Ashes – Philippines • Smile Again! - Thailand

In year three, TVE formally launched and promoted the TV series and also launched a dedicated website with all films + text + photos + links: www.savingtheplanet.tv. In year four, TVE produced STP in 4 Asian languages: Khmer (Action IEC, Cambodia), Lao (PADETC, Laos), Nepali (NEFEJ, Nepal) and Sinhala (TVEAP, Sri Lanka). TVE also held two film festivals in two Asian countries: Cambodia, and Nepal. TVE plans to produce ESD films for school children in Sri Lanka entitled World Environment Day and Schools ESD Programme.  

 

Presentation by Asia Pacific Bureau of Adult Education (ASPBAE) 

The presentation on behalf of ASPBAE was made by Louise Ellerton, Program Manager of ASPBAE – Pacific. ASPBAE is a membership organization. Its objectives, as spelled out, are to: (i) promote ESD to ASPBAE members, partners and networks, (ii) ensure national education coalitions, consider the ESD agenda and ways to integrate it into their advocacy work, (iii) build capacities of national

coalitions by linking in-country research and advocacy to regional education advocacy efforts, (iv) ensure that the concerns of indigenous people, especially indigenous women in relation to education policy are articulated and incorporated into national, regional and international advocacy efforts, and (v) act as a model Centre of Excellence for ESD and to document the experience. The primary focus of ASPBAE is research, capacity building, documentation and preparing policy papers. Its concentration apart from the Philippines is Solomon Islands. In the first year it undertook adult education and literacy survey work in Solomon Islands and developed PNG’s capacity to undertake research and lobbying with the government. It also revitalised Solomon Islands’ education coalition entitled Coalition for Education Solomon

Islands (COESI) and developed Community School Disaster Management plans and promoted engagement with media. The inaugural session and the working session in the morning were followed by lunch at DAM. Soon after lunch the participants had to rush to the airport to catch a domestic flight on way to Jessore and from there to Munshigonj by microbus where DAM has its field programme. The participants were comfortably placed in Sushilon Guest House, located within close proximity of the Sundarbans and having air-conditioned rooms with modern outfits.    Working Session               Day 2, 17 July 2012 

The morning session was held at the conference room of the Guesthouse. Ms Shibao Tomoko warmly welcomed everyone to the second day session and gave a run-down on the day’s programme. She requested Ms. Nadija to show one of the six documentary films of participants’ liking. Based on the request of Mr. Ali of Philippines, she showed the documentary film on the life of the Ayiota tribal people of the Philippines. After the film showing, Ms Shibao requested everyone to identify and name the uniqueness of the programme which will interest other people. Every participant expressed their opinions which were recorded. Then Ms. Shibao asked every participant to state what their plans are for the 5th year and requested everyone to articulate their thinking. The session was followed by a tea break. Participants were served tea and snacks.

After the tea break Dr. Khawja Shamsul Huda made a presentation on DAM’s programmatic intervention focused on ESD. He started off with a description of geo-physical and socio–economic condition of the project area: the extent to which human intervention has triggered changes in the eco-system and made life difficult for the majority of the poor who have become pauperized over time and become totally dependent on the Sundarbans, depleting its

resources rapidly. The area, he noted, was rich in green cover; food grains and vegetables were grown in abundance with surplus shipped to outside districts. The Sundarbans had thick forest cover, rich in bio-diversity. The area now depicts a disquieting scenario. Brackish water shrimp farming has replaced agriculture much to the detriment of the agriculture-dependent poor. Many

have migrated to the urban centers in search of livelihood; those remaining have become dependent on the Sundarbans, extracting resources unsustainably.

In recent years, Dr. Huda noted, the incidence of cyclones and tidal surges has increased due to climate change. Frequencies of such disasters are expected to increase in the future and is evidenced by the fact that cyclone that struck the area only once in a decade now strikes in quick succession with greater intensity causing colossal damage to both life and property. Only recently, the Cyclone Sidr and Cyclone Aila devastated the area in successive years; people are yet to recover from the losses and return to their normal rhythm of life.

People are helpless against natural calamities. Neither the calamities can be prevented nor can they be stopped. People have to learn to cope with and adapt to the changing whims of nature so that losses to both life and property are minimal. People can be prepared through education, awareness raising, information sharing and institution building; they can learn to adapt to changing climatic conditions, and thus cope with the hazard with minimum losses.

Dr. Huda also noted that the Sundarbans, well known as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the largest mangrove forest cover in the world, has always protected the settlements against tropical cyclones and tidal surges. In the recent cyclones, Sidr and Aila, the Sundarbans stood as a protective shield; had there been no Sundarbans all settlements falling in the path of cyclones Sidr and Aila would have been razed to the ground.

