On Friday morning, 17 organizations participated in the Partnership Networking Café. This unique networking event provided space to: share experiences and expertise in an informal setting; identify opportunities for future collaborations; and foster dialogue among RSOs and RFBs.

Jihyun Lee, CBD, presented the draft summary of the Seoul Outcome Plus +2, inviting feedback over the coming week. She applauded participants’ willingness to dive into more concrete issues over the course of the meeting as a way to further enhance cross-sectoral collaboration at the regional scale.

Key points of the draft Outcome include, inter alia:

• although regions may vary in their political, economic, geographic, social and environmental characteristics, their experiences and lessons may still be transferable and applicable to other regions;
• the lack of adequate financial and human resources hinders expansion of cross-sectoral regional collaborative activities;
• cross-sectoral cooperation can enhance: application of the ecosystem approach/ecosystem-based management; effectiveness of area-based management tools; preventing, reducing and mitigating the impacts of pollution, including marine debris; and monitoring and data/information sharing;
• many regional organizations are in process of integrating approaches and activities with a broader ecosystem focus, subject to respective mandates;
• participants appreciate the exchange of experiences, progress, challenges, practices and knowledge;
• development of roadmap elements elucidates possible ways and means to put the “Seoul Outcomes” into concrete practice; and
• participants requested the CBD Secretariat, UNEP and FAO to help engage financial and technical partnerships with interested donors.

Before the close of the meeting, several participants joined Co-Chairs Stefán Ásmundsson and Dixon Waruinge in expressing gratitude to the meeting’s organizers and funders, noting overall satisfaction with the 2nd SOI Global Dialogue.