Strategic Plan 2010-2020
UNIVERSITY OF NAIROBI
WANGARI MAATHAI INSTITUTE FOR PEACE AND ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES
COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND VETERINARY SCIENCES (CAVS)
STRATEGI PLAN 2010-2020
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms 3
Foreword 4
Executive summary 5
SECTION 1: 6
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW 6
1.1 Introduction to the WMI Strategic Plan 6
1.2 Motivation for the WMI 6
1.3 The Creation of a Green Campus 7
1.4 WMI’s Strategy for achieving change 7
SECTION 2: 9
WMI’s STRATEGIC INTENT: VISION, MISSION, CORE VALUES AND COMPETITIVENESS 9
2.1 Who We Are 9
2.2 Our Vision 9
2.3 Our Mission 9
2.4 WMI’s Core Values 9
2.5 WMI’s Distinctive/Comparative advantages 10
2.6 WMI’s Key partners 11
SECTION 3: 12
THE PLANNING PROCESS 12
3.1 The Context of WMI’s Work 12
3.2 The SWOT analysis 12
3.3 PESTEL Analysis (External Environment Assessment) 13
SECTION 4 15
STRATEGIC ISSUES, OBJECTIVES AND STRATEGIES 15
4.1 Building Comprehensive excellence at WMI 15
SECTION 5 20
WMI’s GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE 20
5.1 Integrated Resources for Achieving Strategic Results 20
5.2 WMI’s Statutes and Governance 21
5.3 Distinguished Chair 21
5.4 Sustainability of the Institute 23
SECTION 6 24
MONITORING, EVALUATION AND RESULTS REPORTING 24
6.1 The Monitoring Strategy 24
6.2 Assumptions and Risks 24
6.3 Evaluations 24
Annex 1 25
List of Abbreviations and Acronyms
CBO Community Based OrganizationCGIAR – Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research
CoP – Community of Practice
EIA – Environmental Impact Assessment
FINIDA – Finish International Development Agency
GBM – Green Belt Movement
KEFRI – Kenya Forestry Research Institute
KenGen – Kenya Electricity Generating Company
KFS – Kenya Forest Services
KWS – Kenya Wildlife Services
LEED– Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
MOA – Ministry of Agriculture
MOTTAINAI –3Rs
MoU – Memorandum of Understanding
NEMA – National Environmental Management Authority
NEPAD – New Partnership for Africa’s Development
NGO – Non Governmental Organization
RBM – Results- Based Management
UN – United Nations
UNEP – United Nations Environmental Program
UoN – University of Nairobi
WMI – Wangari Maathai Institute
Foreword
In a world fractured by the effects of environmental degradation, political turmoil, and economic crises, it is easy to forget that cultures of peace depend on good governance and equitable management of our natural resources. Sustainable development from the grassroots up can only happen if these three core issues are addressed. It was on this holistic approach that the Green Belt Movement was founded.
My own abiding interest in the study of peace and environmentalism began in the highlands of Kenya where I grew up, and was nurtured during my studies in the US and Germany, and teaching at the University of Nairobi. My involvement in environmental and grassroots issues has taught me that the connection between environmental challenges and local conflicts cannot be assessed separately as if they were cultures in a Petri dish. They must be understood and acted upon not just by academics, but by as many different kinds of people as possible – bustling city-dwellers, hard-working villagers and farmers, children, poets, dreamers – and by those who visit our country and carry away with them a sense of our key cultural developments and aspirations.
Since founding the Green Belt Movement in 1977, I have found that there can be extraordinary energizing, constructive, and profound connections between people from all walks of life who are interested in and want to engage with issues of conflict, natural resource management, climate change, and community engagement.
It is therefore my most fervent hope that the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies at the University of Nairobi will become an international model campus for the transfer of knowledge through informative, practical, and inherently democratizing connections between the university students and faculty and the communities they serve.
Professor Wangari Muta Maathai
Nobel Peace Laureate 2004
Goodwill Ambassador to the Congo Forest
Executive summary
The Strategic Plan of the Wangari Maathai Institute (WMI) for Peace and Environmental Studies for the period 2010-2020 defines the approach that the Institute will adopt to achieve its mission of promoting ‘a positive attitude towards the environment and create transformational stewards who foster peace and serve society through research, experiential learning, extension, public engagement, and the ability to bridge theory and practice’ and vision ‘to be a world-class leader in “green” and sustainable rural and urban environment that fosters peaceful co-existence and nurtures livelihoods’. The successful fusion of university research and traditional training requires the provision not only of academic resources, but of experiential learning opportunities, community mentoring, and utilization of indigenous knowledge. Therefore, the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies (WMI)’s core purpose will be to spearhead holistic multi-disciplinary research, training and community empowerment and outreach services. An inspiring, interactive permanent exhibition demonstrating the work and ideals of Professor Wangari Muta Maathai at the Institute will be an essential element of WMI’s work.
