Trilateral Partnership in support of the UNESCO Wadden Sea World Heritage
Common Wadden Sea Secretariat
(
Intergovernmental organization
)
#SDGAction46353
Description
The Partners to the partnership are committed to contribute to and support an efficient and effective protection and management of the transboundary Wadden Sea World Heritage (WSWH), to safeguard its Outstanding Universal Value for future generations and to contribute to a more sustainable Wadden Sea region. The initiative aims to enhance ownership and to build an extended and stable, multi-level and cross-border community for the benefit of the WSWH in a networking approach, complementing governmental and intergovernmental efforts in delivering on the goals of the WSWH strategy.
In 2014, the TWSC agreed to investigate the feasibility of a Wadden Sea World Heritage Competence Centre or network, including work contents, cooperation partners, organization, structure and budget. Resulting proposals were taken up by a trilateral working group, where initially interested partner sectors where involved at operational level. This preparatory group scoped and built up the trilateral partnership initiative with strong support from the Wadden Sea states. In June 2019, representatives from the Partner Organisations/- networks commonly signed a MoU in alignment of their interests, sharing a common purpose and mission.
The Hub functions as networking unit in cooperation with the strategic partners for the Trilateral WH Partnership. It will make best use of synergies and prevent duplications of activities in the region by complementing and supporting partnership initiatives and -programs at national or regional level. Strategic partners will benefit through the activities of the hub by sharing services, from enhanced visibility, credibility and reputation, political attention, an internationally and regionally raised profile as well as connectivity within the partnership’s network. It will provide added value to all partners by increasing effectiveness and efficiency on their part.
The Hub will supports the strategic partners to collaborate, encourage and facilitate effective and trustful working relationships and networks among each other, while sharing information, knowledge and experience.
A mid-term Wadden Sea World Heritage Strategy and implementation roadmap as a rolling document helps the partnership to scope and orientate targeted action. The Partners carry out common transboundary projects and activities within the framework of the MoU and guided by the SMART principle. In different partner constellations, work fields in nature conservation management; international cooperation; communication, information and education; activation of the WSWH designation as a brand; regional sustainable development, sustainable tourism; research and monitoring are addressed, also integrating cultural and historical values. Terms for projects and activities are set out in contractual partnership agreements.
Practise examples for current activities are the EU-funded Interreg project „PROWAD-LINK“ on World Heritage brand activation in collaboration with local businesses and their networks, fostering their sustainability performance, or the „International Wadden Sea School“ -project on education and interpretation of the WSWH together with environmental NGOs.
Further projects are currently under development f. e. about climate change adaptation, international cooperation with African states on the East Atlantic Flyway of migratory birds, shipping safety, light pollution and dark sky, research agenda.
The Partnership Hub will help to activate the WSWH designation for sustainable development, to foster brand engagement of strategic partners and stakeholders, f. e. by partnership programs, to enhance sustainable performance of partners, to co-create products and offers in accordance with brand values, to provide for a knowledge exchange platform.
A “learning culture” will be fostered by the partnership through knowledge partnerships, i.e. one where all partners and their networks will be able to learn from one another by allowing new ideas to come forward in an open exchange of experience. The Hub will play a central role in the endeavour to create added value derived from effective interaction and communication by providing a platform for interactions between researchers, policy makers, regional organisations including educational institutions, entrepreneurs and the public at large. It will support the implementation of a trilateral research agenda which aims at establishing a joint program on research and monitoring relevant to the Wadden Sea World Heritage.
The hub will facilitate and organise meetings, workshops and conferences.
The Trilateral WH Partnership is based upon existing, structures with a long history of achievements and contributions of stakeholders’ and partner‘s networks. The associated networks to the trilateral partnership initiative reach out to estimated 200 hundred organisations/actors. The trilateral partnership also complements site-specific partnership initiatives for nature conservation and sustainable development at national and regional level. The stakeholder networks involved in the strategic partnership have different levels of formal internal organisation or institutionalisation. While some are formally organised by the governments working together in the TWSC (Wadden Sea Board; Research Committee), others are constituted as private association (Wadden Sea (stakeholder) Forum), but most are established as long-term groupings with lesser formal ways of working (Wadden Sea Team of environmental NGO’’s; network group Education, network group Sustainable Tourism). The initiative is open to further stakeholder networks and organisations, which commit to the objectives and are willing to collaborate within the framework of the MoU.
