SER Europe Strategy 2021-2027:
Engage in the Strategy implementation!
Index
1. Background and FAQS
2. Participation and process
3. Resulting documents
1. Background and FAQS
Why was the strategy developed?
The European Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SERE) wanted to renew its strategy, formerly developed for the period 2016-2021. The former SERE 2016-21 strategy focused on four strategic lines: Policy, Governance, Events and Tools.
The process for renewing the SERE strategy considered collectively reviewing and evaluating the former strategy by taking into account what had been achieved, how the current context has changed and what future trends, as well as regional and political frameworks, might change SERE’s work.
In which regional and political framework was SERE strategy developed?
The development of the new SERE strategy 2021-27 was framed in the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration with its aim to facilitate global cooperation for the restoration of degraded and destroyed ecosystems and to promote efforts by national governments, the private sector, NGOs and regular individuals. At the same time, the European Commission published a Biodiversity Strategy for 2030, intending to put EU biodiversity on the path to recovery by 2030. One of its core commitments was to propose, by the end of 2021, a legally binding instrument setting EU targets to restore damaged ecosystems by 2030.
Who was involved in SERE strategy development?
The SERE strategy was developed following an iterative and participatory decision-making process involving – in different steps and at different times – all stakeholders directly or indirectly involved and concerned by the work of SERE. Stakeholders included the board of directors, cooperation networks, affiliated members, external key stakeholders, as well as followers and the interested public at large. A defined focus group, composed of mixed individuals, worked through the strategy development process in consecutive workshops. Their reflections were fed by results from member surveys and votes, public polls and interviews with key stakeholders.
Who moderated the process?
Mr. Marc Haering acted as a facilitator of the strategy development process of SERE. Mr. Haering holds a diploma degree in Hydrology from the University of Freiburg (Germany) and a double master degree in Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) from the Technical University of Cologne and the University of Jordan in Amman. In his previous function as advisor within the Integrated Water Resources Management Program (AGIRE) of GIZ in Morocco, Mr. Haering was in charge of coordinating and facilitating multi-stakeholder processes for the sustainable use of water resources. In his current function as Independent Partner to LISODE, Mr. Haering provides analytical work and consulting services in the field of intersectoral coordination processes, stakeholder dialogue, communication and public participation.
What’s the outcome? How to use it and when to update it?
The outcome of each step was documented and resulted in a proposal of the Strategy 2021-2027 for SERE, including an action plan defining operations, responsibilities, means and a timeline for the implementation of the SERE strategy and the verification of achieved milestones.
2. Participation and Process
The co-creation process was designed as follows. The initial SERE survey was held until September 22nd, 2021:
A central part of the participation process was a Focus Group composed of five members of the board of directors, seven senior and junior members from academia, and four senior and junior professional members from the private and public sectors. They worked through the strategy development process in two consecutive workshops. Their reflections were fed by results from member surveys and votes, public polls and interviews with key stakeholders. The workgroup met twice online on the 6th and the 15th of October 2021 with a detailed workshop agenda each day, reaching a joint proposal for SER Europe Strategy.
The Strategy Focus Group members were selected via an open call to all SER Europe members, and the final selection considered gender, age, geographical distribution, and length of SERE membership. The Focus Group members were: Elise Buisson, Rory Canavan, Jordi Cortina-Segarra, Kris Decleer, Stijn den Haan, Catherine Farrell, Simonetta Fraschetti, Cristina Gambi, Rodolfo Gentili, Jim Harris, Aveliina Helm, Sara Peláez Sanchez, Patricia Pinto da Silva, Patricia Rodríguez González, Marija Sabolić, and Cristian Tetelea. Facilitator: Marc Haering; Support: Jordi Pietx.
An online survey complemented the work of the focus group to all members and interested non-members at the beginning of the process. A second and more specific poll was carried out, where members voted on strategic options developed by the focus group.
3. Resulting documents
