|
|
FISCAL INCENTIVES
§ Government Buy-Downs
Japan
|
|
|
|
POLICY DRIVERS
§ Transportation
|
|
|
Establishing effective policies is not the final step
in reaching our goal to enhance the renewable energy
market. There are many stakeholders, or groups of people,
who influence the success of the policy. Stakeholders
are people involved in the policy making, the generation
and delivery of energy services within the energy sector,
and those who take part in the economy and society in
general. It is important for all these people to increase
their capacity to implement the policy, whether this
means showing local community members how to maintain/repair
new energy infrastructure or teaching policymakers to
modify the policy to maintain its effectiveness.
Capacity development is
a broad concept associated with a relatively
wide range of actions aimed at ensuring a
country's management of development policies
and programs
United Nations Development
Program
|
Three broad categories of stakeholders, government,
private productive sector and society, can be broken
down into 12 types of stakeholders that each have different
functions. The follow table outlines each group's function
in capacity building.
Click
to Enlarge Table
| STAKEHOLDER |
FUNCTION/ACTIVITY |
Stakeholder Needs
Capacity development should take place at three levels:
individual, institutional and systemic. The specific
efforts at each level can be called capacity building,
and the tasks should focus on both the short term needs
of problem solving and the long term ability to create
an environment in which changes can take place. At the
individual level, this process includes teaching people
skills, maximizing participation and changing attitudes.
Developing institutional capacity involves how the organization
runs and its ability to adapt and change.
The primary recipient of capacity development is the
public sector at the national and local levels,
including local regulatory agencies, public sector institutions
and local stakeholders. Policies can not reach their
potential if local agencies are not capable of enforcing
and maintaining the new laws/programs.
Developing the linkages between public and private
sectors is needed to enhance new energy infrastructure
- they should work together to introduce new clean technologies.
In developing nations, specifically where these groups
are disconnected, this capacity building is essential.
Introducing new technologies without teaching the rural
community members how to use them would be futile.
Women especially need to taught a new skill set, as
their daily activities depend on using energy for cooking
and cleaning. Organized women's groups can help a lot
to build the community's capacity. In addition to education,
rural energy users should be taught how to use the new
resources for their economic pursuits- learning how
to create new job opportunities and to benefit from
enhanced development.
NGOs and civil society can define a community's
needs and initiate development programs. In addition,
they should make sure that the education continues,
so that the stakeholders who were the recipients of
training further develop the capacity of others.
International organizations have a role in capacity
building as well. First, independent research groups
that share information with similar communities in other
nations help to establish South-South and South-North
collaboration and should be funded more. Also, international
organizations that support energy projects in developing
nations must set aside some of the funding for capacity
development, as their projects may not reach their full
effectiveness without it.
Implementing Issues
Steps to an effective capacity development program:
- Outline your goals
- Assess capacity
- Choose eligible participants
- Design the process
- Implement and operate
- Monitor progress
- Evaluate and assess the program
To start any capacity development project, clearly outline
the goals. The program will be more all-encompassing
(and, therefore, stronger) if it is designed by focusing
on what the end result should be, rather than what the
goals are individually for each stakeholder group. This
will create a multi-stakeholder capacity building process
where all parties contribute information and resources
among one another.
Understanding the capacities that exist within an established
community furthers the process. Capacity assessment
helps determine what more is needed, how the stakeholders
function, change and interact with each other. Since
there are usually limited funds for the development,
the next step is to choose eligibility criteria that
narrow the range of participants. There should be a
reason based on the project's goals, for the people
chosen to be involved: be it age, education, experience,
etc.
At this stage, it is time to negotiate between stakeholders
and specialists to determine how the resources, education
and funding will be distributed. It is important to
involve people in federal, regional and international
organizations, all who have experience and expertise
in training and management. Engaging the stakeholders
with others who have the experience, and providing hands-on
learning helps facilitate the capacity development process.
Now it is time to implement the programs, using the
knowledge gathered regarding the community and stakeholders.
Communication and transparency is key - sharing information
on experts, financial resources, commitments, challenges
and successes. Throughout the process, monitor the progress
and determine where changes should be made. Utilize
modern information systems, and connect with people
who control the budget and policy, to determine if modifications
are needed.
Evaluate the development efforts! Independent assessors
are beneficial because they are not responsible for
the success, so can be more objective. Critique the
program's design as well as implementation to determine
whether the process is reaching its goals. Look at short-term
outcomes and longer-term systems ability to function
and make a change in capacity, as this is the ultimate
goal.
Resources:
Energy
for Sustainable Development, A Policy Agenda
UNDP |
| |
| |
Email
this page to a friend
Updated:
2003/07/18
|
|