Structure and set-up of the partnership follow a stepwise approach to secure that it is flexible and adaptable as the partnership develops further. The partners agreed on a first concept for the set-up of a Partnership Hub (November 2019) as networking unit. The trilateral Partnership Hub provides day-to-day management and operation to support the partnership. During the three years start-up-phase (2019-2022), the team of the Partnership Hub is associated to the Common Wadden Sea Secretariat to the TWSC, thus providing a backbone during the start-up phase. The Hub supports the strategic partners to collaborate, encourage and facilitate effective and trustful working relationships and networks among each other, while sharing information, knowledge and experience. The Hub facilitates planning of the work and initiation of projects and common actions and assists partners in applications for funding. The start-up phase of the Partnership Hub will be concluded by an evaluation in 2022, including a review of the governance and management structures.
The trilateral partnership includes organisations and/or stakeholder–networks of different types with a trilateral (NL-D-DK) focus: 32 signatories to a MoU, representing different partner’s sectors joined the partnership:
o Trilateral Cooperation on the Protection of the Wadden Sea (TWSC);
o The Wadden Sea (stakeholder) Forum;
o Wadden Sea Team of green NGOs: WWF, BUND, Der Mellumrat, Schutzstation Wattenmeer, It Fryske Gea, Natuurmonumenten;
o Network Sustainable Tourism: Die Nordsee GmbH, Ostfriesland Tourismus GmbH, Nordsee-Tourismus-Service GmbH, Merk Fryslan, Marketing Groningen, Destinatiemarketing Holland boven Amsterdam, Ostfriesische Inseln GmbH;
o Trilateral research community: Dutch Waddenacademie; Konsortium Deutsche Meeresforschung, Forskningsudvalg Nationalpark Vadehavet.
SDGS & Targets
Goal 8
Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all
8.1
8.1.1
Annual growth rate of real GDP per capita
8.2
Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors
8.2.1
Annual growth rate of real GDP per employed person
8.3
Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services
8.3.1
Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex
8.4
Improve progressively, through 2030, global resource efficiency in consumption and production and endeavour to decouple economic growth from environmental degradation, in accordance with the 10-Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption and Production, with developed countries taking the lead
8.4.1
Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP
8.4.2
Domestic material consumption, domestic material consumption per capita, and domestic material consumption per GDP
8.5
8.5.1
Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities
8.5.2
Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
8.6
8.6.1
Proportion of youth (aged 15-24 years) not in education, employment or training
8.7
Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms
8.7.1
Proportion and number of children aged 5‑17 years engaged in child labour, by sex and age
8.8
Protect labour rights and promote safe and secure working environments for all workers, including migrant workers, in particular women migrants, and those in precarious employment
8.8.1
Fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers, by sex and migrant status
8.8.2
Level of national compliance with labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining) based on International Labour Organization (ILO) textual sources and national legislation, by sex and migrant status
8.9
By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products
8.9.1
Tourism direct GDP as a proportion of total GDP and in growth rate
8.10
Strengthen the capacity of domestic financial institutions to encourage and expand access to banking, insurance and financial services for all
8.10.1
(a) Number of commercial bank branches per 100,000 adults and (b) number of automated teller machines (ATMs) per 100,000 adults
8.10.2
Proportion of adults (15 years and older) with an account at a bank or other financial institution or with a mobile-money-service provider
8.a
8.a.1
Aid for Trade commitments and disbursements
8.b
By 2020, develop and operationalize a global strategy for youth employment and implement the Global Jobs Pact of the International Labour Organization
8.b.1
Existence of a developed and operationalized national strategy for youth employment, as a distinct strategy or as part of a national employment strategy
Goal 14
Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
14.1
By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution
14.1.1
(a) Index of coastal eutrophication; and (b) plastic debris density
14.2
By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans
14.2.1
Number of countries using ecosystem-based approaches to managing marine areas
14.3
Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification, including through enhanced scientific cooperation at all levels
14.3.1
14.4
By 2020, effectively regulate harvesting and end overfishing, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and destructive fishing practices and implement science-based management plans, in order to restore fish stocks in the shortest time feasible, at least to levels that can produce maximum sustainable yield as determined by their biological characteristics
14.4.1
14.5
By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information
14.5.1
14.6
