Efroymson Coaches Network: - Conservation Gateway

Conservation Action PlanningThe Nature Conservancy has developeda rigorous, science-based approachto the business of conservation calledConservation Action Planning (CAP).CAP helps conservationists define theirpriorities for action, determine exactlywhat success looks like and identifythreats to that success.CAP guides project teams to identifyeffective conservation strategies. Itprovides an objective, consistent andtransparent accounting of conservationactions and the intended and actualoutcomes of conservation projects. Itenables project staff to responsivelyadapt their actions to improve strategyeffectiveness and achieve greaterconservation impact.CAP works to discipline conservationpractitioners to think in hard-hittingways to build focus and uncover criticalnew pathways for action wherever theywork. CAP’s common language and approachprovides the Coaches Network ameans to capture, communicate, learnand share what is working worldwide.Using Resultsto Adapt& ImproveDefiningYourProjectConservationActionPlanningImplementingStrategies &MeasuresDevelopingStrategies &MeasuresFor a full set of CAP tools, trainingopportunities, examples and guidancedocuments, visit www.conservationgateway.org/cap.Efroymson Coaches Network — An OverviewMembers of the Efroymson Coaches Network advance effectiveconservation around the globe by helping teams use simple, powerfuldecision-making tools consistent with the “Open Standards forthe Practice of Conservation” 4 to develop focused and measurableaction plans for their sites and projects. The Coaches Network wasestablished in 2004 to support the application of CAP, The NatureConservancy’s version of the Open Standards, to Conservancypriority projects around the world. Since then, the Network hasgrown from a few individuals to more than 200 trained coachesin 29 countries and 15 organizations in 2009.Network coaches facilitate teams throughthe CAP/Open Standards process to:• incorporate the best available science,• identify key conservation targets,• determine the health of the conservation targets,• identify critical threats,• develop strategies with a high potential for counteringthe primary sources of those threats, and• establish measures to evaluate the effectiveness of thesestrategies in order to adapt and learn from direct experience.In 2008, affiliated coaches supported more than 180 teams thatworked on conservation projects ranging widely in size and scope,including government-managed protected areas, private lands,large-scale landscapes and seascapes involving multiple partnersand many different uses, and programs to address pervasive crossprojectthreats. The Coaches Network also aims to continuouslyimprove the CAP methodology, train new coaches, documentlessons learned, and help coaches hone their skills and learnfrom each other.4 A general framework for conservation project design and management developed and adopted by membersof the Conservation Measures Partnership.Coaches’ Organizational AffiliationsAlaska Sea Life CenterBush Heritage, AustraliaCarolinian Canada CoalitionFoundations of SuccessGreening AustraliaHeadwaters Coalition,San Antonio, TexasKosrae Island ResourceManagement AuthorityPalau International CoralReef CenterPeel Harvey CatchmentCouncil, AustraliaTasmanian Land ConservancyThe Nature ConservancyThe Nature Conservancyof CanadaWWF/AustraliaWWF/InternationalWWF/USObjective 4: Strengthen andExpand the Network StructureNetwork partners agree on a collaborative networkstructure and expand the network to include new strategicpartners in new or under-resourced geographies touse CAP/Open Standards tools and provide coachingsupport in at least 20 United Nations’ Convention onBiological Diversity signatory countries.Strategic Action 4.1:Clarify the work and structure of the Efroymson CoachesNetwork and the roles, responsibilities and benefitsof partner organizations, network support staff, the usercommunity, franchises, coaches and clients.Objective 5: Engage Network Coachesin Research and DevelopmentEngage coaches to improve the CAP/Open Standardsprocess by developing and applying a consistent approachto capture, vet and integrate five to 10 globallyrelevant user-driven improvements or innovations intothe core methodology and tools by 2012.Strategic Action 5.1:Establish the Innovations Team and recruit a diverseteam of coaches and science experts to participate onthe team. The Innovations Team will identify a transparentprocess that fully integrates the EfroymsonNetwork Coaches community in the identification offield-based adaptations and innovations that will benefitthe practice as a whole.Strategic Action 4.2:Promote CAP/Open Standards tools to protected areamanagers worldwide