JAMIE SKINNER Curriculum vitae Governance, environment and social sustainability in water management

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1 JAMIE SKINNER Curriculum vitae Governance, environment and social sustainability in water management CONTACT INFORMATION Jamie Skinner Principal Researcher/Cluster Leader Global Water Initiative - West Africa, International Institute for Environment and Development, 4 Hanover Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2EN Scotland Jamie.skinner@iied.org Tel : Fax: PERSONAL INFORMATION Birth date : Status : Nationality : Languages : 16 March 1959, Edinburgh, Scotland. Married, 3 children British English, French (fluent) and Spanish (intermediate) EDUCATION &: Scholarship to Gordonstoun School, Elgin, Morayshire QUALIFICATIONS Imperial College of Science and Technology, London BSc Zoology First Class (Hons). Specialisation Parasitology. EMPLOYMENT Graduate Management Admissions Test : 81%. PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER AND CLUSTER LEADER, GLOBAL WATER INITIATIVE (GWI), WEST AFRICA, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT Edinburgh, December 2007-present. Responsibilities include delivering the GWI West Africa strategy with partners CRS, CARE and IUCN, with funding of $5 million per year from the HG Buffett Foundation for 10 years (Senegal, Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger). The strategy envisages delivering water benefits to the rural poor in ways that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable. Specific programme responsibilities involve delivering applied research and policy advice on socially equitable management of large dams. GROUP MANAGER, ENVIRONMENT GROUP, CONSULTANCY DIVISION, SCOTTISH AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE, Edinburgh. August 2006 December Manager of a cv J Skinner October 2008

2 group of 20 consultants working on water management, diffuse pollution, soils management, land management, sports turf design, advising Scottish Executive on agricultural policy, delivering the SEERAD Forward Strategy for Agriculture etc. Usual management functions involving strategic planning, deliverables, budget management staffing, niche etc. DIRECTOR IUCN CENTRE FOR MEDITERRANEAN COOPERATION, Spain June 2001 August 2006 The mission of the Centre is to influence, encourage and assist Mediterranean societies in achieving both the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, and sustainable development. IUCN has both State members and NGO members in the region (150 in total). This position required the setting up of a regional programme office from scratch, including: Providing leadership for the development of a strategic vision for the Centre through internal and external consultation of members and partners Personnel management (administrative structure, recruitment, work planning, evaluations etc) actively addressing cross-cultural and gender issues in building a cohesive multinational team. Implementing a cycle of business planning, evaluations, inter-sessional planning etc Putting in place appropriate systems for administration and governance of the Centre Mobilising and managing knowledge and best practice to feed policy or action Influencing policy change through inter-governmental meetings Ensuring geographical equity within the programme despite a 10-fold economic difference in GDP between north and south in the region in a complex political climate. Building programmes and participation in countries of differing cultural contexts (eg. France- Macedonia-Turkey- Morocco ) Mobilizing funds from institutional donors involved in international development Development of a communications programme and strategy for the centre and for the water programme. Convening governments, scientists and NGOs to promote best practice. Leading the Centre s policy work on climate change (adaptation frameworks), water management (eg. Water Framework Directive, floods and droughts, environmental flows, wetland management, dams, river basin management etc), economics of sustainable resource use and ocean governance (legal regime). WORLD COMMISSION ON DAMS 1 - SENIOR ENVIRONMENTAL ADVISER - (Cape Town, South Africa). Oct 1998 Match Responsible for inputs on environmental issues related to dams into an 8 member interdisciplinary and multi-cultural team and to the Commission, including : designing and managing inter-disciplinary evaluations of the development effectiveness of large dams (social, environmental and economic) within a river basin context (South Africa, US and Turkey); 1 The World Commission on Dams, Chaired by Prof Kader Asmal, Minister for Water Affairs and Forestry of South Africa, was an independent, international, multi-stakeholder process which addressed the controversial issues associated with large dams. It provided a unique opportunity to bring into focus the many assumptions and paradigms that are at the centre of the search to reconcile economic growth, social equity, environmental conservation and political participation in the changing global context. Its recommendations have been referred to as a standard for dam planning by multilateral banks, IFC, the Equator Banks, OECD, numerous countries (eg S Africa, UK) and private sector companies cv J Skinner October 2008

