Annual Report 2007

SHALIN is a Not for Profit Organisation registered in Finland. SHALIN facilitates capacity building and information exchange and networking between different groups in the search for common ground and development of strategies that ensure communities or groups are better equipped to design and determine their own future.

The chair to the Board Tiina Kukkamaaa noted that in 2007 SHALIN continued to consolidate activities in three key focus areas Environment and specifically Biodiversity and energy, social economic justice and Community focused tourism.  One cross cutting theme is societal and inter-cultural learning through volunteerism.  Our work has a local focus but with a global outlook.  These are going to remain the strategic focus for the next few years.

She also noted that at the global level, the issues of governance, energy and climate change have taken political and economic centre stage and the challenges of development have continued to be more pronounced.

The current mainframe thinking constrained by a global outlook will continue to marginalise communities.  When communities remain divorced and disengaged from the global economies the achievement of development goals, whichever they are will remain a challenge and sustainable development will remain a unachievable.

There is a need for a new stewardship that faces our challenges, focusing on local call for action and that galvanises the global community to commit resources towards creating new dynamics towards biomass regeneration, forests, and energy sources etc.  The leadership must also commit to the promotion of a just and equitable wealth creation process.

Projects:
In 2007 SHALIN received support from different sources and primarily the MFA (Ministry for Foreign Affairs Finland), our members and volunteers, partners (IPACC, IIED), and from other private sources.
From the MFA funding support, SHALIN facilitated the participation of 50 Global South partners at the 2007 World Social Forum in Nairobi.

Our forestry project GISEEM (GIS Enhanced Ecological Mapping for Improved Governance) started in January but with actual GIS process starting in midyear. This is a 3 year project.

In the 2007 we received further funding to support RESCUE network to promote the deployment of renewable energy.  The funding is for two years and the project will focus of capacity building of local artisans in renewable energy technologies mainly wind and biogas.  The project is scheduled to run as a pilot in 2008 and 2009.

The project will be implemented by SHALIN through the RESCUE Network in Kenya.

-Entered into a strategic partnership with International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) to co-publication research papers on Climate Change, Forestry and Resilience.  This will take place in 2008
-A strategic arrangement with IPACC (Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee) was to support the Mukogodo community to develop a 3 D Model of the Mukogodo Forest in Kenya within the framework of the GISEEM project.  The 3 D model was produced in 2007 but the action planning will be undertaken in 2008 onwards.
-Entered into an agreement with Helsinki University of Technology TKK to get students to use the projects in Kenya as part of their study and as well as a platform for SHALIN information awareness within Finland.

In May 2007 Shalin participated at the Global Village and produced newsletter with a focus theme on Biodiversity and Energy.  We also produced the first draft of the Kenya Forestry Policy review.  This will be formally published in 2008.

Volunteers:
In 2007 SHALIN placed 6 volunteers in Kenya.  The volunteers were engaged in different activities supporting SHALIN, our partners and enhancing a North South learning exchange. Volunteers have been instrumental in the strategic development and strengthening of the different partnerships (GISEEM project, RESCUE Network and the evolving Community Tourism Programme).  This dimension of our work helped promote career development and study/research opportunities for our volunteers especially in the area of Forestry and Energy research and in sustainable development in general.

Networking and Partnerships:
Our networking has continued to strengthen. In 2007 we started negotiations on possible collaboration with MS Kenya – they are already using the 3 D Model developed by the YPA as a tool for investigating conflict zones and innovative procedures of dealing with conflict.

IPACC partnership was the highlight of 2007 – where our collaboration and pooling of resources enabled us to support the Yiakku in developing the 3 D Model of the Mukogodo Forest.  The model has multiple uses including being a strategic tool for the planning of the management of the forest and the environs.

Kenya Finnish NGO Network
SHALIN together with KEPA (The Finnish Service Centre for Development Cooperation) organised a meeting bringing together Finnish NGOs working in Kenya.

