Scenarios
1. In 5 years, the Jos Climate Rescue Project’ would have ran out of ideas, funding and would have shut down, concluded and failed.
2. In 5 years, we would have transformed into a full-blown Non-governmental organization with funding support from a number of donors (within and outside Jos).
3. ‘Jos Climate Rescue Project’ would have become a research and advocacy institute (partnering with the University of Jos, or the Plateau State Government).
Backstaging:
The Jos Climate Rescue Project would have become an NGO…fully registered and operative from its office at the base of the famous Shere Hills in Jos. It would have employed tens of youths on a full-time basis and working with dozens on interns and volunteers.
It is 2014 and our environment campaign programme on TV is the most watched, all industries in Jos are signed up to our pact on protecting the environment, our bi-annual ‘Jos Environmental Lecture’ series is attracting who’s who in Jos and beyond.
Our volunteers have just planted our 100th tree and have ‘adopted’ hundreds of other trees. Our Tour Group has established a relationship with resort and hotels to promote eco-tourism.
Also, we would have sponsored the participation of 100 youths with creative ideas to participate in the Sprout e-Course, opening the doors of our rich libraries to them and other researchers working on the environment and conflicts and actively supporting the young ‘Sprouters’ to implement their ideas on the ground.
We would have, through consistent advocacy, ensured that the environment is in the fore of public policy and insisting that those to be elected will have a clear-cut strategy for protecting the environment.
In 2014, you won’t only be reading our 5 year projection; you would have partnered with us in the previous years and would be thinking along with us on how best to make Jos ‘greener’ than it now is. In 5 years, you would have sent me a mail offering your support and urging us forward… in 5 years; you and I would be in it together.

How do I ensure my project remains relevant and is constantly improving?
By maintaining constant communication and feedback from all stakeholders. This will enable us measure how we have fared, the impact we have made and how we have adapted to challenges.

Have you ever had to conduct an evaluation of a project before?
Sure, in my organization, I assist our Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E Officer) to prepare evaluation questionnaires, administer them among stakeholders and to collate findings from them. I have some experience as well as friendly help I could fall back on in my project.

How can a project evaluation help you? Your project team? And your stakeholders?
Project evaluation helps you assess what you have done/achieved as against your set goals as well as the challenges you set out to confront. It can help me measure the success/failure of the project. Help the team take critical decisions concerning the future composition, scope, goals and targets of the project. It helps stakeholders measure the impact of a given project on the community and guides in their decision to support such projects in future.

How will you monitor and gather, analyze and report your findings to your stakeholders?
In each workshop, we will prepare a participants’ evaluation form to be completed by stakeholders. We will also prepare evaluation forms to be shared with project team to enable them assess our strategy and execution. A major review of the project will be done in June 2010, after which the project will be re-launched for a longer span.

Why is it important for you to fundraise for some or all of the project costs? Climate change is expensive business. And for those who are benefitting from the abuse of the environment, it is convenient to keep everybody ignorant. So we need to raise funds to plan and effectively disseminate information about climate change – not the floods in Philippines which is readily available on the internet; but climate change as it affects Jos as a city, its people their way of life and the threat to peace climate change could pose.

What kinds of funding do you think your project requires (ex: monetary, in-kind donations, etc.)? Personally I prefer in-kind donations (such as printing of leaflets, sponsoring rallies, etc) because it helps bring more stakeholders on board and gives the project wider participation. But I doubt if anyone else would want to go to the printers shop etc on our behalf- So; bring the moneys, we get the job done!

How much funding do you think your project needs? A conservative estimate puts our budget at 200,000 Naira (slightly below $1500) for the first 6 months. This figure may change when we carry out actual market surveys.

Where do you think you can get this funding from? Difficult question to answer… I am hoping local companies, like-minded NGOs, Donor organizations will chip in some cash. I am also hoping we would prevail on local FM and other media stations will give us advert slots and place our work on the news for free. Then I am asking the team to make some little sacrifices, too.