Dr. Huda noted that education did not refer to formal school-based education. Here education referred to enlightenment of the mind and empowerment of the self through continuous process of information sharing, awareness raising, motivation and capacity building. He noted that the ESD programme has duel objectives: (i) to prepare Sundarbans-dependent poor and extreme poor people to cope with impending climate change-induced events and shocks and (ii) protect and conserve the Sundarbans and its bio-diversity through creating a human shield against resource extraction and providing alternative livelihood support to Sundarbans-dependent poor and extreme poor people. The first objective is achieved through organizing the poor within an institutional structure: develop their awareness through education, motivation and training. The second is achieved through providing alternative livelihood support to the Sundarbans-dependent poor and extreme poor people. To create a human shield the community is mobilized through awareness raising and motivational campaigns using multi-media communication channels. The PowerPoint presentation was followed by questions and clarifications. The session was followed by lunch break

In the post-lunch session the team visited an ongoing DAM-organized training programme on Climate Change and Disaster Preparedness at Munshiganj for the members of Sundarbans Bio-diversity Conservative Groups under ACCESS project funded by ACCU. The team members watched the training session conducted by an external trainer and interacted with the participants through Dr. Huda who acted as translator. The participants talked about the

changed climatic condition and how the eco-balance has been seriously offset due to shrimp farming. The members wanted to know if anything could be done by them collectively to stop shrimp farming in their area. The participants expressed their helplessness in face of the economic and social power the shrimp farmers have.

The team then attended a meeting of various stakeholders organized by DAM at the conference room of Munshiganj Union Parishad. The gathering was big, roughly 150 people (male and female ratio 50:50) consisting of the members of Sundarbans Bio-diversity Conservative Groups, Chairman of Munshiganj and Chairman of Burigoalinee Union Parishads (UP), UP members, teachers, journalists, local elites and community people. Both the UP Chairman Mr. Abul Kashem Morol and Hazi Nazrul Islam gave a warm welcome to the foreign guests. They spoke positively of the interventions undertaken by DAM in the context of changing climatic regime. They, however, felt that the interventions of DAM were very limited in magnitude; their contribution could be more worthwhile and visible if greater number of people could be brought under its programme fold. They spoke of the cyclones Sidr and Aila and the devastations wrought by them. They felt that the training programme provided by DAM to various people belonging to different sections of the society is helping people to acquire necessary knowledge and skills so that the losses are minimal.

UP members, teachers, some group leaders and group members also spoke. Their deliberations were simultaneously translated by Dr. Huda for understanding of the participating experts. They mostly focused on local problems ranging from poor road communication, breached embankment, increased salinity, forestation to combat scarcity of safe drinking water. Most

people underscored the need to sink deep tubewells, set up pond-sand filters (PSFs) or to do something to solve the drinking water scarcity problem.

Ms. Shibao Tomoko asked all members to raise their hands to see their representation. She also asked them about livelihood options; the options noted by the participants were mobile phone business, home gardening, handicrafts, tailoring, small poultry farm, goat rearing, small trade, small shrimp farming, tree plantation, cattle farming, crab culture, etc. She noted, “DAM has given you the lead, has given you training, shown you the path to self sufficiency, now you have to be proactive to develop your community. I am sure if you work hard and collectively you can face any disaster and improve your condition.” She thanked every one and ended the meeting.

The team next met South Kadamtala Bio-diversity Conservative Group about 15 kilometers away from the UP premises. Nearly all the members (male and female ratio 50:50) of the group were present to give a warm welcome to the Team members and made them sit on a few wooden benches placed in the open ground in a circular form. Mr. Haripada Mandol, the Chairman of the Group informed that DAM undertook a survey and selected only poor and very poor people of the community who are dependent on the Sundarbans; either

fishing in river channels or collecting golpatta, honey, fuel wood, etc. The group members informed the team that they will stop extracting resources if microcredit was provided in sufficient amount to enable them to undertake alternative livelihoods like fish culture, small trade, crab farming, shop keeping, etc. The team also visited their mangrove nursery.

Visit to the Sundarbans     Day 3, 18 July 2012 

 As per the schedule, the team took an early breakfast and boarded a large motorized boat to move inside the Sundarbans. The weather was good and a cool breeze kept the heat to a bearable level. The first stop was at Kolagachi Forest Department’s (FD) checking outpost. FD has developed for visitors a kilometer long walking trail on a wooden bridge. Though walking on the bridge was enjoyable, the very thought of the majestic royal Bengal tiger lurking somewhere close by, waiting to jump for a catch, was somewhat uncomfortably frightening. The situation suddenly became traumatic when someone gave a call of the tiger but soon shouted out that the call was not that of a real tiger, he was merely copying it. From Kalagachia the boat took a long ride inside the forest to take a glimpse of the forest cover. It was somewhat pathetic and lamentable to see only the shrubs, punctuated by some grown trees. After returning to the guest house the participants quickly checked out, took lunch and then started off for Jessore Airport on way back to Dhaka. As usual, the flight was an hour late due to bad weather; however, everyone reached Dhaka without any debacle.

