Capacity enhancement provides an essential foundation for the sustainable functioning and performance of the GBIF Participant network and all its members, regardless of their level of development. The GBIF capacity enhancement framework draws on recent advancement in the field of capacity development and access to research infrastructures to explain the overall approach taken by the GBIF network to programming activities in this area.
The GBIF Participants and Secretariat have developed a range of capacity enhancement activities and programmes to empower all members of the GBIF community to carry out their work in the most effective, self-sustained and stable way. Capacity enhancement includes improving the way Participants can contribute to and benefit from GBIF, how they organize their work and how they relate to other Participants at regional and global scales.
GBIF maintains capacity self-assessment guidelines for national biodiversity information facilities and for data holding institutions as tools to support planning and the tracking of progress, for example through projects.
A capacity enhancement support programme with an annual call for project proposals provides GBIF Participants with co-funding to address self-identified capacity needs through collaborative regional and international projects. These projects can combine a range of actions, including mentoring between Participant nodes, the organization of regional events and training workshops, the development or adaptation of documentation, GBIF advocacy actions and actions to promote data use. Participants are encouraged to consider developing project proposals to support the establishment and consolidation of their nodes in collaboration with experts from the GBIF network. Reviewing past projects can provide some useful examples of how to structure collaborative actions aiming to establish new Participant nodes.
GBIF also seeks additional funding to support capacity enhancement, such as through the Biodiversity Fund for Asia (BIFA) and the Biodiversity Information for Development (BID) programme. These programmes have support projects to mobilize biodiversity data and promote the use of accessible biodiversity data in support of research and decision-making, and provide training to project teams.
GBIF also provides access to training opportunities for node managers and staff. GBIF-related training events are held all over the world and are displayed on the events section of GBIF.org.
Finally, the GBIF network acts as a community of practice, with many node managers and their teams volunteering as capacity enhancement mentors to support the further development of the global community. New Participants are invited to contact the GBIF Secretariat for assistance in identifying mentors to assist with the development of their node, for example through training events.