Knowledge Transfer and Strengthening of Capacities in Global Change Context (Central Africa)-(KnowGlobal project)

Das Projekt "Knowledge Transfer And Strengthening Of Capacities In Global Change Context (Central Africa)-(KnowGlobal Project)" wird gemeinsam mit der Universität Dschang (Kamerun) und FODER (Forêts et Développement Rural) als Partner unter der Konsortiumleitung der Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg durchgeführt. Gefördert wird das Vorhaben durch das Center for international Forestry Research (CIFOR-ICRAF) mit Mitteln der Europäischen Union (EU).

Das KnowGlobal-Projekt konzentriert sich auf die Frage des Wissenstransfers im Bereich der Waldbewirtschaftung und des Klimawandels in Zentralafrika im Allgemeinen und in Kamerun, Gabun und der DRK im Besonderen. Basierend auf der Literaturauswertung zu Interessengruppen, Einschränkungen und operativen Schwierigkeiten beim Wissenstransfer über den Klimawandel in Zentralafrika untersucht das Projekt NGOs, Forscher, den Privatsektor, technische und finanzielle Partner sowie andere Waldbewirtschafter anhand des RIU-Modells des wissenschaftlichen Wissenstransfers, um Engpässe zu identifizieren. Mehrere Kategorien von Akteuren werden von den Ergebnissen dieses Projekts profitieren: auf subregionaler Ebene insbesondere die COMIFAC und ihre Fachorganisationen (OFAC, RIOFAC), die Staaten über ihre sektoralen Ministerien (Umwelt, Forstwirtschaft), Organisationen der Zivilgesellschaft, Forschungseinrichtungen und NRO, die in hohem Maße in den Prozess des Aufbaus und Transfers von Wissen eingebunden sind.

Conversion of tropical forests to other types of land use leads to deforestation (loss of forest cover) and degradation (loss of forest quality) which contributes between 10 and 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions (Fry 2008). The forests of Central Africa are also at the heart of the covetousness of climate negotiations. The search for miracle solutions that could help stabilize or even reduce
average global temperatures has seen the birth of many initiatives including REDD+, CAFI, GCF. Connected to these new initiatives or new policy measures are new concepts and new knowledge that need to be mobilized by all stakeholders from global to local and from scientific to indigenous level. The KnowGlobal project focuses on the issue of knowledge transfer in the field of forest management and climate change in Central Africa in general and Cameroon, Gabon and DRC in particular.
Based on the literature review of stakeholders, constraints and operational difficulties regarding knowledge transfer about climate change in Central Africa, the project investigates on NGOs, researchers, the private sector, technical and financial partners as well as other forest managers using along the RIU model of scientific knowledge transfer (Böcher 2016, Böcher and Krott 2014) to
identify bottlenecks.
Several categories of actors will benefit from the results of this project: in particular, at the sub-regional level, COMIFAC and its specialized organizations (OFAC, RIOFAC), the states through its sectoral ministries (environment, forestry), civil society organizations, research organizations, and NGOs, which are largely involved in the process of construction and transfer of knowledge.
Concretely, the three master’s students will work respectively in DRC, Cameroon and Gabon while the postdoc fellow will not only oversee the studies in these three countries but also provide a more general and comparative analysis on the Central African sub-region.