While CFN’s education and training events are critical in engaging and connecting practitioners, we have seen the need to concentrate in deeper ways in order to advance understanding of key issues. On selected topics and as funding permits, the CFN develops working groups to focus on specific funding or financing strategies. Below is a list of our current working groups.
- Nature-Based Solutions: in partnership with the Nicholas Institute at Duke University, we are investigating strategies for increasing private investment in nature-based solutions. Together, we are assessing the state of play through conversations with practitioners and conducting research on the role of ‘accelerators’ in connecting project developers with capital , and are using what we learn to inform the agenda for upcoming Conservation Finance Roundtables and other convenings and the development of written materials. The goal of this work is to understand private investors’ requirements for investing in nature-based solutions, and to identify effective strategies or intermediaries for connecting private capital with on-the-ground projects.