BIOPAMA (Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management Programme), in collaboration with the Sustainability Challenge Foundation, is offering training on stakeholder engagement and negotiation skills, using the Mutual Gains Approach, to support efforts to better secure protected areas and key biodiversity areas in the Eastern and Southern African region.

A central principle of the Mutual Gains Approach to negotiations is that the vast majority of negotiations in the real world involve parties who have more than one goal or concern in mind and more than one issue that can be addressed in the agreement they reach. This model allows parties to improve their chances of creating an agreement superior to existing alternatives and meeting the priority needs of all stakeholders. It is based on four key steps for negotiating more sustainable solutions: preparation, value creation, value distribution and following through.

Who should apply:

Protected Area staff and other relevant stakeholders actively engaging on potential land/resource use conflict issues to improve the sustainability of protected areas in the context of development. 

How to apply:

Applicants should identify and describe a specific land or resource use conflict that they are dealing with (existing or potential) and the key stakeholders involved in this existing or potential conflict. Applicants are requested to fill in the attached application form and send it by email to Christine Mentzel (Email: Christine.Mentzel@iucn.org(link sends e-mail)). 

Applications will be accepted until 30 September 2014. 

Proposed location:

The courses will be held in either Kenya or South Africa, dependent on the applications received. 

Proposed course dates:
There are two proposed months during which the courses will be held: October 2014 and February 2015. We will confirm the exact dates as soon as possible with applicants/interested parties.

Read the full Call for Applications here. The application form is available here.