3 contracting and managing inputs to the work programme (Ecosystem impacts of dams; review of techniques and processes for Environmental Impact Assessments/Strategic Assessment approaches; models of river basin management; Dams and global climate change) with over 300 submissions and 20 working papers relevant to environmental issues, all of which required extensive consultation with stakeholders; participation in drafting the final report pf the Commission aspects of dam performance, together with policy principles, criteria and guidelines for planning and operation of dams through the project cycle to improve their social, economic and environmental sustainability; assessing integrated water management models and their implications for dam schemes; Addressing, as a team, the issues of who gains and who loses from development projects, local people s participation in decision-making, protection of indigenous peoples rights, assessment of rights and risks and how to manage them; coordinating and organising stakeholder input and consultations with key stakeholders worldwide through the WCD Forum (private sector, governments and civil society); fund-raising and project design UNEP/UNF $2.4 million contribution; reviewing assessments of the environmental impacts of large dams and the global experience in addressing them; and communicating the WCD process and findings to a global audience of governments, international agencies, civil society and media (eg interviews on BBC and Sky). CONSERVATION DIRECTOR - Tour du Valat Centre for Research and Conservation of Mediterranean Wetlands, (Camargue, France). June 1991-Sept Providing leadership in planning, budgeting, and managing the activities of the station s Mediterranean wetland management programme from its inception including : recruiting and building a functional team practical application of research results to field issues national and international policy development; developing partnerships in the Mediterranean basin training activities for wetland and protected areas management; management planning for protected and unprotected wetlands and coastal areas; editing 10 bilingual technical publications on applying research results to management problems; and involvement in the co-ordination of the inter-governmental/ngo/ramsar MedWet initiative. Project fund-raising from EU, UNDP/GEF and governments. The MedWet team raised and spent $25 million over 8 years for projects in the region (Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Albania, Slovenia, Croatia, Turkey, Palestinian territories, Lebanon, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco). INDEPENDENT CONSULTANT. Edinburgh, Scotland. June 1989 May Consultancy work on a range of issues concerning sustainable development of natural resources in the Sahel, and river basin and wetland management in Africa (see selected consultancies below for details). CONSULTANT - IUCN - The World Conservation Union. Sahel and Wetland programmes. Edinburgh, Scotland. July 1988 May Co-ordinating research (particularly related to sahelian river basin management). Project development (sustainable rural development in Lac Fitri, Chad). Drafting guidelines on implementation and evaluation of eco-development projects in the Sahel cv J Skinner October 2008

4 Capacity building of local staff. WETLAND ECOLOGIST INNER NIGER DELTA, MALI - World Wide Fund for Nature & IUCN - The World Conservation Union. Oct 1984 June Examination of the impact of different types of land-use on conservation and sustainable resource use by local people. Research on how to integrate development policy for natural resources with local subsistence economies, putting particular emphasis on the economic and social values of natural wetlands. SCIENTIFIC ADVISER - BBC (Lake Ichkeul, Tunisia). Sept 1984 June 1985 (part time). Drafting of the story line and undertaking field sound recordings during filming of Lake Ichkeul; Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, a 50 minute film produced for the BBC Natural History Unit on the impact of dams on this wetland system in Tunisia. This film has won first prize at two international film festivals. RESEARCH ASSISTANT LAKE ICHKEUL, TUNISIA - University College London (London, UK/) Oct 1982 Sept Assessing the impact of a damming scheme on the ecology and functioning of this internationally important wetland National Park and its economic values. Contributing to the development of a compensatory management plan. Similar work in the El Kala National Park in Algeria. SCIENTIFIC OFFICER - Coypu Research Laboratory (Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Norwich, UK). Aug 1980 Sept Development of FORTRAN computer models of the population dynamics of Coypu for assessing past, and predicting future, population changes. Organising the computerisation and analysis of physiological data from an extensive Coypu dissection programme. RESEARCH ASSISTANT - La Station Biologique de la Tour du Valat (Camargue, France) July 1976 Sept Assisting senior researchers with ecological research on horses, herons, shelduck, wild boar, grasshoppers and raptors as required. SELECTED CONSULTANCIES ( ) 1. Project and Programme Development Team leader / Ecologist on a pre-evaluation mission to Niger to advise DANIDA on a future long term development programme emphasising natural resource management. (International Institute for Environment and Development). Team-leader for project development visits to discuss management plans for two wetland National Parks in Senegal (IUCN); Leader of a mission to develop a wetlands programme for Tanzania including socioeconomic dimensions(iucn); Mid-term evaluation of the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands project in Nigeria (IUCN); Technical adviser for development of a Regional Wetland Programme for SADCC countries, especially Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi (IUCN). Team-leader of mission to Lac Fitri, Chad to report on the current status of the area, define the limits of a proposed Biosphere Reserve and develop a project proposal for IUCN. This cv J Skinner October 2008

5 includes a local economic development plan incorporating principles of sustainable management of sahelian wetlands. (IUCN). 2. Scientific Research and Advice Scientific Adviser for Beyond Timbuctoo the fragile flood. A 50 minute film on the Inner Niger Delta for BBC Natural World (Moving Pictures Television). 3. Capacity Building and Training Tutor at a fieldcourse for forestry staff from 6 West and North African countries on the study and management of wetlands. (Wetlands International, West Africa). Tutor at the second fieldcourse on wetland management and development (Garoua Wildlife School, Cameroon). Developing a ten-day training course for West African wetland managers at the Djoudj National Park in Senegal. Drafting a course manual/book on wetland monitoring and management. Writing a handbook for planners taking decisions concerning wetlands in West Africa. 4. Project based Environmental Impact Assessment Additional environmental impact study of the South Okavango Integrated Water Development Project in Botswana, (Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau, German Bank for Reconstruction and Development). Assessment of the impact of a proposed road on the Malagarassi swamps, Tanzania. Mott McDonald cv J Skinner October 2008