• Help CEC and IUCN benefit from and tap into organized expertise in learning and leadership on an on-demand basis;
  • Advocate for strengthening learning processes in IUCN’s work in order to increase productivity and effectiveness of actions; and
  • Engage members in a continual learning process in this field, including using new learning technologies such as social media.

Short-term plans

  1. Run second recruitment drive with an e-recruitment package for new members.
  2. Build some additional content on the Specialty Group’s web page, inc. a list of members and their links.
  3. Meet with the Science and Learning Team in IUCN HQ (if feasible/desired) and brief them on the work of the Specialty Group.
  4. Write a short consensus statement about what to expect in terms of voluntary work from the Specialty Group.
  5. Identify great events around the world linked to learning, leadership and social media, and produce a calendar encouraging CEC members to participate, asking people to Twitter and blog them with a set tag (#iucncec).
  6. Develop the “BlogItEarnIt “ programme (working title). The idea is to establish an experiential learning programme where CEC covers part of fees for people who actively cover an event for CEC using social media. Prizes could be awarded at Congress for the best coverage of events by “CEC Social Media Reporters”.

Long-term plans

  1. Develop a set of stories on learning and new learning in conservation/sustainable development organizations, with a focus on new learning technologies (social media) and informal learning. Collect with a view to distill learning and capture in useful online “publication” and potentially as product for launch at Congress.
  2. Contribute to shifting CEC into a new paradigm of communication, learning and knowledge management, with a view of changing name and structure in the next inter-sessional period.
  3. Find opportunities to test, demonstrate and share around new learning, and capture this process for on-demand use with CEC tools such as Posterous.
  4. Represent CEC at learning events, actively contribute CEC and IUCN learning to wider Communities of Practice, cross-fertilizing from events and efforts of other related communities.
  5. Help IUCN offices with advice/filter on learning and provide access to the best available information and human resources on learning for our sector.
  6. Contribute to Congress development to help make it a learning event, including inputs as needed/desired on the Learning Opportunities, CEC events, etc.
  7. Run a competition to identify the best examples of social media for positive social change, then organize one or two workshops where CEC members, IUCN members, Secretariat and others are invited to review the stories, pick winners, and decide how they could be translated into future learning strategies using social media. The process of learning in this way would potentially be powerful capacity building in itself.