ESSC's continued focus on locally-driven multi-sectoral alliances to ensure that resources are sustained and people are protected was presented anew during the Innovation and Sustainable Development in Agriculture and Food (ISDA 2010) international symposium, held in Montpellier, France from 28 June to 1 July 2010.

In the paper's abstract, the authors state that governance has significant implications on the advancement of social and economic development and in the Philippines, the role of the state in the utilization and management of natural resources remain strong.

After the devolution of key state powers in 1991, governance at the local level accelerated the strengthening of local governments, non-state actors, and the private sector. This contributed to a movement towards addressing problems and issues in managing natural resources.

The paper examines the processes of creation and operation of multi-sectoral alliances led by local governments to ensure that resources are sustained and people are protected. Research has revealed that most of these alliances were formed to respond collectively to impacts of natural and anthropogenic disturbances.

Since the scale, magnitude and uncertainties of environmental problems such as watershed degradation, flooding, depletion of fish stocks, soil erosion and siltation cannot be resolved by national government alone, local actors pooled their distinct capacities and reconfigured the delivery of public services and goods.

Local leaders who support a model of collaboration, adoption of new policies, scientific knowledge and expanded partnership strengthen these alliances. Local politics and administration are developing certain flexibilities that transcend defined territories.

Alliances also play the role of critical links between local and national development agencies and plans, leading to greater service to disadvantaged communities for food, welfare, and security from the direct effects of natural disasters. But as alliances have dynamics of continuous growth and expansion, alliances can experience weakness when common interest wanes.

AVLDA is a multi-sectoral alliance composed of local government units at provincial, city and municipal levels, and national government agencies in Region 12. The alliance also includes a coalition of social development organizations in South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat. The alliance works in close coordination among its members for environmental resource sustainability while promoting economic investments and supporting community needs and security from natural disaster risks. AVLDA endeavours to harmonize and synchronize local government plans, programs, and activities to ensure effective governance, specifically on integrated watershed and river system management that will have the ability to adapt to the impact of climate change in the area.

CIRAD (Agricultural Research for Development), INRA (French National Institute for Agricultural Research), and Montpellier SupAgro (International Center for Higher Education in Agriculture Sciences) were the main organizing institutions for ISDA 2010.

The international symposium brought together 500 scientists, practitioners, non-government groups from northern and southern countries to discuss how innovation systems can help achieve sustainability and go beyond the usual confrontations to make a global review of the current situation. By bringing together people from different communities, ISDA 2010 intends to provide an arena to reflect upon future choices, design appropriate scientific agendas, and help renew actions and policies. Dialogues between researchers of Northern and Southern countries were encouraged, linkages between life sciences, technical sciences and social sciences developed, and an interface between science and society to get different actors involved in the scientific debate was created.

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