EQUATOR DIALOGUES

The Equator Dialogues action area of the Equator Initiative creates a platform for local voices and celebrates the success of community action to achieve the MDGs. Through community dialogue spaces and special events, Equator Dialogues draws critical attention to local development and conservation successes while fostering peer-to-peer exchange and direct access to decision makers and policy processes.

The key innovation of Equator Dialogues is the development of community dialogue spaces within global and regional conferences and fora. The Equator Initiative - in leveraging its unique partnership with governments, conservation NGOs and multi-lateral institutions – works to effectively position local voices and knowledge within larger policy dialogue on poverty and biodiversity conservation issues.

The Equator Initiative’s dialogue spaces and events provide a unique advocacy and learning platform for local leaders and innovative, grassroots initiatives. They also serve a critical role in breaking down barriers to community participation in political processes and policy formulation. The outcomes from each of these unique fora are documented in the form of Community Declarations - important consensus documents, written by all participants, that capture the opinions and perspectives of communities with regard to the most crucial sustainable development issues facing society.

Over the last three years, Equator Dialogues has hosted a number of critical community dialogue spaces and special dialogue events in support of community work to achieve the MDGs. As an essential component of the Equator Initiative, Equator Dialogues has a concrete five-part agenda:

• Invigorate and ground global conferences and regional workshops with local voices, knowledge, and perspectives
  
• Celebrate local level best practice in poverty reduction and biodiversity conservation
  
• Shift the policy environment and scale up grassroots work by facilitating community and local level access to policy makers at all levels
  
• Stimulate knowledge sharing and exchange at the local level
  
• Train local leaders and promote advocacy initiatives