The project will develop and implement a set of awareness raising and outreach activities focused on the linkage between NC, biodiversity and economic development. Outreach activities will mainly highlight the effectiveness and economic benefits of resources being spent to enhance NC and their ecosystem services; adverse impacts to both sectors and country in general of degradation of NC, and the trade-offs between the different uses, impacts and dependencies of sector on NC and their ecosystem services derived from alternative business plans, sector development plans and other planning related NC (3.1.1).
The project will support the establishment of a “Community of Practice” (CoP) to enable members to engage in joint activities and discussions on the establishment and use of NCA, share information, help, and learn from each other. The main agenda of the CoP will be seeking national experience and connecting with them, facilitate the development of a shared repertoire of resources, share similar programming experiences, best practices, tools, as well as successful ways of addressing recurring problems. The CoP will also coordinate the development of national strategy on knowledge management; documenting best practices; mapping knowledge and identifying gaps (3.1.1).
Under the project upscaling strategy (3.1.2) facilitated by GSO, MONRE-ISPONRE and the CoP, agreement will be reached on new or expanded provincial collaboration with GSO towards at least three additional provinces to develop new NCAs (co-financed) as well as their application under national government policies and programs on blue economic growth path/PA landscape management, and other sustainable development and environmental protection directives. It would establish the formal government process as well as budget resources leading to replication of the development of new NCAs in (other) coastal provinces of Viet Nam. Additionally, the project will engage with key line agencies such as MoNRE, GSO, VESA and provincial government (e.g. DOIT) to secure extrabudgetary resources under different donor initiatives (i.e. Defra, GOAP) to facilitate replication NCA to other coastal provinces in Viet Nam taking in consideration the anticipated positive project experiences from Quang Ninh.
The Project M&E system will follow project performance indicators and targets to capture the information and best practices required to track the project progress and effectiveness (3.2.1), including applying context-specific gender indicators. The in-depth gender gap analysis will help to identify situations of gender inequitable that will need to be addressed and monitored to ensure overall successful and sustainable outcomes and impact. The main outcomes and outputs of Component 3 are as following: Outcome 3.1. Better understanding on the importance of natural capital and NCA towards a sustainable blue economy in Viet Nam. Outcome 3.1 is composed of 2 separate outputs. Outcome 3.2. Project impact monitoring and knowledge management system. Outcome 3.2 is composed of 1 output.
Output 3.1.1. Outreach and establishment of “Community of Practice” which connects local and national institutions and stakeholders to increase understanding and enable increased impact from applying NC accounting
Outreach activities will mainly highlight the effectiveness and economic benefits of resources being spent to enhance NC and their ecosystem services; adverse impacts to both sectors and country in general of degradation of NC, and the trade-offs between the different uses, impacts and dependencies of sector on NC and their ecosystem services derived from alternative business plans, sector development plans and other planning related NC.
Under Output 3.1.1 the project will support the establishment of a “Community of Practice” (CoP) to enable members to engage in joint activities and discussions on the establishment and use of NCA, share information, help, and learn from each other. The main agenda of the CoP will be seeking national experience and connecting with them, facilitate the development of a shared repertoire of resources, share similar programming experiences, best practices, tools, as well as successful ways of addressing recurring problems. The CoP will also coordinate the development of a national strategy on knowledge management; documenting best practices; mapping knowledge and identifying gaps. The ultimate goal of the CoP will be to catalyze NCA knowledge and awareness in Viet Nam. (Lead: ISPONRE, Collaborating: VASI, GSO, UNDP, WB, UNESCAP-GOAP, WWF, NGOs, Academia etc.).
Indicative activities under Output 3.1.1 include:
3.1.1.1 Develop a Knowledge Management Plan and Communications Strategy and disseminate lessons via awareness materials from the demonstration landscape, including through different digital channels and databases, both provincially, nationally and within the region.
3.1.1.2 Establish a one-stop project “digital front door/website” and multichannel presence, including on social media, on NCA, hosted by ISPONRE/MONRE, that will be sustained for the duration of the project, and will continue to be used by MONRE subsequently.
3.1.1.3 Identify, review and systematically document lessons learnt from the demonstration landscape and conduct landscape and national level workshops on NCA development to share project lessons with stakeholders. The documentation of emerging good/best practices will be reflected in both technical documents for active practitioners, as well as more broadly accessible publication to create awareness on the opportunities NCA methodology offers. Annual knowledge sharing events will be the platform to bring together an audience interested in NCA and to exchange experiences with NCA applications in Viet Nam and in the region.
3.1.1.4 Collaborate with the regional and international organizations on NCA knowledge sharing and on potential participation in relevant events.
Output 3.1.2. Targeted replication and engagement mechanism – facilitated by MONRE and GSO, establishing additional NCAs in Quang Ninh as well as in at least three additional provinces, based on the applicable government legal directives, secured funding and specified sustainable development and environmental protection.
