The Amazon and New Economies - event of preparation for the International Conference

Pre-conference engagement and co-design meeting

Context

The International Conference on the Amazon and New Economies, held in August 2023 by IBRAM, was an event set out to gather academics, representatives of different productive sectors, traditional peoples and civil society to think about ways of strengthening solutions for the region that would reconcile economic development, the reduction of inequalities, the conservation of forests and socio-biodiversity.

Five months before the Conference, IBRAM, supported by the Humana agency, in preparation for this meeting, held a pre-event for invited guests in Belém. It was attended by representatives of Brazilian civil society organisations, international NGOs, indigenous peoples and the mining sector.

The meeting aimed to co-design the Conference along with these actors: the invitation to be made and IBRAM's role in hosting a seminar on this theme; mapping out which topics needed to be addressed, listening to contributions on the format of the Conference and gathering recommendations for actors to be mobilised.

Approach

CoCriar was invited to facilitate the pre-event, which brought together around 50 guests over two days in Belém. Alternating between plenary talks and working in smaller groups, we created a structure that made it possible:

Conceptual alignment on the term "New Economies" for the Amazon;
Mapping of important themes to be taken to the conference - 11 thematic axes were raised and discussed;
Mapping of existing actors and solutions in the area, including the private sector, the public sector, academia and civil society - 92 initiatives mapped collectively;
Engagement of invitees in mobilising relevant actors to take part in the Conference - 47 nominations of actors and institutions to be invited.

Testimonies from the participants at the end of the meeting showed that the exchanges were enriching and that people felt motivated to contribute to building the Conference. Below are some examples:

"Absolutely innovative. The dynamics you worked on really enabled participation."

"The process we went through yesterday is an example of stakeholder engagement. Dynamics were done in an intelligent, agile way."

"Yesterday was one of the most innovative and participative brainstormings I've ever attended. It's not easy to deal with diversity of opinions, convictions, outlooks... each one in their own sector, with a common feeling of co-operation, breaking paradigms and stigmas."