SouthSouthNorth (SSN) hosted a three-day workshop at its office in Cape Town, South Africa, from May 14 to 16, 2019, as part of a team-building and planning event held under the aegis of the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN).

The participants included CDKN’s Country Engagement Leads from Nepal, India and Bangladesh, besides Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana and Peru, as well as Ecuador, in addition to project partners from SSN, ICLEI South Asia and FLAC. The workshop’s objective was to strengthen the interactions between CELs and the thematic leads, and to allow them to share experiences and learning from different regions. The regional teams described the various activities being conducted in their respective countries and those being planned under the four themes of Cities, Water-Energy-Food nexus, Gender and Social Inclusion, and Climate Finance for next year.

The theme leads discussed the concepts and approaches of the themes, and conducted group exercises to prepare tentative plans of the proposed activities.

Ms. Bedoshruti Sadhukhan from ICLEI South Asia, thematic lead for Cities, focused on scoping activities that could promote a circular economy or nature-based solutions. Similarly, Ms. Camelia Sofiea from FFLA, thematic lead for the Water-Energy-Food (WEF) nexus, spoke about the relevant approaches and methodologies.

Ms. Mairi Dupar, ODI thematic lead for Gender and Social Inclusion, emphasized approaches and learning methods that would help to integrate gender issues in country-level programs and policies. Thematic lead for Climate Finance Mr. Kamlesh Pillai highlighted financing options that could strengthen the sustainability of project activities.

The regional teams also agreed that publications and peer learning activities had to be completed under the CDKN–KA, and set out a timeline for all the activities planned under the project till 2020.