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The CLME+ Hub and the wider Caribbean

GEF-UNDP/UNOPS CLME+ Project

By IW:LEARN

June 7^th, 2020

Harnessing positive powers around a common cause: Our Sea - Our Source - Our Future

As we commemorate World Oceans Day, the Secretariat of the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems (CLME+) Interim Coordination Mechanism (ICM) is pleased to be able to present the CLME+ Hub. The Hub provides an online platform that aims to harness global, regional and local knowledge, resources and tools to support the achievement of the long-term vision for the wider Caribbean: a healthy marine environment that supports the livelihoods and well-being of its Peoples.

The HUB, which is a work in progress, has been designed to accommodate the information needs of a wide variety of marine stakeholders. It is created with the financial support of the UNDP/GEF CLME+ Project - executed by UNOPS for and on behalf of the countries of the region, and in collaboration with numerous regional partners.

Collaboration is needed, more than ever, to secure a bright future for the wider Caribbean. Rich in natural marine resources that hold the potential to support thriving ocean-based societies and economies, at the same time this highly complex region is under severe threat due to ongoing environmental degradation, aggravated by climate change. This scenario of “opportunities and challenges” provides the backdrop against which bold and innovative solutions are urgently required, to protect and restore marine ecosystem health, and improve the livelihoods of people and communities that depend on it.

The Caribbean region has committed to work towards enhanced governance and management of shared marine resources, to achieve SDG 14 and other SDGs. The 10-year CLME+ Strategic Action Programme (2015-2025) explicitly acknowledges weaknesses in knowledge management, public awareness, and participation as one of the main root causes of ongoing environmental degradation. Given the high levels of fragmentation of ocean-related efforts in the wider Caribbean, the development of an effective regional integrating and coordinating platform is critically needed.

The CLME+ Hub is being pre-launched on World Oceans Day, to support the efforts of stakeholders working together under the motto: “Our Sea - Our Source - Our Future!”. Through the Hub, stakeholders will gain better access to information, knowledge, maps, resources, and tools. The Hub seeks to enhance regional dialogue, coordination and collaboration for implementing positive actions towards: a healthy marine environment, for better lives.

The tools include, amongst others: a Dashboard to track collaborative progress towards the implementation of the CLME+ SAP; a community-supported Projects Database which highlight the individual and collective contributions of different projects; a Contacts Database of marine stakeholders; and an interactive Documents Library providing access to documents and materials generated by a wide variety of organizations and projects.

The CLME+ Hub also seeks to highlight the Civil Society Action Program (C-SAP), which was developed by and for civil society, fisherfolk and community enterprises, and which complements the more governmental-action oriented CLME+ SAP.

In the near future, the Hub will also accommodate the “State of The Marine Environment and Associated Economies” (SOMEE), a collaborative, integrated reporting mechanism on the marine environment and its contributions to a sustainable blue economy in the region. In addition, information on the wide range of Working groups, Scientific & Technical Advisory Bodies, and Regional Nodes & Activity Centers will be featured, all in one place.

As the CLME+ ICM and partners continue to work on the further development of the Hub, in times of covid-19 the CLME+ Project is also working towards enhanced participatory project governance, utilizing two virtual collaboration platforms: Loomio and Kudo. Loomio provides Steering Committee Members with a discussion, negotiation and consensus-building platform that can be used before and after (or in replacement of) project board meetings, while Kudo, a Multilingual Web Conferencing Platform is being used to facilitate the forthcoming June 16-18 Meeting of the CLME+ Project Steering Committee.

Visit the CLME+ Hub

The CLME+ Hub is an initiative of the Secretariat of the CLME+ Interim Coordination Mechanism (ICM), in collaboration with the CLME+ ICM and CLME+ Project Executive Group (PEG) and (prospective) Partner Organizations. Development of the Hub has benefited from the financial support of the UNDP/GEF Project: “Catalysing Implementation of the Strategic Action Programme (SAP) for the Sustainable Management of shared Living Marine Resources in the Caribbean and North Brazil Shelf Large Marine Ecosystems” (CLME+ Project, 2015-2020). The CLME+ Project is executed by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) in close collaboration with a large number of global, regional and national-level partners.

For more information on the CLME+ Project please contact the Regional Coordinator, Patrick Debels (patrickd@unops.org), visit the project website and the project page on iwlearn.net.