“From theory to action” is a meaningful saying — easily said but tough to realize. The implementation of the Programme of Work (PoW) on Technology Transfer and Technological and Scientific Cooperation requires much practical work indeed and a step-by-step approach.
40 shades of technology transfer At the very beginning of the development of the Convention’s Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM), Germany initiated small steps to promote and facilitate technical and scientific cooperation. This helped us get a better understanding of the complexity of the task and to get a practical understanding on the role and niche the CHM could fill. The Bank of ideas for research projects cooperation, implemented in 1998, was aimed at facilitating information sharing and partnering identification between Colombian and German Research institutions on biodiversity projects, using the two national CHMs as a communication platform. This was the first interactive and jointly developed assessment of needs for biodiversity relevant to scientific cooperation of the CHM.
The paper ‘40 Shades of Technology Transfer’, published in 2004, illustrated the potential range of biodiversity-relevant technology transfer within the CBD (1). In order to encourage discussion on technology transfer, a national framework analyzed the potential role of the CHM in this context One of the practical proposals in the study was to establish an information section on relevant national biodiversity technology providers. In addition, the study provided a checklist for selecting a technology within the scope of technology transfer. In the study, several networks and institutions were identified as relevant to biodiversity. They range from traditional knowledge based networks, applied technology and genetic resources networks to biomimetics, biotechnology focal points, renewable resources and ecosystem technology providers. Together, they provide, in fact, an initial stepping stone on biodiversity-relevant technology providers in Germany — either from business, the scientific community, or NGOs. For many stakeholders in Germany, this study also proved to be the first introduction with the Convention and its PoW on technology transfer.
Technological cooperation Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and university-based research groups were particularly interested in exploring the potential for technology cooperation under the CBD and many enquired for more information. Both groups are in favour of long-term partnerships which comprise training and capacity building, as well the sharing of the benefits arising out of a cooperation. Several examples from SMEs show the range of these promising technology areas of potential cooperation, e.g. innovative techniques on the use of bamboo, new wood-plastic-composite technologies and mineral-bound fibrous mats. An example of a university-based technological cooperation interest was presented on the use of biodiversity for bio-mechanical analysis. Any technology transfer activity should therefore ideally be implemented as technology cooperation, as follows:
The real value of any technology transfer (technology cooperation) lies in the local adaptation and integration of the technology on community or national level. The whole process integrates transfer of knowledge and hardware as well as capacity building, training and financial support. Technology transfer should enable the recipient to control and further develop the technology according to his needs so that it contributes in a sustainable way to strengthening local economies, generating additional income and to reducing poverty.
A Catalogue for SMEs In order to systematically identify the existing national biodiversity-related and relevant technologies developed or under development by SMEs, as well universities, a Catalogue of national biodiversity-relevant technologies is currently being developed. The compilation commissioned by the German Ministry for the Environment is based on a questionnaire and complemented by telephone calls and face-to-face interviews. The Catalogue will constitute a first important information source for any biodiversity-related technology search and potential future technology cooperation activity. It is our aim to make the Catalogue publicly available through the German CHM.
A key activity in getting the PoW on technology transfer and technological and scientific cooperation implemented is to start national technology portfolio and needs assessments. Given that so many different technology transfer and technology cooperation activities are ongoing which, in some aspects, incorporate biodiversity aspects already, it is important to recognize the focus of the Convention’s technology transfer — i.e. “… technologies that are relevant to the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity or make use of genetic resources and do not cause significant damage to the environment” — and, as well, to clearly prioritise technology needs.
The most important challenge now, is to bring the PoW on technology transfer into practice and on the ground. Its general framework requires individual solutions and practical actions on how technology transfer can be implemented in the framework of the Convention.
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(1) ‘The 40 Shades of Biodiversity Technology Transfer’ CBD, COP-7.
(2) BfN, 2005. Technology Transfer via the Clearing-House Mechanism (CHM). A national study on actors, instruments, possible concepts and perspectives for the German CHM to facilitate technology transfer and cooperation in support to the Convention on Biological Horst Freiberg is Senior Advisor, Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, Germany. He is CHM National Focal Point and a member of the CHM Informal Advisory Committee.
See also:
German Federal Agency for Conservation (BfN)