and other high priority governmentand nongovernment partners and help theseprofessionals to use these tools to improve conservationoutcomes at multiple scales in at least 20 countries.Strategic Action 4.3:Organize network franchises to include new strategicpartners with special emphasis on new or underservedgeographic areas.Strategic Action 4.4:Ensure ongoing core network operations and the abilityto incorporate new partners and expand into new geographiesby collaboratively establishing a network budgetand securing funding adequate to support and coordinatenetwork functions as a partnership enterprise by 2012.objective fourStrategic Action 5.2:Use the Innovations Team approach to identify fiveto 10 important CAP/Open Standards adaptations orinnovations that would benefit the majority of coachesand practitioners and provide core funding to supportthe most promising adaptations.Strategic Action 5.3:Re-test and verify the most promising innovationsin the field.Strategic Action 5.4:Synthesize test site findings and incorporate themost successful innovations into the core CAP/OpenStandards process and coach training.Strategic Action 5.5:Ensure innovations are shared with both the activecoaching community and practitioners.objective five

CAP Coaches support management planningprocess for Greater Gombe Ecosystem,Tanzania, Africa.Values that Guide the NetworkResults-Oriented. We are committedto tangible conservation outcomes usingand adapting the best known approachesto conservation project planning andmanagement.Inclusive and Diverse. We are committedto engaging many different organizations,partners, and practitioners tooperate as a network of peers encouragingdiverse ideas, multiple languages,and culturally sensitive and ecologicallydistinct adaptations and applications.Innovation and Excellence. We arecommitted to sharing and learning in anopen and supportive manner, encouragingnew techniques and enhancementsto ensure continual improvement andintegrating and being informed by thebest available conservation science inevery step of the process.Distributed Responsibility andNon-Hierarchical. We will function asa network of peers assisting each otherto achieve his or her full potential as acoach while working in a cooperativeand collaborative manner.Culture of Cooperation. Our networkwill have a culture of acceptance, cooperation,honest and respectful exchange,and celebration in our work with eachother and with our partners.Summary of Strategic PlanThe first four years of the Efroymson Coaches Network havedemonstrated that by dramatically increasing the rigor of teams thatdesign and implement conservation projects, trained conservationcoaches can increase conservation impact at individual projects. Byacting as a “network” of coaches, communicating and cooperatingacross a broad spectrum of conservation interests, the conservationimpact can be accelerated globally.Building on the encouraging progress made in the first four yearsof the Efroymson Coaches Network, this Strategic Plan outlines acourse of action that aims to respond to the growing global needfor coaches who can guide conservation planning teams withsimple and effective conservation decision-making tools. It hastwo primary components.1. to enrich and strengthen the existing coaches and partnerorganizations skills and connections; and2. to lay the groundwork for a truly global and multi-organizationalenterprise.The Strategic Plan outlines a specific course of action for the fourcurrent network partners 5 to take to respond to this global opportunityover a three-year period (2009 – 2012) by positioning theEfroymson Coaches Network to be a multipartner enterprise dedicatedto catalyzing effective conservation across lands and watersworldwide through action planning, coaching, knowledge-sharingand innovation.The plan has five objectives:1. Enhance Coach Competencies to Support the Entire CAP Process2. Enhance Knowledge-Sharing3. Institutionalize the CAP/Open Standards AdaptiveManagement Approach4. Strengthen & Expand the Network Structure5. Engage Network Coaches in Research & Development5 The Nature Conservancy, Greening Australia, WWF and Foundations of Success.Team members working on Maya Mountain Marine Corridor Conservation ActionStrategy, Belize.Efroymson CoachesNetwork Objectives,2009 – 2012To dramatically increase our conservation impact,this strategic plan focuses on five key objectivesdesigned to deepen and strengthen the effectivenessof the field-based conservation work of theEfroymson Coaches Network’s current fourpartners and to lay the groundwork for theexpansion of the Network into a truly global,multipartner enterprise. The aim is to achieve thefollowing five objectives by the beginning of 2012.Objective 1: Enhance