[II Public Discussion Forum] Overview of Partners’ Engagement in ECPA: Successful Collaboration Strategies
[II Public Discussion Forum] Overview of Partners’ Engagement in ECPA: Successful Collaboration Strategies
WHEN: Wednesday, April 16, 2014 • 9:00AM-1:15PM
WHERE: Organization of American States (OAS)
1889 F Street, NW • Washington, DC 20006
Padilha Vidal Room (Terrace Level)
Background
The Department of Sustainable Development, in its capacity as Clearinghouse of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), will host its second energy and climate public discussion forum. The purpose of this forum is to showcase the collaborative efforts led by governments, international organizations and NGOs under the auspices of ECPA to address the energy and climate challenges facing the countries of the Americas. The audience will learn about energy and climate initiatives being implemented in the hemisphere with the support of ECPA, interact with project implementers and partners, and provide inputs on the potential for collaborative work and partnerships in energy and climate.
Since 2009, several NGOs, government agencies and international organizations have worked jointly to promote hemispheric collaboration on energy and climate change. For example, the Inter-American Development Bank launched the “ENE-Innovation Center” to promote energy innovation and knowledge exchange; the governments of Colombia and the United States launched “Connecting the Americas 2022”, a hemispheric initiative which establishes a decade-long goal to achieve universal access to electricity; the Government of Canada launched the “Heavy Oil Working Group” to serve as a forum on best practices and technological innovation in heavy oil in the Americas; The Governments of Mexico and the United States launched the “Energy Efficiency Working Group” to disseminate best practices in energy efficiency and conservation; the NGO Partners of the Americas launched the “Senior Fellow Program” to facilitate energy and climate knowledge transfer, build an experts network and bring together diverse actors to work together toward solutions; and the NGOs SNV and Viogaz launched “Generation of Electricity from Biogas” to disseminate electricity saving solutions for coffee growers and swine farmers in Honduras and Costa Rica. These are concrete examples of the collaborative efforts led by governments, international organizations and NGOs under the ECPA umbrella; there are many more.
The public discussion forum will provide an opportunity to establish direct contact with ECPA initiative implementers, analyze how their actions have contributed to achieving specific national energy and climate change goals and discuss the potential for new partnerships and collaboration. ECPA implementing partners from different parts of the region will share first-hand information about their projects’ engagement strategies. The audience will engage in an open debate with implementing partners and Clearinghouse staff about the potential to leverage their partnerships to create a robust ECPA network. The forum will be receptive of participants’ feedback and impressions regarding ECPA’s work and its impact.
See forum agenda, here.
See list of attendees, here.