By 2020, prohibit certain forms of fisheries subsidies which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, eliminate subsidies that contribute to illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and refrain from introducing new such subsidies, recognizing that appropriate and effective special and differential treatment for developing and least developed countries should be an integral part of the World Trade Organization fisheries subsidies negotiation
14.6.1
Degree of implementation of international instruments aiming to combat illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing
14.7
By 2030, increase the economic benefits to Small Island developing States and least developed countries from the sustainable use of marine resources, including through sustainable management of fisheries, aquaculture and tourism
14.7.1
Sustainable fisheries as a proportion of GDP in small island developing States, least developed countries and all countries
14.a
Increase scientific knowledge, develop research capacity and transfer marine technology, taking into account the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Criteria and Guidelines on the Transfer of Marine Technology, in order to improve ocean health and to enhance the contribution of marine biodiversity to the development of developing countries, in particular small island developing States and least developed countries
14.a.1
14.b
Provide access for small-scale artisanal fishers to marine resources and markets
14.b.1
Degree of application of a legal/regulatory/policy/institutional framework which recognizes and protects access rights for small‐scale fisheries
14.c
Enhance the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources by implementing international law as reflected in United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides the legal framework for the conservation and sustainable use of oceans and their resources, as recalled in paragraph 158 of "The future we want"
14.c.1
Number of countries making progress in ratifying, accepting and implementing through legal, policy and institutional frameworks, ocean-related instruments that implement international law, as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, for the conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and their resources
Goal 15
Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
15.1
By 2020, ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements
15.1.1
15.1.2
15.2
By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally
15.2.1
15.3
By 2030, combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world
15.3.1
15.4
By 2030, ensure the conservation of mountain ecosystems, including their biodiversity, in order to enhance their capacity to provide benefits that are essential for sustainable development
15.4.1
15.4.2
15.5
Take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats, halt the loss of biodiversity and, by 2020, protect and prevent the extinction of threatened species
15.5.1
15.6
Promote fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and promote appropriate access to such resources, as internationally agreed
15.6.1
15.7
Take urgent action to end poaching and trafficking of protected species of flora and fauna and address both demand and supply of illegal wildlife products
15.7.1
15.8
By 2020, introduce measures to prevent the introduction and significantly reduce the impact of invasive alien species on land and water ecosystems and control or eradicate the priority species
15.8.1
15.9
By 2020, integrate ecosystem and biodiversity values into national and local planning, development processes, poverty reduction strategies and accounts
15.9.1
(a) Number of countries that have established national targets in accordance with or similar to Aichi Biodiversity Target 2 of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020 in their national biodiversity strategy and action plans and the progress reported towards these targets; and (b) integration of biodiversity into national accounting and reporting systems, defined as implementation of the System of Environmental-Economic Accounting
15.a
Mobilize and significantly increase financial resources from all sources to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and ecosystems
15.a.1
(a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments
15.b
Mobilize significant resources from all sources and at all levels to finance sustainable forest management and provide adequate incentives to developing countries to advance such management, including for conservation and reforestation
15.b.1
(a) Official development assistance on conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity; and (b) revenue generated and finance mobilized from biodiversity-relevant economic instruments
15.c
Enhance global support for efforts to combat poaching and trafficking of protected species, including by increasing the capacity of local communities to pursue sustainable livelihood opportunities
15.c.1
Goal 17
Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
17.1
Strengthen domestic resource mobilization, including through international support to developing countries, to improve domestic capacity for tax and other revenue collection
17.1.1
17.1.2
17.2
Developed countries to implement fully their official development assistance commitments, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of ODA/GNI to developing countries and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries; ODA providers are encouraged to consider setting a target to provide at least 0.20 per cent of ODA/GNI to least developed countries
