Conservation Strategy Fund’s Global Training Team is collaborating with the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) to enhance its capacity-development efforts under the REEF+ Community of Practice.
The GFCR Coalition is a public private partnership founded by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and driven by 20 coral nations, UN agencies, organizations, impact investors, and philanthropies, among other institutions. Through its two funds, the GFCR leverages blended finance to promote the resilience of coral reefs and the livelihoods of the communities that surround them. One portion of the GFCR’s activities is the REEF+ Community of Practice, a project supported by Conservation Finance Alliance (CFA) to develop the capacity of and promote knowledge sharing among stakeholders and partners. This consultancy, which is focused on developing a REEF+ Learn component under this Community of Practice, has two primary training outputs:
1. Develop an overall design for the REEF+ Learn component
Early in the project timeline, the training team conducted a needs assessment survey with agreed stakeholders to determine their understanding of the Fund’s General Investment Principles and policy architecture, along with their training needs and preferences for the modality, format, and design of capacity development products that will be developed under the REEF+ program. These results were presented during GFCR’s regional convening session in September 2024 and will guide the final recommendations for the overall design of REEF+ Learn.
2. Create seven curated self-paced learning modules with supporting materials for the GFCR website
Using the results of the needs assessment survey and feedback from the regional convening session, CSF training is also developing seven short self-paced learning modules that will be included in GFCR’s new knowledge management platform. These modules are designed to inform this Community of Practice about the Fund’s investment principles, policy architecture, and targeted sectors that guide its investment activities.
| Module 1 | GFCR General Investment Principles |
| Module 2 | Ecotourism Investment |
| Module 3 | GFCR Policy Architecture: Risk Management Policy |
| Module 4 | Area-based Conservation Investment |
| Module 5 | GFCR Policy Architecture: Social and Environmental Safeguards |
| Module 6 | Aquaculture Investment |
| Module 7 | GFCR Policy Architecture: Gender Policy |
Most of the modules are being constructed using official GFCR guidance and policy documents, which are supplemented by lectures from expert practitioners from the GFCR network, including CFA Executive Director David Meyers, GFCR Policy Advisor David Annandale, and GFCR Knowledge Management and Learning Analyst Kayla Kim. Each module also integrates quizzes and knowledge checks, brief case studies, and additional resources (when relevant) to explore these topics further.
The CSF Training team will present its final recommendations to GFCR for developing the REEF+ Learn component and deliver these modules in April 2025.
