WAKISO – Makerere University Environment for Development Initiative (EfD-Mak) Centre has hosted its second policy dialogue on governance and natural resources on Thursday, January 9, 2020, at Wakiso District Headquarters.
Over 120 participants from the public and private sector, research institutions, civil society organizations, representatives from government ministries and agencies, staff and students from Makerere University are in attendance.
Representatives of the EfD secretariat based at Gothenburg University Sweden have also attended the event.
The half-day dialogue organized under the theme, “Governance and Natural Resource Utilization: Challenges, Gaps, and Opportunities” has been opened by Dr. Patrick Byakagaba, Makerere University while the Key Note address will be delivered by the Director, Natural Resources, Wakiso District later in the day.
The EfD-Mak Centre was launched in August 2019 at Makerere University. The center is jointly managed by the College of Business and Management Studies (CoBAMS) and the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES).
The Centre Director Associate Professor Edward Bbaale said part of the center mandate is to establish and maintain long term interaction with policymakers to discuss pertinent issues on policy gaps and advise the government on what direction to take as far as protection and management of natural resources is concerned.
Although Environment is a vital component for the sustainability of livelihood and national development, the biggest concern of environmentalists is the ability of economic systems to continue growing without undermining the natural systems which are the ultimate foundation of human life. This points to the issue of sustainability that has been of major global concern.
Different scholars have come up with desirable characteristics of sustainable growth and development which include; non-declining well-being, natural capital base and production possibilities for future generations; exploitation of the environment and natural resources within the limit of their sustainable yields; maintaining minimum conditions for ecosystem resilience through time and the consensus-building and institutional development