Under the project upscaling strategy (3.1.2) facilitated by GSO, MONRE-ISPONRE and the CoP, agreement will be reached on new or expanded provincial collaboration with GSO towards at least three additional provinces to develop new NCAs (co-financed) as well as their application under national government policies and programs on blue economic growth path/PA landscape management, and other sustainable development and environmental protection directives. It would establish the formal government process as well as budget resources leading to replication of the development of new NCAs in (other) coastal provinces of Viet Nam. Additionally, the project will engage with key line agencies such as MoNRE, GSO, VASI and provincial government (e.g. DOIT) to secure extrabudgetary resources under different donor initiatives (i.e. Defra, GOAP) to facilitate replication NCA to other coastal provinces in Viet Nam taking in consideration the anticipated positive project experiences from Quang Ninh. (Lead: ISPONRE-MONRE, Collaborating: GSO, VASI, CoP, UNESCAP-GOAP, WWF, UNDP).
Indicative activities under Output 3.1.2. include:
3.1.2.1 Identify and validate provinces for replication of NCA pilot activities and their priorities. Based on the piloting experiences in Quang Ninh province, the project will work closely with GSO in identifying additional coastal provinces to replicate the piloted NCA approach. In the selection process it will be considered to select coastal provinces with varying ecosystem and socio-economic conditions to further test and validate the NCA approach and facilitate further learning and testing.
3.1.2.2 Identify the feasible financial sources to implement the NCA and make proposals on how to mobilize resources. Based on the initial selection of provinces for replication, the project will support GSO in identification and securing of the funding resources to actually implement the NCA approach in these additional provinces. This will require the project to proactively share the piloting experiences and create interest from potential funding partners to collaborate in replication, including the NCA platform and the CoP.
3.1.2.3 Expansion of awareness of and training of NCA to other provinces of Viet Nam, with an explicit focus on effectiveness and economic benefits of NC and their ecosystem services; and the trade-offs between the different uses, impacts and dependencies of sectors on NC and their ecosystem services derived from alternative business plans, sector development plans and other planning related to NC and NCA. The awareness and outreach at provincial level will support further understanding of the potential benefits of mainstreaming NCA applications into (spatial) development planning processes.
Outcome 3.2. Project impact monitoring and knowledge management system Outcome 3.2 is composed of 1 output.
Output 3.2.1. Project gender disaggregated M&E system enables tracking of project progress, performance and specifically capturing best practice
Under Output 3.2.1 the Project M&E system is developed and operationalized with definition of project performance indicators and targets to capture the information and best practices required to track the project progress and effectiveness, including applying context-specific gender indicators. The design and implementation of the M&E system will be geared towards active participation in monitoring activities by beneficiaries and stakeholders to ensure a participatory approach and transparency in the documentation and learning process. The in-depth gender gap analysis will help to identify situations of gender inequities that will need to be addressed and monitored to ensure overall successful and sustainable outcomes and impact and to monitor the effective implementation of the gender action plan is formulated. (Lead: ISPONRE-PMU, Collaborating: GSO, VASI, UNEP etc.).
Indicative activities under Output 3.2.1 include:
3.2.1.1 Convene project inception workshop and compile inception workshop report within the first 60 days of the project. During the inception phase of the project key stakeholders will review the ProDoc and in particular the strategic results framework, reconsider the indicators and targets for realism and completeness and formulate the annual work plan and budget for the first year of project execution. During the inception phase the ToRs of key project staff will be reviewed and finally endorsed by the stakeholders and ultimately by the PSC.
3.2.1.2 Annual work plan and budget preparation and monitoring of indicators in project results framework for adaptive management including annual lesson learning session among project stakeholders. This annual exercise will be organized as an annual planning and review workshop, in which one part will be focused on stock-taking and learning from the lessons of current implementation, reflecting positive outcomes and identifying existing challenges. The other part will be forward looking and result in an annual work plan and budget, infusing learning from previous experience and adjusting, where needed, focus and budget allocation.
3.2.1.3 Support the monitoring of project implementation, which includes completion of annual PIR review of annual work plan implementation status for adaptive management of project activities. This wil entail regular progress reporting in accordance with both the guidelines of the Government of Viet Nam as well as the required reporting by UNEP and GEF. This will include financial reporting and standard audit processes.
3.2.1.4 Develop gender monitoring methodology with rating and manual and conduct gender auditing analysis of the project at baseline and end of project, in addition to annual implementation review of the Gender Action Plan and SRIF, and complete sensitization workshops on gender and other safeguards for the Project Management Unit and executing partners.
3.2.1.5 Prepare a project completion report to compile project results and lessons learned, to inform the Terminal Evaluation team.
3.2.1.6 Conduct and support an independent Terminal Evaluation (TE) in line with UNEP/GEF requirements.
3.2.1.7 Review and update Capacity Development Scorecard with identified national ministries and with Quang Ninh DONRE at project start, and end of project (Year 3). Set for CDC both the baseline and the expected target at End-of-Project (% of increase of effectiveness).
3.2.1.8 Convene PSC meetings for providing annual oversight as the main governing body of the project, overseeing the overall project delivery according to the ProDoc and approving the annual work plans and budgets.
