Two local Vincentian Civil Society Organisations, collaborate to Implement the (Pisces) Project.

St. George’s

Grenada

2018-05-02

Canari, a regional natural resources management NGO based in Trinidad and Tobago today commenced training in mentoring nature-based micro and small enterprises, Phase 4  of the Powering Innovations in Civil Society and Enterprises for Sustainability in the Caribbean (PISCES) project.

Local Civil Society Organisations, SustainableGrenadines Inc (SusGren) the country partner and Constructive Solutions Inc. were both approved to provide mentorship and leadership to SME’s within St Vincent and the Grenadines.

A representative from Canari Keisha Sandy told participants, the objective of the Pisces project is to support innovative actions by Caribbean civil society and coastal community small and micro-enterprises for the conservation of marine and coastal biodiversity and development of sustainable and resilient livelihoods.

The three-day workshop is being held in St. Georges Grenada from Wednesday 02 – Friday 04 May 2018. This training workshop introduces experienced MSE mentors to tools and techniques developed by CANARI to effectively support MSEs in this niche to sustainably use natural resources while developing strong and sustainable businesses.

This approach marries conservation of natural resources with community livelihood development. Mentors will go on to help build the capacity of 15 targeted MSEs across the 10 PISCES project countries inclusive of:

Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, The Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

Vincentian, Dr. Ashley C. John, Social Entrepreneur and Executive Director of Constructive Solutions Inc. was approved as the Mentor for selected MSE’s within St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the Vincentian team will be working alongside these recipients until the estimated completion of the PISCES project December 2020.

A representative Akosua Edwards from Canari told the participants that the primary target participants are the 10 MSE mentors from the PISCES project countries who were
invited to participate by the project partners. They are experienced in enterprise development and have skills in areas like business planning, marketing, and quality assurance of products and services.

The MSE mentors will build their capacity to effectively support nature-based MSEs in the Caribbean. They will go on to mentor the 15 MSEs targeted for support under the PISCES project.Additional participants will be invited who are from organizations that support, through technical services or finance, the development of MSEs in the Caribbean. Support agencies will benefit from enhancing their appreciation of how to more effectively support nature-based MSEs and identify opportunities for knowledge sharing and collaboration under the PISCES project.

Today participants had the opportunity to learn about the benefits and fra.mework of mentoring by Chief Entrepreneurial Expert;  Dr Marcia Brandon of the Caribbean Centre for Excellence for Sustainable Livelihoods, a regional entrepreneurial development organization based in Barbados.

Other activities during the workshop include:

Field trip to explore:
• opportunities and challenges around using coastal and marine resources for
enterprise development.
• building strong and sustainable nature-based MSEs
• Selecting potential target MSEs and developing a programme of work for the
MSE mentors to build the capacity of target MSEs
• Identifying potential knowledge sharing and collaboration with
complementary initiatives supporting MSEs

By the end of the workshop, participants will:
1. Have enhanced understanding of the socio-economic context for MSE development in coastal communities.
2. Have enhanced appreciation of nature-based MSEs in coastal communities, their relationship with the management of coastal and marine resources and associated opportunities and challenges.
3. Have enhanced knowledge of CANARI tools and techniques for building capacity of nature-based MSEs
4. Understand their role as mentors and input into selecting the 15 target MSEs and developing the approach to supporting MSEs under the PISCES project
5. Identify potential knowledge sharing and collaboration with complementary initiatives supporting MSEs

Disclaimer: CANARI is coordinating implementation of this project funded by the European UnionEuropeAid/150699/DH/ACT/Multi-7 Marine biodiversity and forest governance(FLEGT/REDĐ+) Civil society and small and microenterprise innovation for marine and coastal conservation in the Caribbean.