Catchment Collective Action Drive

So we have started the process to get to catchment collective action. The champions are on board, they are committed and supportive of the idea. It is time to move one step further. In most of our catchment collective action work, we started with creating a joint understanding of the catchment.

For this we use the Catchment Passport Methodology. The methodology provides a way to collect, structure, condense, publish, share and validate catchment information in the form of an offline catchment passport or better even an online catchment information repository. The methodology is easy to apply and leads to a first concrete output of the work on catchment collective action. The catchment passport provides a common base of information to all stakeholders based on official, science-based and reliable data. The catchment passport is a key input in kicking off stakeholder engagement.

A catchment passport:

• is based on authoritative clearly referenced information sources like global and local data, scientific papers, government reports,

• is not exhaustive but condenses in clear messages the state of the catchment, the challenges, risks and opportunities for action

• is not final, it can always be revised if new authoritative information becomes available through a transparent and independent process of revision

• provides an overview of the stakeholders in the region.

• is fully aligned with the relevant water stewardship standards.

If done professionally, the catchment passport can be an extensive and expensive activity. Often however, there is already a lot of information available with the champion or group of champions in the catchment. Then the catchment passport helps structuring the information, condensing it and drawing some quick conclusions on the challenges in the catchment and the opportunities for action.

Do you want to create a catchment passport for your catchment please take a look a the 3-page Catchment Passport guide. Do you need some help, please let us know, we will see how we can support you.

A lot of things can be done with little to no money but if you really want to have impact in catchment collective action, what is needed is money. There is obviously no guarantee that your collective action idea will obtain the finance it requires. However, there are some key things that can be done to increase the likelihood of finding money for the catchment collective action project.

The first thing about finding money is that we need to fully understand that people and organisations only spend money on things that they are important to them, things that interest them, things that will provide benefits or value to them. Thus it is important to position the catchment collective action project in terms of the value and benefits that a potential financier may obtain. The more direct the benefit or interest is, the easier it is to convince people to spend money.

The second thing to understand is that money is not found everywhere. Certain people and organisations are more likely to have and willing to spend money then others. When looking for money, we need to focus on those people and organisations that have money to spend and are likely to have a willingness to spend it. 

The third thing is that money attracts money. Meaning that when you find the first monies that are put in the project, these funds make it more likely that you will find other financiers that also want to spend money. Often, the most difficult task is finding these first monies. Once they are in, they can be used to attract the interest of other potential financiers.

Finally, money is money, in the frame of catchment collective action with a societal aim, small donations are often as valuable as larger ones. Many small donations not only provide finance but also provides a form of proof about the commitment of a group of financiers and/or partners.

How to get started with raising the finance for the catchment collective action project?

The key in fundraising is knowing what you need, why you need it and what is the value to the person that you are talking to. To prepare yourself, it is handy to create a brief pitch document with convincing arguments on the benefits and value and the cost of obtaining these. The document could address various types of funders or funding. The types of funding that we have encountered in our catchment collective action projects are:

• Foreign Embassy funding in agricultural or water programmes – typical low level of funding that often requires a level of co-financing (can often be provided in kind)
• Environmental NGO funding – typical not very high seed funding for starting the programme
• Water and agriculture sustainability initiatives like IDH and WRAP – these initiatives group funding from value chain contributions to the intiatives
• Private corporate foundations – typical medium level one off or multi year funding aligned with sustainability targets and policies of the company concerned
• Direct funding from companies in the catchment, often part of the sustainability funding or CSR programme
• Government funding in line with water, environmental and agricultural policies and programmes, often larger sums of funding with co-financing requirements
• Private family foundation funding, typical longer term financing with clear societal objectives
• Private donations – low level and often one off funding from individuals

Any activity on fundraising needs to be an integral part of the overall networking and relationship building by the project, it is not a separate task. The group of champions (in How to Start?) is key in the process, they should actively ‘sell’ the project to generate potential fundraising leads. The coordination of the fundraising activities and the consistent follow up of leads is a continuous task of the project leader in the initial stages of the project.

We hope this helps you to get started, if you have questions or require some support please reach out to us, we will do our best to support you or even bring you in touch with potential financiers that we know off. 

The term collective action is quickly becoming a catch-all label for new methods, frameworks, and approaches. To better ensure that a catchment collective action initiative works towards improving the health of our catchments, we felt the need for a few basic principles as a guide. These principles support the way we talk about the intiative, how it is designed, how the work is organised and carried out and what what to work on and what not. We use the principles as a checklist to keep us on the right track. Here we share them, not as an eternal truth but as a learning to use and adapt to the specific context and need of your catchment collective action initiative.

For us a catchment collective action initiative...

Has the catchment as its client, it does not seek to respond to the interests and objectives of a particular sector, organization or stakeholder group, but addresses the catchment as a whole. It seeks to improve the health and resilience of the catchment by involving bringing a wide variety stakeholders to address shared catchment water challenges.

Is neutral, apolitical, science-based, and non-judgmental. the initiative shares science-based information to build a shared understanding and vision for the catchment. It creates capacity stimulates stakeholder engagement (see understand the catchment).

Advocates for full legal and regulatory compliance, this compliance is non-negotiable recognising that this is fundamental for reaching the objective of achieving a more resilient and healthier catchment.

Is evidence-based, avoiding the risk of capture by specific stakeholders, by keeping dialogues open and actively listening to the needs of the catchment and responding to the broadest range of stakeholders possible.

Does not duplicate efforts, and builds on existing frameworks and programmes, collaborates with like-minded and aligned initiatives and engages public sector to work toward shared goals.

Is inclusive and transparent, through providing access to information that is openly and freely accessible, easily understandable to all stakeholders, seeking inclusive stakeholder engagement in and creating and driving a shared vision with all involved.

Is locally owned, locally led and self-branded, members or partners will be showcased as being part of the catchment collective action initiative but the objective is that it is not “housed” by a particular stakeholder, but rather by the initiative itself.

We have used these principles to guide the development and implementation of the catchment collective action initiatives we support. Please tell us know what you think about them. We would be happy to hear from you.