The way GGGI develops, applies, and shares knowledge is crucial for the organization to deliver on its mandate and support partner countries in adopting evidence-based green growth pathways. This global project is designed to support the learning and sharing of green growth solutions for transformative change integral to GGGI’s three strategic outcomes – particularly outcome 3 on multi-directional knowledge sharing and learning between countries.

As a cross-cutting function of the WPB 2017-18, GGGI is reinforcing the way knowledge sharing programs are designed and managed to strengthen in-country and global delivery. This is fundamental to ensure that green growth strategies, solutions and their implementation are owned and sustained by developing countries.

This project is structured around two components, thematic content and delivery mechanism. Thematic content refers to the areas of knowledge that GGGI seeks to share; delivery mechanism refers to the manner in which the content is communicated to the intended audience.

Thematic content

• Sectors. GGGI continues to focus green growth interventions in four areas – Energy, Water, Land-Use, and Green Cities (with climate change and economic growth as a cross-cutting backdrop) – as outlined in its thematic strategies. The project will focus on developing relevant content in these four themes/sectors.
• Depth. Content will be tailored to the specific circumstances of the target country and knowledge needs of partner governments. For example, officials from a country with an advanced energy sector may wish to learn about best practices in an emerging issue such as grid energy storage, whereas those from a country with a nascent energy sector may seek to learn more about the basics of energy planning, such as national energy systems and demand/supply-side management.
• Development Process. Content development will be led by GGGI’s four Sector Leads. Each Sector Lead is responsible for overseeing policy and capacity development work in the thematic areas. They will liaise with concerned country staff and partner governments to identify knowledge gaps and develop customized solutions.
• Linkage to the Value Chain and Service Offerings. All content developed under this project will have a clear link to GGGI’s value chain and service offerings. It will be tied to the delivery of policy and/or investment outputs of the country programs.

Integrated Knowledge Sharing Approach

Building on GGGI’s value chain, service offerings, operational workstreams, and platforms, the delivery mechanism for this project is explained below:

• In-country Capacity Development Program (ICCD). ICCD involves customized and technical capacity building activities that are aligned to country programming objectives. The content is continually strengthened by GGGI’s in-country experiences, as well as knowledge leveraged from global platforms. ICCD will be coordinated by country teams for cost efficiency, with technical support from Sector Leads through the provision of case studies, analytical tools, and financing expertise.
• South-South Cooperation Program (SSC). GGGI’s South-South Cooperation Program is designed to facilitate information exchange, knowledge sharing, and learning on issues related to GGGI’s value chain that are of common interest to MICs. Through this program, GGGI together with partner countries interested to take part in the program, will identify, synthesize, and package relevant content for dissemination. Platforms, such as GGKP, will also be used as source of knowledge for exchange. This “cooperation among the equals” program will be delivered through GGGI’s Asia, MENA, and Latin America hubs.
• Regional Policy Dialogue Program (RPD). RPDs are designed to catalyze change through a high-level policy forum where participants discuss common challenges and potential solutions of regional significance. GGGI, for example, is hosting a RPD in Asia to explore avenues to scaling up investment in renewables over coal. RPDs are structured around evidence-based findings of technical reports. The intended outcome is an expressed consensus on the need for action and/or a framework for collaborative solutions (i.e. action agendas). RPDs will be delivered in the form of a high-level forum in GGGI’s regional hubs, and will at every step involve other partner organizations relevant to the discussion.

The project also maintains the overall responsibility of:

1. Tapping on evidence based global and country engagements to capture, develop, manage, and share knowledge through database, tools, and platforms, including, inter alia, GGKP, policy assessments, best practice case studies, as well as stories of change;
2. Providing thematic support and guidance to country programs through teams led by Sector Leads;
3. Refining GGGI’s thematic areas and service offerings across the value chain, based on lessons and experiences;
4. Supporting country specific capacity building programs, especially in LDCs; and
5. Coordinating the production of Green Growth Performance Measurements, among others.

The project builds on the experiences gained from ongoing activities in relation to the GGKP and Green Growth Best Practices initiatives; GGGI’s integrated knowledge management strategy; the design of the Asia Regional Policy Dialogue in 2016; and the delivery of various regional capacity development activities in Asia, Latin America, and the MENA regions.

These activities have been critical for GGGI to map and align knowledge products, processes, and systems to design a more integrated and systematic knowledge approach that:

• Integrates relevant knowledge within country operations;
• Strengthens knowledge exchange and capacity development mechanisms aimed at targeted learning outcomes; and
• Enhances GGGI’s visibility in the global green growth agenda;

PROJECT OUTCOMES FOR 2017-18:

• Number of GGGI country programs mainstreaming recommendations from South-South and Regional Policy Dialogue programs
• Partner countries express satisfaction with GGGI’s technical expertise in four thematic areas

The proposed global project plays a crucial, pivoting role to centrally coordinate, manage, and deliver knowledge in close collaboration with GGGI country programs. Delivered through GGGI’s Asia, MENA, and Latin America regional hubs, the project will target the aforementioned outcomes based on the following three knowledge-sharing mechanisms explained previously:

Large Emerging Economies — including China, Colombia, India, Mexico, Indonesia, Peru, and UAE—need to reflect the fact that their primary interest is not necessarily to receive technical assistance services. Rather, these countries are prepared to play a leadership role in sharing their own development experience and successes, and want to learn from other similar emerging economies (larger and smaller MICs). GGGI provides a unique and important convening ability to bring together MICs interested in similar topics and facing similar green growth challenges, as well as to provide linkages to global knowledge sharing platforms like the GGKP and GGGW.

Thus, the most relevant activities for GGGI in these countries include:

• Engaging in and hosting global and regional knowledge exchange activities;
• Supporting or hosting regional knowledge hubs;
• Contributing experience that can be developed into best practice case studies; and
• Sharing their own knowledge products—analyses, tools, papers, etc.—with peers.

In order to facilitate the above-mentioned workstreams, GGGI will continue to rely on established platforms and practices, including GGKP, GGBP, flagship initiatives, and stories of change to extract knowledge.