Livelihoods e-Learning Consultant
Rights and Resources Group, United States
Job Description
The Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) is a global coalition of more than 150 organizations dedicated to advancing the forest, land, and resource rights of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, Afro-descendant Peoples, and in particular the women within these groups. RRI’s members capitalize on each other’s strengths, expertise, and geographic reach to achieve solutions more effectively and efficiently. RRI leverages the power of its global coalition to amplify the voices of local peoples and proactively engage governments, multilateral institutions, and private sector actors to adopt institutional and market reforms that support the realization of rights.
RRI is coordinated by the Rights and Resources Group (RRG), a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC.
Background
Support for a learning series emerged at the RRI Coalition’s Global Strategy Meeting held in late 2022. The Coalition and Strategic Networks (CSN) team within RRG will pilot a program combining an e-learning course with live virtual discussions as a space for collective learning and knowledge exchange for the Coalition. The pilot learning series will focus on livelihoods as a critical issue for Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendant Peoples. Livelihood security relates directly to local peoples’ abilities to meet immediate needs and to provide a viable future for generations to come, thus affecting their capacity to pursue other goals and priorities, including advocacy for, and defense of, their land rights.
During a series of coalition-wide dialogues in 2022, the RRI Coalition endorsed a collective vision for jointly pursuing livelihoods and land tenure security. During these dialogues, coalition members identified several thematic areas that are key to understanding and conceptualizing the enabling conditions for sustainable community-based livelihoods such as food sovereignty, youth involvement, and women’s economic empowerment.
Purpose and Scope
The consultant will support the CSN team in designing and implementing the e-course. The objectives of this program are to: 1) Create a space for coalition learning and knowledge exchanges that are guided by the principles of popular education; 2) Create new opportunities for professional development and income generating activities, particularly for youth and women; and 3) Inspire the development of new livelihoods projects and ideas at the territorial level that can qualify for international grants, climate funding, and direct funding to communities.
The tentative structure of the program would be a 4 to 6 week course, with each week centered around a specific module that will accompany the resource page and a live session. We also anticipate optional interactive moments and spaces such as drop-in study sessions and a WhatsApp group. The exact structure and format will be defined by the consultant and RRG team.
Consultant Activities
The consultant will work with the RRG team to design a syllabus, develop the course materials, and present the modules at the live sessions. They will work with the RRI team to produce the weekly module package (outlined below) including references in various formats such as videos, articles, websites, manuals, or guides. Some attention will be needed to source materials that are easily adaptable to participants languages (mainly English, French, Spanish).
Consultant Deliverables:
- Lead the development of the course syllabus for a 4 to 6 week course. Identify the topic for each week with support from the RRG team and from input from Coalition members.
- Module package: 1) introductions to modules; 2) module outline and references (videos, articles); 3) exercises and quizzes; 4) agendas for live sessions. Weekly course materials should consist of 2-3 pages of text, exact length and format TBD.
- Create initial French and Spanish drafts of the written course materials, using digital translation tools.
- Source bibliographic references for course materials such as videos, articles, and case studies for each week.
- Prepare and present a 10-20 min presentation for each live session.
- Ensure language inclusivity during live sessions, allowing time for translation into core languages of course participants.
- Source experts within each topic area (with support from the RRG team), including Indigenous knowledge and traditional knowledge holders.
- Support communication to and between participants through the chosen learning platform, email and WhatsApp.
- Produce a summary report on learnings and recommendations for the continuation of the learning program.
Minimum Requirements
- Demonstrated experience conducting training, courses or workshops, preferably with a participatory approach with local and traditiona