This podcast will begin with the reasons for why policymakers should concern themselves with forest governance. It will describe the FAO-PROFOR 3-pillar framework on forest governance. It will discuss how the framework can be used as an assessment tool--for measurement, diagnosis and monitoring forest sector governance challenges.

An introduction to the What, Why and How of forest governance assessment

The Open Learning Campus provides convenient and reliable access to the latest developments in topics, which address complex, real-world issues in priority areas such as governance, health, cities, climate change and public private partnerships.

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The Growth and Employment (GEM) Project, a World Bank Group funded project implemented by the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI), has provided technical advice to Office of the Vice-President on the establishment regional Innovation Hubs across Nigeria. GEM project is now inviting proposals from existing private sector operators or non-governmental organizations with innovative, viable and sustainable proposals for the establishment or expansion of Innovation Hubs in the South- East, South West, North-West, North-East or North-Central Zones of Nigeria. The webinar will be presenting key findings of a recently launched report on “catalyzing growth in Nigeria through regional innovation: opportunities and challenges for developing innovation hubs across Nigeria” and discuss the call for proposals for innovation hubs under the innovative market grant window of the GEM project.

Supporting Regional Innovation Hubs in Nigeria

Digital technologies have rapidly spread in much of the world. The number of internet users has more than tripled in a decade, and nearly 70 percent of the bottom fifth of the population in developing countries own a mobile phone. Despite this positive increase, digital divides remain in many countries: 60 percent of the world’s population is still off-line and therefore can’t fully participate in the digital economy, while many advanced economies are facing rising inequality and increasingly polarized labor markets due to the expanding automation. The World Development Report (WDR) 2016: Digital Dividends explores the impact of digital technologies on economic development, showing how these can promote inclusion, efficiency and innovation. It describes potential gains from new technologies but also issues related to digital dividends, risks, and policies that can help mitigate negative impacts. This webinar will feature a presentation by Deepak Mishra, Co-Director of the WDR 2016: Digital Dividends, who will talk about inequality and exclusion in access to digital technology, and the potential role of technology as a mechanism to promote social inclusion. The speaker will discuss how digital divides can be addressed to foster growth, job creation and better services, as well as reduce inequality and exclusion.

Digital divides and dividends: Productivity, inequality and liberty in the digital age

Many decisions in a watershed or a river/lake basin are hampered by availability of adequate information.  For example, which are the erosion hotspots in a watershed?  What is the flow at various points in a basin?   Which areas are susceptible to floods and droughts? What impact do upstream landuse changes or future climate scenarios have on its hydrology?  Answering these questions requires access to a range of multi-sectoral data that impacts multi-sectoral decisions in the basin context.

This webinar will set the watershed context for making decisions at different scales, illustrate what types of data are useful to help make such decisions, and overview of public-domain data (from in-situ and earth observation) curated by many organizations.  In particular, the session will introduce new opportunities for bottom-up (in-situ) monitoring with new sensors, and explore a rapidly expanding range of earth observation data products that are now accessible in the public domain.  A new innovative free World Bank App called Spatial Agent will be presented along with its associated learning resources on OLC.  This will demonstrate the powerful visualization of thousands of relevant (mostly global) data services provided by NASA, ESA, The World Bank, UN organizations, Universities, and other institutions around the world.

At the end of this webinar, we expect that the participants can gain a good appreciation of why spatial information is useful in a watershed/basin context, and be able to use the Spatial Agent App.  It will also introduce the Watershed Moments webinar series.

Accessing and Visualizing Multi-Sectoral Data in a Spatial Context (Spatial Agent)

Where there are unmet development challenges,   such as sanitation problems in the slums, last mile health provision, access to clean drinking water, rural electricity needs, etc -- social enterprises have developed business models to address these issues and service gaps, as well as devised innovative means to make their services/products accessible and affordable to the poor.  Social enterprises also often engage in inclusive employment to maximize the benefits to the local community, contributing to local skills development and driving greater upstream/ downstream value-chain activities.

As social enterprises prioritize social impact over profit, they are a natural ally for governments wanting to expand service delivery to the last mile, yet to do so in an economically sustainable way that minimizes fiscal outlays.

The webinar will look at some of the global social enterprise business models that could be replicated in new countries to improve the lives of those living in poverty. We will also explore public policy instruments to support the growth and potential of the social enterprises models to be scaled, replicated or mainstreamed through public or private channels of service delivery, including Bank operations.

The Business of Doing Good: Supporting Pro-poor Business Solutions to Poverty

Virginia began its experience with Public-Private Partnerships by passing the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) of 1995, which provided the legal framework for PPPs in the transportation sector. In 2002, the Virginia legislature passed the Public-Private Educational Facilities & Infrastructure Act (PPEA) to expand the possibility of PPP procurement outside the transportation sector. The Commonwealth has had a dedicated PPP organization within the state government since 2005, the current form of which is the Virginia Office of Public-Private Partnerships (VAP3). Virginia’s approach to PPP was codified in the publication of its PPTA Implementation Manuel and Guidelines in 2005. Updates, tools, and supplemental material have been developed since then, and the PPEA Implementation Manual and Guidelines was released in 2015.

Virginia has successfully implemented major PPP projects over the past decade, including a Design-Build-Operate-Maintain contract for the Capital Beltway Express Lanes, the Downtown/Midtown Tunnel/Martin Luther King Boulevard Extension in Hampton Roads, and the Interstate 95 express lanes in 2012. Currently, VAP3 is finalizing a contract for the Interstate 66 Outside the Beltway project.

Virginia’s PPP selection process occurs in three phases: Project Identification, Project Screening, and Project Development. Solicited projects and unsolicited proposals are entertained during Project Identification. Project Screening is a two-part, high-level analysis: High-Level Screening/Policy Review and Detail-Level Screening. If proposals continue to Project Development, they will be subjected to value-for-money and risk analysis.

This webinar will seek to expand upon Virginia’s PPP selection process, especially in identification and screening. The webinar will also discuss how Virginia’s experience works within the U.S. federal, state, and local infrastructure, and how applicable this experience can be for developing economies.

Virginia P3: How Proposals Are Identified and Screened for PPP Development with Morteza Farajian

World Bank's Open Learning Campus (audio)

An introduction to the What, Why and How of forest governance assessment

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