Evaluating the impact of the first 10 years of the Cambridge Masters in Conservation Leadership

Abstract

Conservation lacks sufficient well-trained leaders who are empowered to catalyse positive change for the natural world. Addressing this need, the University of Cambridge launched a Masters in Conservation Leadership in 2010. The degree includes several features designed to enhance its impact. Firstly, it recruits international, gender-balanced cohorts of mid-career professionals, building leadership capacity in the Global South and providing a rich environment for peer learning. Secondly, teaching includes applied leadership training in topics such as fundraising, leading people and networking, as well as interdisciplinary academic topics. Thirdly, the degree is delivered through the Cambridge Conservation Initiative, a partnership of international NGOs and networks, facilitating extensive practitioner-led and experiential learning. We present details of programme design and evaluate the impact of the Masters after 10 years, using data from course records, student and alumni perspectives, and interviews with key stakeholders. The course has broadly succeeded in its design and recruitment objectives. Self-assessed leadership capabilities, career responsibilities and the overall impact of alumni increased significantly 5 years after graduation. However, specific impacts of alumni in certain areas, such as on their professional colleagues, have been less clear. We conclude by outlining future plans for the Masters in light of growing demands on conservation leaders and the changing landscape of leadership capacity development. These include reforms to course structure and assessment, long-term support to the alumni network and developing a conservation leadership community of practice.

An international assessment of the barriers influencing the effectiveness of island ecosystem management

“…The mismatch between the skills that are taught to students and the skills required in biodiversity conservation and management positions (Blickley et al, 2013; Bonine et al, 2003; Lucas et al, 2017; Muir & Schwartz, 2009) has led to the development of a handful of conservation leadership courses that aim to cover both technical and soft skills (e.g. Sandbrook et al, 2021). While these courses have a very positive impact, their overall effect is confined due to their operational scale or attendance costs (in addition to their location in only a few countries).…”

“…Training on the design of monitoring programmes and how they can be linked to and inform management objectives and actions should be a standard module of conservation courses and yet monitoring design is conspicuous by its absence from these (e.g. Gardner, 2021; Sandbrook et al, 2021; Van Heezik & Seddon, 2005). Such courses, which are mostly designed by academics, could benefit from codevelopment with practitioners or draw from research such as ours to ensure that they more closely align with on the ground capacity needs outside the academic setting.…”

Donor perspectives on strengthening capacity development for conservation

“…The Capacity Building for Conservation Conference series (in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019) has been an important first step in this process. This conference series has resulted in numerous outcomes, such as new collaborations, new funding relationships, improved communication, as well as the articles comprising this special theme in Oryx focused on conservation capacity development (Appleton et al, 2021; Sandbrook et al, 2021; Sterling et al, 2021; Abu-Bakarr et al, 2022; Bruyere et al, 2022; Campagnaro et al, 2022; Chao et al, 2022; Gerrie et al, 2022; Loffeld et al, 2022a,b; O'Connell et al, 2022; Porzecanski et al, 2022).…”

Capacity development for conservation

“…This will be critical for developing capacity in areas where local communities are affected severely by the loss of biodiversity but where conservation approaches also need to be decolonized (Domínguez & Luoma, 2020). This will also require diverse, effective and resilient leaders (Sandbrook et al, 2021; Webb et al ., 2021). These individuals and their institutions need both technical and functional capacities, but these leaders will also require less tangible skills such as being relational and reflective, trust-building, visioning and problem-solving (Black, 2021; Abu-Bakarr et al, 2022; Campagnaro et al, 2022; Loffeld et al, 2022b).…”

“…These have been shown to promote supportive practice that can encourage application of skills and knowledge within learning communities (Bruyere et al, 2022) and enable innovation and upscaling. A number of established conservation leadership development programmes have found that experiential learning opportunities combined with peer network development are effective (Sandbrook et al, 2021; Abu-Bakarr et al, 2022). Additionally, creating safe spaces for peer-supported learning and development helps practitioners build resilience, experiment with a wider range of approaches, accept and learn from failure, and enhance creativity and innovation (Dickson et al, 2022; Loffeld et al, 2022a).…”