Course Outline

Module 1: Foundations of Community-Based Funding

• The principles of community-led development and asset-based community development (ABCD).

• Assessing community resources, needs, and governance structures.

• Exercise: Conducting a participatory rural appraisal (PRA) to map community assets and environmental challenges.

Module 2: Community Savings and Revolving Funds

• Models: Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs), community environmental funds.

• Establishing governance, bylaws, and financial management systems.

• Workshop: Simulating the formation and first cycle of a community savings group.

Module 3: Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES)

• Principles of PES: identifying buyers, sellers, and the ecosystem service (e.g., clean water, carbon sequestration).

• Designing a PES contract and payment mechanism.

• Case Study: Designing a PES scheme where a downstream water utility pays upstream farmers for watershed protection.

Module 4: Digital Platforms and Crowdfunding

• Using local and global crowdfunding platforms for environmental causes.

• Storytelling and digital marketing for community projects.

• Exercise: Storyboarding a video pitch for a community reforestation crowdfunding campaign.

Module 5: Integrating Models and Building Sustainability

• Combining different funding models for resilience (e.g., PES revenue feeding a revolving fund).

• Monitoring, evaluation, and learning (MEL) for community-based projects.

• Final Project: Developing a comprehensive community environmental funding plan that combines at least two different models to address a local issue