The Institute will be located in Nairobi but will have a regional reach that will first cover the East African countries, and with time, the rest of Africa. There will be deliberate emphasis by WMI to forge regional and international partnerships, for the purpose of creating other centres of excellence for sustainable management of environmental resources. Furthermore, with a view to consolidating the impact of its operations, WMI will establish a forum for leaders and professionals worldwide to exchange ideas and interrogate issues that affect the socio-economic transformation of societies through sustainable natural resource utilization practices and better conflict resolution mechanisms. To this end, the institute will create an ethos of applied research, mentorship and community service.
With the establishment of WMI, several critical changes in the realm of environment and peace are envisioned:
1) Improved the societal values, ethics and attitudes towards the environment
2) Greater effectiveness in environmental management practices
3) Enhanced environmental resource management that upholds peace and improves livelihoods
4) WMI becomes an icon of the best environmental practices
5) Creation of new and improvement of enforcement of existing policies that provide for sound environmental practices
SECTION 1:
INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
1.1 Introduction to the WMI Strategic Plan
The Plan presents WMI’s future direction, the pathways that will get it there, the resources required, and the Institutes understanding of what the principal challenges are and how to tackle them. This Plan covers a period of ten years, from 2010 to 2020 and has been developed through a highly consultative and participatory process that included the WMI and Green Belt Movement Board members and staff, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), University of Nairobi faculty, the Kenya Wildlife Services, Forest Action Network, Centre for Sustainable Environment and Sustainable Education, Florida Gulf Coast University, University of Copenhagen, National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), the National Museums of Kenya, and various other key national and international partners, as well as renowned individual leaders in environmental management.
1.2 Motivation for the WMI
Limited natural resources are directly or indirectly the source of most conflicts. Well conserved and governed natural resources will go a long way in reducing community conflicts. When the relationships between natural resource scarcity and conflict, and natural resources and prosperity are well-articulated, the community will be able to understand their responsibility and realize that natural resource conservation is indeed self-conservation.
Aspirations for establishment of WMI were based on recognition by Professor Wangari Maathai, that there was need for:
i) A pioneer institute in Africa that fosters and inculcates transformative values, with the intention of creating transformational leaders for the next generation
ii) A distinctive environmental studies institute that develops an understanding of the interdependency of environmental health and human prosperity while providing skills to deal with conflicts
iii) An outstanding experiential learning institution for environmental studies
iv) An Africa-based ‘Earth Watch’, proactively monitoring the environment and giving early warning signals that will allow for preparedness in emerging contexts.
v) A university based entity with unparalleled transformative linkages with grassroots communities
vi) An African based lead institution to foster strategic partnerships with top environmental schools and institutions the world-over as well as the private sector.
vii) A lead institute for interdisciplinary research and will produce evidence-based data informing policy debates and policy formulation
viii) An inspiring living innovative and creative laboratory where new “green” technologies and best practices of environmental sustainability and conflict resolution can be fostered, developed, tested, validated and demonstrated
1.3 The Creation of a Green Campus
A “green campus” will be established within the 50 acres allocated to WMI at the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences grounds. The campus will among other things house the Institute’s operations, and a special trademark “green” building to be erected. The ‘green building’ which will be carbon neutral and self-sufficient in its energy needs, will be a core part of making the environmental values come alive for all who will interact with WMI. The green building principles will guide all other structures on the green campus. The Institute’s green campus shall also develop and manage demonstration farms for indigenous trees, medical plants, rain forest and wetlands management. In addition, the Institute intends to institutionalize the experiences and values of Professor Maathai through a permanent exhibition of her and her work.
1.4 WMI’s Strategy for achieving change
The ultimate goal of the Institute will be to enhance environmental resource management that improves livelihoods and promotes peace. This will be realized through institutionalizing and advancing the ideals, works, and spirit of Professor Wangari Maathai. The Institute intends to do this by promoting good environmental practice and cultivate cultures of peace by shaping values, ethics and attitudes of its graduates through experiential learning, mentoring and transformational leadership. Graduates will be trained on how to transfer acquired knowledge into practices that can assist conserve and protect the environment, while improving livelihoods and promoting peaceful co-existence. The overall aim of the institute is to cultivate better environmental stewardship and management of resources and ultimately a reduction in related conflicts. WMI will operate like a “finishing school” for university students, researchers, policy makers, the private sector, community leaders and groups in good practice in environmental management and peace building.
