Supras Consult, Norway

Portfolio

This section presents the key activities that Supras is managing or involved in. The activities, organized in a number of issues, partly reflects Supras‘ expertize in the service area “Projects and operations.” They also partly located at the nexus or interface of the two service areas “Project and operations” and “Research.”

The work typically takes place through interactions between the two mentioned service areas, and includes participation in conferences and workshops. The issues are partly concretizations of specific foci (see section Profile), they are connected to each other, and they sometimes overlap. Over time, the issues are likely to change.

Context

The issues follow from sections Profile (in particular the foci) and Services. Output of these activities is available in section Library. Secondary knowledge, in the form of references, documents and websites, etc., is available in section Knowledge. Links to many of the implementing agencies, partners and projects that are involved in these activities are available in section Links.

Service areas

Capacity building: This is also an issue (see below).
Communication: This is also an issue (see below).
Information and communication technology (ICT): This is also an issue (see below).
Networks and networking: This is also an issue (see below).
Projects and operational work: Operational work, covering all phases of the project cycle (see section Profile) and investment operations more generally. The emphasis is on social and cultural aspects of natural resource management, capacity building, knowledge management and strategic communication. Projects are, as a rule, applied in focus, but may also be partly research oriented. [access]
Research: The research is organized in a number of issues (see below) that are research-driven (as opposed to issues that are connected with operational work). Addresses a number of separate but interrelated areas of concern. Has, as a rule, a clear applied orientation and rationale. The output is often in the form of project reports and papers read at conferences or published in journals. Other output includes publication series. Some research is done in the context of projects and operationial work. [access]
Risk management: This is also an issue (see below).

Issues

(Potential issues: culture (and the private sector) (e.g., IFC and Belgrade))

Capacity building: Comprises organization of and participation in capacity building and training activities, organization of seminars and workshops, and lecturing. It includes the capacity building that Community-Based Natural Resource Management Network (CBNRM Net) does as part of its day-to-day operation. Capacity-building takes place in connection with development projects, as well as free-standing activities, in the latter case also in developed countries, including in Norway. This is a Service area. [access]
Communication: Concerned with communication, both intra-culturally and inter-culturally (cross-culturally), including individuals and collectives (organizations). Special focus on the content and effectiveness of communication under situations of social changes, as well as when parties to a communication exchange represent very different backgrounds, culturally and/or organizationally. This is a Service area. [access]
Conflict resolution: (to be added.) [access]
Environmental management: (to be added.) [access]
Fishing and coastal zone management: Covers small-scale, subsistence-based fishing, together with subsistence-based resource utilization in the coastal zone. [access]
Information and communication technology (ICT): (to be added.) This is a Service area. [access]
Knowledge management: (to be added.) [access]
Networks and networking: Focused around creating and sustaining – as well as being involved in – various communities of practice, as a rule through use of ICTs (specifically Internet and email). The functioning and operation of networks are analyzed by means of network analysis. The focus is on networks that utilize and largely depend upon Information and Communication Technology (ICT) – specifically Internet and email – as means of communication. There are two key aspects of ICT-based networking: (1) Due to key characteristics of modern networking, including the increasing complexity of their subject matter, the fact that they are virtual, and efforts to scale them up, means that knowledge management becomes increasingly important, and (2) Networks that emphasize knowledge management may evolve into Communities of Practice (CoPs). Supras has been involved in setting up and managing a number of networks and CoPs, including for civil society and for the World Bank. Presently, Supras is involved in coordinating Community-Based Natural Resource Management Network (CBNRM Net), which is proving to be a great learning experience for understanding the importance of the relations between technology and society in applying and optimizing the role of networks in a developmental context. Another activity is Forum South, a network of development oriented organizations and institutions in the Agder region in southern Norway. This is a Service area. [access]
Property rights: (information to be added.) [access]
Rangeland management: (information to be added.) [access]
Reconstruction: (information to be added.) [access]
Risk management: Concerned with analyzing complex micro- and macro-situations that often undergo fast change, and engage in proscribing possible development scenarios. Change in the environmental and social realms as a rule interact, and the emphasis here is on social risk management. In practical terms, social and environmental risk management often is an exersice in identifying concrete incentives, constraints and conditions for social and environmental sustainability. Risk management thus involves assessing, mitigating and monitoring risks. Analysis of risk is often done in connection with addressing the impacts of specific development projects or investment operations, and can be done throughout the project cycle. This is a Service area. [access]