Landscape Approach Lessons Learnt: Solidaridad learning agenda on landscape innovation

Climate change, biodiversity loss, food security and natural resource management are the pressing issues of our time, at global scale and in very distinct local realities. Awareness and a sense of urgency among stakeholders are the starting point to act on these sustainability challenges, but the question is: how? And more importantly: in collaboration with whom?

Over the past five years Solidaridad has committed to innovating in our way of working through implementing a landscape approach. Based on the understanding that sustainability challenges expand beyond the farm gate of producers, beyond supply chain partnerships and beyond a commodity focus, we created a new point of departure in our programming by working with a multi-stakeholder platform in a landscape context. We committed to a way of working where stakeholder collaboration and adaptive management drive the change process by identifying challenges, priorities and solutions.

In this publication, we share the experiences from the implementation of Landscape Programming funded by Advocacy for Change (AfC) in the period 2016-2020. The report provides an introduction to the theory and concepts that underpin the landscape approach. Lessons are brought to life through case examples from landscape practitioners in Zambia, Tanzania, Paraguay, Nicaragua and Honduras. Lastly, this report shares the internal learning journey of Solidaridad and how our programming continues to evolve, driven by core values of inclusion and empowerment to define sustainability in a participatory and equitable way.

This report has been written for a broad target audience and is intended for both internal and external use, to help readers to become familiarized with the landscape approach as well as to inspire collaborative action for sustainable landscapes. You can view and download the report via the publication link below.

Solidaridad has implemented the Advocacy for Change (AfC) programme under the Dialogue and Dissent policy framework of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.