WMI selected five strategic objectives to drive decisions and actions in the delivery of its mission in its first ten years. The objectives are:
Ø Objective 1: Global outreach
To Make WMI a regionally leading international recognized center for holistic environmental practices and peace building
Ø Objective 2: Social engagement
To improve values, ethics and attitudes towards sustainable environmental management and peaceful conflict resolution in all parts of African societies
Ø Objective 3: Experiential learning
Develop a portfolio of innovative action oriented training programs within the mandate of WMI
Ø Objective 4: Research
To enhance environmental knowledge and management practices for local empowerment and conflict resolution
Ø Objective 5: Political influence
To contribute to improved understanding of environmental policy to sharpen decision making and law enforcement
The 5 objectives will be accomplished through various strategic activities that will include:
· Research and teaching application of values that animate Wangari Maathai and the GBM’s work in various contexts such as: Local conflict resolution, institutional development, education at the grassroots, local environmental empowerment, and adult learning.
· Developing science and experience based curricula that offer leadership training in e.g.: Conflict resolution, environmental protection, as well as potential development consequences of climate change, biodiversity loss, and deforestation.
· A focus on women’s leadership. GBM’s experience shows that such focus is still necessary and has great positive impact in patriarchal societies.
· Establishing exchange programs with universities abroad for students and academic staffs.
· WMI will be a library and resource institute for people to learn about forestry, rural development and sustainability, and leadership values.
· The Institute will have demonstration sites for innovations and methodologies such as sand dams, tree-planting, kitchen gardens, solar-driven appliances, and other appropriate technologies that may have relevant applications.
SECTION 2:
WMI’s STRATEGIC INTENT: VISION, MISSION, CORE VALUES AND COMPETITIVENESS
2.1 Who We Are
The Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies (WMI) is part of the College of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences (CAVS) at the University of Nairobi, Kenya. It has been established to honor, advance, and immortalize the ideals and work of one of its alumni, the 2004 Peace Nobel Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai. The institute aims to promote good environmental practices and to cultivate a culture of peace by shaping values, ethics and attitudes of its graduates through experiential learning, mentoring and transformational leadership.
2.2 Our Vision
The demand for a shared vision for the WMI arises from the need to set a bold strategic direction that will propel the institution to higher levels of effectiveness, efficiency and relevance in the pursuit of its business.
EXCELLENCE IN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING, TRANSFORMATIONAL COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND RESEARCH FOR SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT AND CULTURES OF PEACE2.3 Our Mission
WMI will inform, influence and shape policy discussions and direction with interdisciplinary evidence and data while preparing the society of tomorrow by producing graduates able and willing to address critical societal needs through the transfer and application of environmental management knowledge and conflict resolution.
TO CULTIVATE POSITIVE ETHICS, VALUES AND PRACTICES TOWARDS THE ENVIRONMENT BY TRAINING STEWARDS WHO FOSTER PEACE, HOLISTIC SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND LINK THEORY WITH PRACTICE.2.4 WMI’s Core Values
To realize the vision and mission, a set of distinct values will guide the thoughts, decisions and actions at WMI. The following are the values that will guide the institute:
Table 1: WMI’s Core Values
Values / Expected Behavior /Actions1. Respect for and conservation of the environment / · In all our activities, we strive to respect and protect the environment
2. Integrity / · We act without consideration of personal gain
· We take prompt action in cases of unprofessional or unethical behavior
3. Respect for Diversity / · We promote a culture of peace
· We treat all people, irrespective of their status, gender, beliefs, color or origin, with dignity and respect
4. Professionalism / · We are motivated by professional rather than personal concerns
· We uphold the ethics and etiquette of teaching, learning and research
5. Merit & Excellence / · We recognize and celebrate merit and excellence
· We promote and defend the freedom of thought and academic enquiry as well as freedom of association
· We promote creativity and innovation
6. Transparency & Accountability / · We nurture transparency in all our dealings, decision-making and operations
· We deliver on our responsibilities within prescribed time, cost and quality standards
7. Innovativeness and creativity / · Innovativeness and creativity shall be the hallmark of our activities as we initiate and adapt to change
2.5 WMI’s Distinctive/Comparative advantages
WMI’s distinctiveness will be in its acknowledgement of the interlinking between conflict resolution, environmental degradation and democratization. Few, if any other institutions, focus directly on this interrelationship. Professor Wangari Maathai and the GBM has proven that addressing these issues in there complexity leads to simultaneous improvements in the environment, the local communities livelihoods and the governments ability to cater for the nations development. WMI wants to bring this distinctive experience from the bush – through books and blackboards – to the brains of the African intellectuals and none academic knowledge holders. WMI’s thrust is to, create transformational “green” leaders, who can manage the environment and its related conflicts, for the benefit of their community and nation.