| REGIONAL COOPERATION ON ENVIRONMENT, ECONOMY AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
To date, much research and advocacy has been done on the role of natural resource exploitation and economic activities in fuelling violent conflicts. Increasingly, attention has also been given to the positive role of transparent natural resource management in contributing to accountable governance processes. What remains less clear is how the peacebuilding potential of regional cooperation on economic, environmental and natural resource issues can be harnessed. Indeed, the ability of citizens to actively participate in and shape economic governance processes is of critical importance to the realisation of equitable livelihood opportunities and responsive government policy, at local, national and regional levels. How trans-boundary environmental and economic cooperation, and transparent natural resource management, can be operationalised to support such processes and promote peace needs to be more fully elaborated.
Taking a regional perspective, the IfP’s work will explore the ways and means that economic and environmental cooperation, including through trade and regulatory regimes, can actively contribute to the consolidation of peace. The cluster’s approach will focus on the role of external actors in supporting such processes and will encompass research, analysis and dialogue activities grounded in conflict-affected regions. In a first phase, the cluster will develop this work drawing on four regional cases studies: the South Caucasus, the Great Lakes Region in Central Africa, the Andean region and the Middle East. In the second phase, the cluster will build on case study findings to develop methods and instruments, and in some cases deepen in-country engagement, in order to: generate context-specific and general recommendations for different donors and actors; contribute to the development and/or adjustment of EU policies; and facilitate implementation of outcomes and recommendations.
The IfP partners collaborating in this work are Adelphi Research, European Peacebuilding Liason Office (EPLO) and International Alert.
Cluster coordinator: Annabelle Houdret
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