Debriefing Session        Day 4, 19 July 2012 

The debriefing session was facilitated by Ms. Shibao Tomoko. She noted that the team had the opportunity to meet many beneficiaries, observe a training session, attend a stakeholders meeting (130 people) and see the activities of a group--South Kadamtala Bio-diversity Conservative Group--and it will be useful for DAM to get views from outsiders to prepare or remodel the programme in the 5th year. Mr. Kazi Rafiqul Alam and Mr. Shahnewaz Khan also attended the debriefing session.

Mr. Sahid Calim Ali mentioned that DAM’s acceptance, recognition and reputation in the communities was clearly visible. However, meeting some of the basic needs of the community, as voiced, like supply of safe drinking water, education, disaster management, etc. will pose a serious challenge and will have to be addressed by DAM if it would like maintain their presence in the area.

Ms. Louise Felicity Ellerton mentioned that people are aware of the project. The community is capacitated which will help in gaining

sustainability. However, DAM must have clear vision to guide the community towards sustainability and also develop an exit strategy.

Dr. Chamniern Paul mentioned that DAM has taken a big challenge. Its strategy of blending advocacy with a bottom-up conscientization strategy involving the local government at the Union level, and strengthening capacity at the local level is an appropriate approach. However, alliance building with strategic partners, private sectors involvement, trans-boundary approach, and involvement of the academics could help in reducing disaster risk reduction and better respond to climate change. He further noted that critical mass is an issue; power of the critical mass, meaningful education, and conscientization are of critical importance. Community consultation, funding both from inside and outside, high motivation of the community people to participate in collective social action could ensure sustainability.

Ms. Nadeeja Abeyasekera mentioned that the type of micro-finance that is being practiced here is of critical importance which could have applied significance in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Khawaja Shamsul Huda noted that sustainable development is a challenge. In this project education is taken in non-formal form, empowering target groups through motivation and awareness raising and enhancing their creative thinking through appropriate information. The target groups are empowered to claim their rights and entitlements and gain access to government resources that are meant for them. The project’s focus on alternative livelihood

options is meant to protect the Sundarbans. Funds channeled are very small, following a variant of micro-finance. The funds given under the project is used as a revolving loan fund just like micro-finance; however, it is managed by the group itself. They decide on the interest to be charged and remain accountable for loan repayment. Gradually, the Federations will be made responsible to manage the funds. DAM is, in fact, implementing the same project at Bashkhali in Chittagong district. In Satkhira, this approach has been operating for less than two years and has achieved more than what was expected.

Ms. Matsuo Naoko mentioned that she was very impressed by DAM’s activities. Conservation and preservation of the Sundarbans is our prime concern. The emphasis is to cope with disaster; DAM has taken appropriate measures to build capacity and awareness of community people.

In response to some questions by Ms. Shibao Tomoko, Dr. Huda noted that the participants were selected using PRA technique. DAM is new in the area and has organized poor people who are dependent on the Sundarbans. The members are encouraged to save small amounts to generate their own resources; the money thus saved are kept in the Group’s account maintained with a national bank; for example, the Kodomtola group has saved Tk.7,000.00 and the amount is kept in their own bank account. The Federations, once they become strong, can be registered with the Government as community-based organizations. Dr. Huda noted that there has been positive attitudinal change among the target beneficiaries. For example, tigers entering any village are normally killed by the villagers. Last year when a tiger crossed the river and entered this village the organized group members prevented people from killing the tiger despite the fact that the Chairman of the group was attacked by the tiger and became seriously injured. The tiger was eventually sent back to the forest. This was the result of community awareness building by DAM towards forest and bio-diversity conservation.

At the end, Ms. Shibao Tomoko informed the participants of the following requirements:

• Year 4 Final Report • Cover Sheet to the narrative report (fact finding sheet) • Narrative Report • Financial Report with original receipt / certified copy • Closing date for submission - 31 July 2012

She also noted certain pre-conditions for the 5th year funding:

• 4th year COE Programme is appreciated by the donor • 5th year mother (UNESCO-ACCU) contract fund availability, proposal approved • 5th year COE Programme plan approved • 4th year COE project successfully completed by each COE and ready for the 5th year • Collective effort to challenge the climate change • Compilation of COE activities of 5 years – publication of good practice / stories of your

own “ESD journey” • Next COE meeting – cum-peer monitoring • Contribution to the ESD World Conference, 2014 in Japan (Okayama and Nagoya)

Youth Forum, ASPnet, CLC-Kominkan, Ministerial Conference, side events • Others

In his concluding remark, Mr. Kazi Rafiqul Alam noted that he always prefers to invite people to Bangladesh. DAM was very glad to organize the Experts meeting and thanked ACCU for giving the opportunity to host the meeting at Dhaka, Bangladesh. He also appreciated and thanked ACCU for extending programme support and reiterated that the programme in the 5th year will definitely be better. He thanked and concluded the Meeting.