CoachCompetencies to Support the EntireCAP/Open Standards ProcessAt least 60 percent of the plans supported by activenetwork coaches fully incorporate all of the steps ofthe CAP/ Open Standards process, with an increasedemphasis on measures, work plans, implementation,and using results to adapt and improve.Strategic Action 1.1:Develop a cadre of specialized “Measures & Implementation”coaches to provide targeted support to projectteams and other coaches on the four process steps thatare currently underserved (measures, work plans, implementation,and using results to adapt and improve).Coach Gala Davaa (right) working with government and NGO partnerson conservation strategy for Tosonkhulstai Nature Reserve, Mongolia.network objectivesStrategic Action 1.2:Engage deeply experienced conservation practitionersas CAP/Open Standards “strategic advisors” to workwith coaches and support project teams to enhancestrategy development.Strategic Action 1.3:Develop additional materials and support trainingfor the currently underserved steps in the processto assist coaches and practitioners.Strategic Action 1.4:Enhance materials and support for project teams tomake use of self-assessment tools and existing “audit”processes to do regular updates on their application ofCAP/Open Standards processes and the effectivenessof their strategies.objective one

Objective 2: EnhanceKnowledge-SharingMechanisms for sharing best practices, tools, innovationsand lessons learned are readily available, communicatedand marketed regularly, easily accessed bythe wider CAP/Open Standards user community,and accessed annually by the majority of coachesin the Efroymson Network.Strategic Action 2.1:All member organizations commit to include a percentageof time in individual coach’s annual goals to participatein knowledge-sharing across the network. Specificknowledge-sharing media will vary but could includeexchanges, mentoring, Web site contributions, translations,case studies, ConPro (a shared, fully searchable,objective twoconservation project experience database) updates,open workshops, work groups and participation inNetwork events.Strategic Action 2.2:Develop and actively distribute all CAP/OpenStandards tools and products as open-source materialsto ensure greater use and widespread application.Strategic Action 2.3:Provide a “coach book” forum for all coaches to shareinformation directly with each other.Strategic Action 2.4:By 2011 all coaches are fully utilizing ConPro to shareinformation about ongoing projects that use CAP/OpenStandards processes.Coach Paul Koch (right) working with Habitat 141Team, Victoria, Australia.Efroymson Coaches NetworkMission & Long-term GoalsThe Efroymson Coaches Network catalyzeseffective conservation across landsand waters worldwide through actionplanning, coaching, knowledge-sharingand innovation. Its long-term goals are to:1. Provide coaching support to practitionersworldwide in the application ofconservation action planning to theirproject to ensure that practitionershave the confidence to implementtheir plan of action and achievetangible conservation results.Objective 3: Institutionalize the CAP/Open Standards Adaptive ManagementApproachStrengthen each Efroymson Coaches Network partnerorganization’s priority conservation projects by helpingteams integrate the basic principles of the CAP/OpenStandards process into their highest priority projects.Strategic Action 3.1:Secure support from top leadership in each partnerorganization for the CAP/Open Standards processby 2009.Strategic Action 3.2:Strengthen the Network’s capacity to support partnerorganizations’ CAP/Open Standards projects by increasingthe number of trained coaches, with dedicatedtime, by at least 25 percent by 2012.Strategic Action 3.3:Using The Nature Conservancy as a test case,prioritize providing network coach support tohighest priority projects.Strategic Action 3.4:Develop and use measures to direct, marketand track network progress and impact.2. Ensure continuous improvementof the conservation action planningmethodology based on the realexperiences and input of field users.3. Share best practices and lessonslearned across the worldwide communityof conservation practitioners.4. Provide a common language andframework for conservation decisionmakingacross multiple scales andorganizational program needs andsupport decision makers to integratethe core components of the CAP/Open Standards framework asappropriate.objective threeLongleaf Pine, North Florida Project, Coach Doria Gordon.5. Expand the Network to includestrong “franchises” (or coach groups)within key partner organizations thatactively support and promote CAP/Open Standards conservation projectmanagement methods and tools asstandard practice around the world.