CEPA Toolkit Survey Results
26 October 2010 | News story
Frits Hesselink, CEC Special Advisor, provides this summary report based on 144 responses to a June-August 2010 survey of CBD focal points and CEC members about their experiences when using the CEPA Toolkit and their recommendations for future use.
As a contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity, the initiators and authors of the CEPA Toolkit conducted a survey among users to explore how to improve biodiversity communication. This report highlights the results.
The Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) distributed the CEPA Toolkit survey among 53 CBD focal points. The IUCN Secretariat distributed the survey to 700 CEC members. In total, 144 experts responded for a response of 26% (18% is considered good). HECT Consultancy donated the time to carry out the survey.
Satisfaction: Respondents are highly satisfied with the toolkit. They like the perspective of change and the orientation towards biodiversity results. Because the toolkit is comprehensive, users from many different professions find practical tools that they can immediately use.
- 96% of respondents (and all CDB focal points) would recommend the toolkit to their collegues or already have done so, as it answers a demand for practical information on CEPA at various levels.
Many respondents have recommended the toolkit in their professional networks, as a credible and authoritative source of information. They consider it useful for students, beginners, as well as seasoned practitioners.
Respondents would like the toolkit translated into local languages. They indicate that SCBD and IUCN should invest more in PR and distribution of the toolkit to bring it to the attention of national policy makers and leaders of local conservation initiatives.
The toolkit’s comprehensiveness also has some drawbacks. It can be difficult to easily find what one is looking for, respondents said, both in the hard copy and in the electronic version, which is not considered very user-friendly. There seems to be a need for even more information tailored to local and cultural contexts, exchange of experiences and case studies. Also, the comprehensiveness seems to create a demand for more training workshops and distance education to fully take advantage of all the information and tools.