17.2.1
17.3
Mobilize additional financial resources for developing countries from multiple sources
17.3.1
Additional financial resources mobilized for developing countries from multiple sources
17.3.2
17.4
Assist developing countries in attaining long-term debt sustainability through coordinated policies aimed at fostering debt financing, debt relief and debt restructuring, as appropriate, and address the external debt of highly indebted poor countries to reduce debt distress
17.4.1
17.5
Adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for least developed countries
17.5.1
Number of countries that adopt and implement investment promotion regimes for developing countries, including the least developed countries
17.6
Enhance North-South, South-South and triangular regional and international cooperation on and access to science, technology and innovation and enhance knowledge sharing on mutually agreed terms, including through improved coordination among existing mechanisms, in particular at the United Nations level, and through a global technology facilitation mechanism
17.6.1
Fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 inhabitants, by speed
17.7
Promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies to developing countries on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed
17.7.1
Total amount of funding for developing countries to promote the development, transfer, dissemination and diffusion of environmentally sound technologies
17.8
Fully operationalize the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017 and enhance the use of enabling technology, in particular information and communications technology
17.8.1
17.9
Enhance international support for implementing effective and targeted capacity-building in developing countries to support national plans to implement all the Sustainable Development Goals, including through North-South, South-South and triangular cooperation
17.9.1
Dollar value of financial and technical assistance (including through North-South, South‑South and triangular cooperation) committed to developing countries
17.10
Promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda
17.10.1
17.11
Significantly increase the exports of developing countries, in particular with a view to doubling the least developed countries’ share of global exports by 2020
17.11.1
Developing countries’ and least developed countries’ share of global exports
17.12
Realize timely implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all least developed countries, consistent with World Trade Organization decisions, including by ensuring that preferential rules of origin applicable to imports from least developed countries are transparent and simple, and contribute to facilitating market access
17.12.1
Weighted average tariffs faced by developing countries, least developed countries and small island developing States
17.13
Enhance global macroeconomic stability, including through policy coordination and policy coherence
17.13.1
17.14
Enhance policy coherence for sustainable development
17.14.1
17.15
Respect each country’s policy space and leadership to establish and implement policies for poverty eradication and sustainable development
17.15.1
17.16
Enhance the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, complemented by multi-stakeholder partnerships that mobilize and share knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources, to support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in all countries, in particular developing countries
17.16.1
Number of countries reporting progress in multi-stakeholder development effectiveness monitoring frameworks that support the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
17.17
Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships
17.17.1
Amount in United States dollars committed to public-private partnerships for infrastructure
17.18
By 2020, enhance capacity-building support to developing countries, including for least developed countries and small island developing States, to increase significantly the availability of high-quality, timely and reliable data disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts
17.18.1
Statistical capacity indicators
17.18.2
17.18.3
Number of countries with a national statistical plan that is fully funded and under implementation, by source of funding
17.19
By 2030, build on existing initiatives to develop measurements of progress on sustainable development that complement gross domestic product, and support statistical capacity-building in developing countries
17.19.1
17.19.2
Proportion of countries that (a) have conducted at least one population and housing census in the last 10 years; and (b) have achieved 100 per cent birth registration and 80 per cent death registration
SDG 14 targets covered
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| 14.2 | By 2020, sustainably manage and protect marine and coastal ecosystems to avoid significant adverse impacts, including by strengthening their resilience, and take action for their restoration in order to achieve healthy and productive oceans |
| 14.5 | By 2020, conserve at least 10 per cent of coastal and marine areas, consistent with national and international law and based on the best available scientific information |
Deliverables & Timeline
Resources mobilized
Partnership Progress
Feedback
Share
