Cultivando Agua Boa (Cultivating Good Water)

The main objective of the Partnership Cultivando Agua Boa (Cultivating Good Water) is the care, protection and use of natural resources, using water as an element of integration to solve current environmental challenges, promoting at the same time a new balanced and integrated vision that converts the environmental challenges into social and economic benefits, with full participation of all the stakeholders and civil society.The partnership is being initiated by Brazil with the Dominican Republic, a Small Island Development State (SIDS). The initial phase also considers East Timor which is another SIDS. The partnership will result in positive results related to adaptation to and mitigation of climate change impacts. The Partnership Cultivating Good Water has already initiated its successful implementation, trough intensive training and formation courses as well as the transfer of technology with several countries. A second phase is expected to be initiated with countries such as Guatemala and Bolivia. With this partnership philosophy, inefficient habits of communities can be replaced by using sustainable active practices, focused specially in countries where natural resources are more limited, such as the case of many SIDS.The partnership has strong emphasis on social participation, promoting the awareness of huge existing problems in water basins and other water sources resulting from droughts and other climate change impacts. The idea is to initiate a process of the recovering of natural resources using a methodology designed to attend the local needs and specific realities. Among its actions, Cultivating Good Water promotes the utilization of renewable energy and the mitigation of greenhouse gases which are important actions against climate change. Working with the proven methodology of the partnership, partners will be able to elaborate a strategy of implementation for specific short, middle and long term actions, as well as to create public policies that enable a better management and utilization of resources. The partnership work plan and its methodological framework help create unified criteria of sustainability in order to develop joint actions with international institutions. Special attention is given for the use of economic resources for the benefit in the most vulnerable communities of the society.The Partnership Cultivating Good Water works with the objective of addressing all the three sustainable dimensions (social, economic and environmental) through the elaboration and development of different actions that help create a new culture of sustainability. Using the partnership systematic methodology, adjustment and implementation can be easily adapted to the realities of many developing countries, in particular SIDS. The partnership is designed to be implemented with a plan that incorporates the active participation of governments, private and public institutions, NGO's and all stakeholders. Also, the partnership represents an example of an effective South-South cooperation arrangement