1. MEDIUM TERM LME COMMUNITY STRATEGY: FRAMEWORK FOR DISCUSSION
Ivica Trumbić, GEF LME:LEARN

2. Why Strategy?
A strategy is a way of describing what and how we are going to get things done TOGETHER
A good strategy will take into account existing barriers and resources and will follow the overall vision, mission, and objectives of the initiative.
What is the LME Community?
Marine and coastal practitioners (LME, MPA, MSP, ICM, LMMA, corresponding Regional Seas, Regional Fisheries Bodies ), leaders, international and national organizations and institutions, NGOs, business community…
A bottom up process with buy in from all stakeholders
A key resource to engage other stakeholders

3. LME Community (medium term) strategy
Globally, it is about the ocean governance, i.e. about managing and using the world's oceans and their resources in ways that keep our oceans healthy, productive, safe, secure and resilient (EU International Oceans Strategy)
However, more precisely, it is about framing activities of the LME community in medium term within which LME projects will contribute to
It is a strategic framework where LME projects/initiatives are nested and/or get the strategic “inspiration”
It is about setting targets for our outcomes as a global community on which we can measure our progress
It is about defining how we can create awareness about our impacts on ecosystems in the public space

4. Two levels of presentation: LME Community vs LME Consultation Meeting
First level, the wider context: LME Community medium term strategic framework
What is the objective of the discussion?
To lay the grounds for the strategy
To express views on the objectives and outcomes of a strategy
To chart major strategic directions
Second level, the LME Consultation meeting as a core mechanism to advance the medium term strategy
To define strategic lines of work in the coming years, building on experience, what worked, what didn’t, etc
Agree on organizational issues

5. Structure of the strategy
Introduction
Current situation
Issues and problems
Opportunities
What does the LME Community need?
Mission statement
Vision: what do want to achieve in the medium term
Goal of the strategy
Timeframe
Objectives
Specific objectives and targets
Operational objectives

6. Structure (continued)
Major strategic directions
Present new strategic directions that should be the basis of the strategy and will be detailed through the components of the strategy
Components of the strategy
Detailed presentation of the strategic components
Description
Activities
Partners
Tools for the strategy implementation
Stakeholders/Partnerships
Financing
IW:LEARN
Annual LME Consultation Meeting
Action plan
Monitoring the implementation of the strategy

7. Major strategic directions
Evolution of the ocean governance framework
Link with the UN SDG agenda and ABNJ negotiations: global vs regional approach
Status of regional ocean governance and role of the LME Community
Technical cooperation to advance EBM within and across regions
Blue economy
Thinking out of the box and articulating contribution of LME to Business Community
Involvement of and partnerships with the private sector/business sector
LME Investment Forum: how realistic it may be in the medium term
Marine Spatial Planning: will the MSP be integrated in the LME initiatives or the MSP initiatives will complement the LME ones
Rebranding of TDA/SAP approach in the framework of the Blue Economy
LMEs and 2030 Agenda
What elements of the LME initiatives/projects need to be linked to the 2030 Agenda and implementation of SDG14
Relevance of other SDGs for the LME Community and how it could be integrated
Monitoring and reporting - possible common/harmonized formats across LME portfolio, building on Lisbon 2020 Ocean Conference opportunity

8. Strategic directions (continued)
Sustainability
What needs to be done to improve the LME initiatives’ sustainability particularly at the national level
How long the dependence on GEF funds?
Institutional, legal financial linkages and challenges
Partnership with the business community
Science in support of EBM
UN Decade of Oceans Science
Integrating emerging science issues in the LME Agenda
Other scientific initiatives (e.g. GESAMP)
Capacity development and cooperation
Academic work with journals
Possible future meetings (LME Summit, LME Conference with ICES and IOC maybe in 2022)

9. Next steps after brainstorming at LME21
Prepare the first draft of the strategy
Circulate among the community members
Prepare the second draft
Adopt at one of the major events in 2020 where larger number of community members will be present

10. LME Consultation Meeting: The Mission
To provide global forum for GEF-funded and other marine and coastal practitioners (LME, MPA, MSP, ICM, LMMA), leaders, international and national organizations and institutions
Aimed at sharing experiences and lessons and forging alliances and collaboration for ecosystem-based ocean governance and management, in pursuance of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular the SDG14
Contributes to the development of LME-centred partnerships by engaging marine, coastal management, biodiversity and coastal climate change adaptation project leaders in meeting that objective

11. Long-term objectives Networking Sharing lessons learned
Mobilizing knowledge resources
Promoting regional ocean governance
Each meeting had its specific objectives, outcomes and outputs

12. Evolution of Consultation Meetings (2014-2019)
Structure: from lecture type to interactive type of event
Contents: from almost exclusively technical to governance related subjects
Duration: from 4 to 2-3 days (including technical site visit)
Place and time: from Paris in July, to other locations towards the end of the year
Participation: peak reached in 2017, but higher number when linked to other events
Networking: from single group (LME oriented) to more diversified participation

13. Participation

14. Participation

15. Participation

16. Participation

17. Survey: General observations
Most of the respondents attended the meeting, but most of them are relative late comers
Most of the respondents are linked to implementing and executing agencies

18. Format of the meeting

19. Structure of the meeting

20. Thematic aspects of the meeting

21. Logistics

22. Other comments
Show quantitative changes in states and conditions of LMEs in response to evidence-based governance interventions, including those made through GEF and institutions this has assisted
Present the state of implementation of some LMEs to raise issues faced
Meeting would benefit of a more open participation process. Ensuring implementers, governments, partners and stakeholders are able to attend and represent their projects and initiatives
Meeting should also allow for specific time for sharing lessons learned and to find advice from more experienced LME on how to better address challenges
Next LME consultation meeting (LME 22) should give a great importance on measuring the impact that the TDA-SAP-NAP approach had on the LME. After 20 years of GEF support on this topic it is time to find a way to "measure" and assess our action
The meeting must have simultaneous translation into the languages of the member countries

23. Our proposal Paris, first half of July every year
3 days maximum, no field trip
Continue reaching out outside of the „box“; expand the LME community by introducing other interest groups, in particular the private sector
A combination of interactive sessions (lessons learned and implementation experiences), training (subjects to be surveyed before the meeting) and information on the latest scientific advances (mobilizing knowledge)
Natural sciences, (marine) social sciences, SDG14 and other relevant SDGs implementation
Integrate brief (half a day) regional network meeting

24. Thank you and let’s keep going!