The distance learning course “Stakeholder Participation - for a better future” was first offered in October 2008 and has been very popular ever since the start. The course is now running for the fifth time with participants from both the ASCLME and BCLME regions and beyond. The participants are awarded a certificate after completing all assignments for the course.

Currently we have participants from South Africa, Seychelles, Gâmbia, Kénya, Tanzania and Mauritius, and now we are expecting that more people from different countries and different languages can participate, as in this round the course will be moderated both in English and Portuguese. From the course you will gain more knowledge and experience on how to deal with stakeholder participation, but also, it will open your mind for all issues that are present in our days. In our course, we encourage people to also participate in the discussion forums in the DLIST website, and be active and give contributions to discussions on how we can improve our life and the environment that surround us.

For those who are interested, the sixth round of this course will be starting before the end of this year. If you want to improve your ability to conduct stakeholder analyses, learn how to better engage stakeholders and how to work toward increased representation and ownership – please contact the course administrator Oriana Lemos at oriana@ecoafrica.co.za.