13 / 96
13
3 Introduction
4 Scope and context
During 2013, GRID-Arendal has further developed its strat-
egy
6
for the next 4 years.
Our
mission
is to support environ-
mentally sustainable development through UNEP and other
partners by communicating information that strengthens en-
vironmental management capacity and motivates decision-
makers to act
. And
our
vision
is
a society that understands,
values and protects the environment on which it depends
.
GRID-Arendal’s overall strategic directions are, amongst
others, to:
• Focus on building a portfolio of larger, long-termprojects.
• Strengthen our support to environmental conventions
and cross-border cooperation.
• Support the world’s transition to a ‘green economy.
• Increase cooperation with other UN organisations in
fulfilling the goals of the Rio+20 process.
In order to focus on larger long-term projects during the
biennium 2012/2013, GRID-Arendal went through a pro-
cess with UNEP to get involved in larger projects financed
significantly by the World Bank through its Global Environ-
ment Facility (GEF). This entailed both the opportunity to
use the funds under the agreement with MFA as “seed”
funds for the delivery of a larger programme, but also for
complicated processes and risks we had to take into ac-
count (see chapter on lessons learnt).
6. Annex 2: GRID-Arendal strategy directions 2014 - 2017
Increasingly, GRID-Arendal’s work involves environmental
conventions and thereby contributes to cross-boundary
co-operation. Good examples are the Tehran Convention
for the protection of the Caspian sea and the Abidjan Con-
vention, UNEP’s Regional Seas agreement of West-African
states.
Increasingly GRID-Arendal supports projects related to
“green economy”, one of the key agendas of UNEP, and
uses its communication and facilitation competences in
related fields such as “The Economics of Ecosystems and
Biodiversity” (TEEB).
Rio+20 and the outcome document
“The Future we Want”
became an important framework guiding GRID-Arendal’s
strategic planning during the last biennium. Strengthen-
ing the environmental dimension of sustainable develop-
ment and thereby UNEP and the co-operation among UN-
organisations on environmental fields has always been a
goal for the work of GRID-Arendal.
While the Final Report focuses on the work programme spec-
ified under the MFA PCA, the overview of programme deliv-
ery also summarizes the work undertaken by GRID-Arendal
beyond the Agreement (such as Polar-related activities). This
is done to show the close integration within and across the
programme areas and the co-benefits that derive from shar-
ing knowledge, skills and partners between projects.
effects of GRID-Arendal’s work under the PCA fall into one
of three categories along the results chain:
outputs
are the
direct products and services generated by programme
activities;
outcomes
are the effects that these products
and services have on the target group; and
impacts
are the
long-term changes, or improvements that occur in society
or in the state of the environment.
This is the Final Report on the Programme Cooperation
Agreement (PCA) between the Norwegian Ministry of
Foreign Affairs (MFA) and GRID-Arendal for the period
2012-2013 (the ‘biennium’). The Final Report provides an
overview of the
2012-2013 programme delivery and highlights
the results
that have been achieved during the biennium. A
detailed financial report is also included.
In line with the principles and terminology laid out in
NORAD’s guide on Results Based Management,
5
the
5. Results Management in Norwegian Development Cooperation: A
practical guide. NORAD on behalf of Norwegian Ministry of Foreign
Affairs (December 2008).