Do you face barriers to securing funding? I have not made any formal requests for funding yet. But the global economic crises, lack of interest in the campaign, possible unwillingness by volunteers to make sacrifices for the course and the competition for donor’s attention might pose significant challenges in our fundraising drive.

How will you overcome these challenges? First, some things can be done cheaply; it won’t cost much to prepare an e-newsletter and circulate same among stakeholders and to maintain a website/blog. We are hoping this will create prior attention to the project and serve as a basis for our successful partnership with the stakeholders. The idea is to raise the tempo of activities as more funds come in.

Ensuring a healthy and safe community:
Our vision
We see a future in which Jos will be a clean and safe city. A place in which we are able to fulfill our dreams in a way that ensures environmental sustainability and peace. A world in which all members of the community are aware of the dangers posed by climate change and consciously takes steps to avoid future conflicts by choosing to place the environment on the fore-front of their decisions and inspire others to do same.
OUR VALUES:
Sustainable development: We live in a large, complex and diverse world; many of the resources of the earth are finite and need to be used with wisdom and caution. The earth has supported its inhabitants for a long time. We must therefore ensure that as we exploit the resources of the earth in a manner that ensures we have a good life without jeopardizing the chances of future generations to do same.
Innovation: we believe in the power of knowledge and understand the dangers of ignorance. We are therefore committed to finding innovative ways of sharing what we already know, knowing what we do not know as yet and motivating our community.
Teamwork: In executing this or any other project, no single individual will know it all. We believe we can do more if we partner and work as a team.
Community Participation: “without you I am nothing; I am nothing without you!” – Paul Baloche. This pretty well sums up our outlook on our community. We believe there is so much we could achieve if we work together. We therefore seek to harness the potential of our community to develop our community. What I don’t know I can learn from my friend, and what I do know, I can teach my friend! This is not a project prescribed to the community, but an approach that seeks to mobilize community energy towards solving community problems.
Commitment and enthusiasm: there is no stopping for those who are motivated, committed and enthusiastic in the pursuit of specific goals. We therefore seek to partner with these kinds of individuals in executing the project.
Optimism: In spite of the daunting challenges posed by climate change and the persistent threat of conflicts traceable to climate change, we are positive that we can succeed; our community will become a better place. We intend to share this optimism and hope with the community through the project execution.
Hard work and excellence: having recognized the challenges before us and the danger ahead if we fail to act now, we are committed through hard work and excellence to achieve our goals and add value to our community. If we were to look back 20 years from now, we would say Jos is a better place to succeed, thanks to our project.

Problem Statement: Climate change could lead to conflicts in Jos, Nigeria.
Project Idea: Educate community members on how climate change is going on, the dangers it poses and steps to be taken.
My project is likely to face a number of challenges. Some we already know of, others may pop ip as we go on. There is need to adequately plan for the challenges we foresee and brace ourselves so we don’t get knocked down by the unforeseen challenges.
The challenges likely include:
1. Finances to package and print information and advocacy materials such as leaflets and photos as well as to cover the cost of awareness (such as transport, invitations, media and publicity and other logistic costs).
Solution: begin with and prioritize the tasks that require minimal financing such as e-advocacy. Use the services of volunteers and endeavour to make the news instead of paid adverts. Gradually build momentum as donors respond to appeals.
2. Possible apathy and lack of interest from sections of the community. Actually this has been the trend, much care less what happens to the environment. Others don’t even believe the climate is adversely changing…some thinks that US and China should be the ones to take the required action and not them.
Solution: “Move with those who move!” mobilize those who show interest and then arm them with information to engage the skeptics. Also, a sustained advocacy is likely to gain more attention and acceptance over time.
3. Logistics: we need the services of experienced/skilled, enthusiastic and committed volunteers in leading campaign and advocacy, soliciting funds, blogging, responding to calls and emails as well as other logistic services. It may be challenging to get all of these services within the community on a volunteer basis.
Solution: do our best, also intensify on fund-raising to contract whatever additional services that may be needed.

We will do our best to handle other challenges as they creep up. Also, the project will be reviewed over all in June 2010. Project performance will be assessed and lapses will be addressed before re-launching the project.