United Nations Poverty-Environment Initiative

The promotion of knowledge management and networking activities is one of the main roles of the Poverty-Environment Facility.

Knowledge materials

The Facility develops and collects knowledge materials including reviews, methodologies, tools, and examples from countries. It documents lessons learned and good-practices. These knowledge materials are provided to support those engaged in country-level environmental mainstreaming. This process is carried out in partnership with UNDP and UNEP thematic/technical units, and with external partners including other members of the Poverty-Environment Partnership (PEP).

Based on experience to date, successful environmental mainstreaming requires a programmatic approach— adapted to national circumstances. This framework has three phases and there are typically a cluster of tasks needed for each phase— for which a range of knowledge materials are available.

To access knowledge materials, please click on the relevant subject or section of the diagramme below.

Environmental mainstreaming is targeted at government processes for planning, budgeting, sector implementation, and local level implementation

	*Preparatory Phase:* Making the case: poverty-environment linkages	*Phase 1:* Integrating environment into national development processes	*Phase 2:* Building implementation capacity

	Preliminary assessments Review policy processes	Country-specific evidence Integrated Ecosystem Assessment Economic analysis	Poverty-environment monitoring Indicators and data collection
	Identify key poverty-environment linkages

		Influencing policy processes National processes – PRSP/MDG Sectoral and local processes	Budgeting and financing for environmental management Budget processes and finance options
	Show contribution of environment to economic development

	Awareness raising and partnership building National consensus and commitment	Policy interventions and programme development Strategies and policy reforms	Policy and programme implementation Sectoral and local implementation

	Institutional and capacity development Needs assessment	Institutional and capacity development Tactical capacity building	Institutional and capacity development Longer-term strengthening

	Stakeholder engagement and in-country donor coordination State actors: environment, finance and planning bodies, sector and local agencies, statistics office, and parliament Non-governmental actors: academia, private sector, civil society, media, and general public Donors: bilateral and multilateral in-country donors

Communities of practice

In the regions where the Poverty-Environment Initiative works, the Facility helps to develop regional communities of practice on environmental mainstreaming in the context of supporting country strategies to achieve the MDGs. The regional communities of practice have an operational orientation, with a focus on South-South dialogue and experience exchange, and provide a means for supporting the documentation and sharing of lessons, good practices and case studies. This includes dissemination of policy research, practical experiences and other knowledge resources.

In addition, a global e-network provides a platform for exchange, facilitates the synthesis and dissemination of lessons from country experiences, and expands access to knowledge resources on poverty-environment and environmental mainstreaming issues.

Information and knowledge products related to country programmes are also available on the PEI country pages:

Knowledge Management

Knowledge materials

Communities of practice