Financial
The Audit report by Risto Ekholm from Audit Polar will show that we closed the year with a cash balance of 2704,20  realised through membership, fundraising and donations.

Summary of activities for the year 2006

SHALIN Suomi ry has concentrated on building networks over the last few years. We have also been able to actively support networking activities of groups primarily based in the Global South. Over the last year, SHALIN ry has concentrated on an information and media campaign. To this end SHALIN produced documentaries that were posted online. The combined viewer-ship of over the year 2006 is just over 10,870. Some of the videos were produced with the support of Siemenpuu Foundation and solidarity from friends.

SHALIN Suomi ry supported and participated in a joint Friends of the Earth, Shalin and NAA campaign on the India Scheduled Tribals Forest Bill campaign using our information platform (www.ngoblog.fi). We also have a second site that is basically a portal for videos on different thematic issues on development.

SHALIN Suomi ry in May 2006 put forward an application to the Finnish Foreign Ministry on GPS Enhanced Ecological Mapping for improved governance (GISEEM). The decision came through on the 7th December 2006. This is a partnership with two Kenyan NGOs (BEA and Porini Trust), a co-funding with GAIA Foundation and with a local supporting partnership of KY ry. The project will be implemented over 3 years. The funding is 110,000 Euro. SHALIN Suomi ry is in discussion with International Institute of Environment and Development (www.IIED.org) to submit the same framework proposal to the DFID Nairobi offices but focusing on a different aspect of integrating the GIS Spatial Data on Community Development and Environmental Initiatives for community planning.

In March 2006, SHALIN Suomi ry supported the Global Alliance on Community Ecological Governance (GA CEG) to participate at the FAO Agrarian Reform Conference in Brazil. The initiative spawned an active network on community ecological governance with members in Asia, Africa, Americas and Europe. The report from this meeting is available online (www.ngoblog.org/reports/).

In June – SHALIN jointly with KEPA and IPACC (Indigenous Peoples of Africa Organising Committee) organised a workshop on Ecological Mapping. It had an attendance of over 20 participants. A report on the workshop is available online.

We placed our first volunteers with our partners in Kenya. They have played a key role in defining our strategy in Kenya and specifically working with Mt Kenya Alternative Development Initiative and Monsoon Energy to develop the Renewable Energy for Schools for a Collective Universal Ecology (RESCUE) energy project framework. The RESCUE project has involved background and feasibility studies, which have provided information that will be used in developing the proposal to prospective partners. The idea is to link the provision of Wind generated energy to the technical skills development on computer assembly and general IT development in remote villages and schools. This we feel is a good strategy for concrete action on global warming, climate change and energy sovereignty for local communities.

Monsoon is the local entrepreneur who will deliver the technical skills on wind generators, which will include the development of technical skills for local artisans on the assembly of the wind turbines. This will ensure a high level of sustainability, replicability and affordability.

SHALIN ry in collaboration with Siemenpuu Foundation coordinated the participation of IPACC (HUGAFO) team at the AEPF and the AEPF side events in 2006. We also arranged for meeting at the KEPA premises to discuss “cooperation frameworks that work for the indigenous peoples” (The report can be found here at http://www.ngoblog.fi/reports/Indigenous.htm

Jointly with Mii ry (Saami Rovaniemi Association) got funding from FORMIN to assist Southern based Network organisations to participate at the WSF 2007. The networks supported included ABN (African Bio-Diversity Network), WIMSA (representing Southern Africa San community), HUGAFO from Kenya representing the Hunter Gatherer communities, and a few local CBOs representing different forest communities from across Kenya. The funding was for 16,000 Euro. The report to FORMIN can be found and downloaded from here.

In 2006, SHALIN brought together AFRIPAD- (African Initiative for Alternative Peace and Development) Kenya (http://www.ngoblog.fi/papers/AFRIPAD.htm) and UK Open University who have since set up a working partnership to research on community museums in Kenya. The Open University UK (Lotte Hughes) and SHALIN are seeking for specific areas of further collaboration.