Elena Tognotti

 Key qualifications

Sustainable management (agriculture, forestry, natural resources protection, grassroots organizations)

implementation and General administration

Ongoing and post evaluation

Awareness-raising / Capacity building

Key competencies

Ownership of all responsibilities, integrity and transparency; meeting all commitments within the prescribed time, cost and quality standards

Developing clear strategic goals consistent with the project/programme objectives

Leadership and interpersonal skills; written and verbal communication skills

Developing training materials, alternative courses of action, project proposals

Maintaining effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work tasks or environment, and adjusting effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements, or cultures

Education

February 1997                 Master in Development Cooperation Studies – E.P.F.L. (Switzerland) (courses held in                                                                                                                                                       Burkina Faso)

February 1985                 Master in Forestry – University of Florence (Italy)

Language skills

Italian            mother tongue

English and French       very good

Spanish               good

Other skills: Microsoft Office Suite; Internet and Social Media

Membership of professional bodies: Italian Order of Agronomists and Foresters

Professional experience

2016-2023

January 2021 ongoing for GIZ – German Cooperation Agency, consultant in their global program of Green Innovation Centres for multilevel and multi-stakeholder agriculture trainings. EU and BMZ funding.

May 2019 – May 2020 for the Italian NGO CISV, project manager for PARSA-Progetto di Appoggio alla Resilienza e alla Sicurezza Alimentare- covering two countries, aimed to support the transhumant pastoral population in Northern Senegal and South Mauritania. Italian Ministry of Interior (8xmille-anno 2016) funding for 800.000 Euro.

April – November 2018 for the Italian NGO Un Ponte per…(UPP), managing the emergency project “DARNA” in North East Syria aiming at the renewal and opening a maternity and paediatric care hospital in a 1,100 square meters area of the National Hospital in Raqqa, coupled with the activity of two ambulances and a gynaecological mobile unit, moreover a distribution hygienical kits for 8,500 families and some awareness campaigns for the people in Raqqa were performed. Italian AICS funding for 1.250.000 Euro.

March – August 2017 for the Italian NGO CISV, from the coordination office in Dakar, Senegal, project manager in “Progetto di emergenza per la creazione di impiego in favore dei giovani e delle donne delle regioni di Saint Louis (Senegal) Oio, Cacheu e Tombali (Guinea Bissau) e Alta Guinea (Guinea) e d’informazione per i potenziali migranti irregolari – PUCEI”, improving rural youth association agricultural production and marketing (rice, vegetables and mangoes). Italian AICS funding, not in charge of budget.

November – December 2016 consultancy for the society OAG (www.myoag.org ), home based, as part of a team, in charge of evaluating two projects in Northern Mali from locally gathered data and interviews about living and working conditions of refugees and displaced people. EU-ECHO funding, not in charge of budget.

April to June 2016 consultancy for the Italian NGO CISV, in Kankan, Northern Guinea, in charge of supporting the social cooperative created to improve production and marketing of local agricultural products (rice, vegetables and yam). Italian AICS funding, not in charge of budget.

2005 – 2015

Consultancy at the Forestry Department – Regione Piemonte, for the administrative and technical aspects of the up-coming EU projects of the INTERREG-Alcotra and Alpine Space Programs.

Collaboration with the Forestry Department-Regione Piemonte, based in Turin: administrative and technical aspects of EU INTERREG-Alcotra projects: ”Renerfor” (www.renerfor.eu) to enforce the 20-20-20 objectives of EU environmental laws for 2020 and “InForma” (www.in-forma.eu), where the trans-boundary regions of Italy (Liguria, Piemonte and Valle d’Aosta) and training institutions of France collaborate pursuing effective interaction and integration of forestry training methods. Not in charge for budget.

Project manager for the Italian NGO TERRANUOVA, based in Bamako and Youwarou, Mali, in the projects : “Renforcement des capacités des Organisations Paysannes dans les trois ZARESE du Fonds Italie – CILSS” fostering capacity building and reinforcing of grassroots organizations in three areas of Mali (Douentza, Kolokani, Nioro) under the umbrella of the Italy/CILSS Fund to combat desertification and alleviate rural poverty; “Sauvegarde et développement durable du site RAMSAR du Lac Debo et Walado Debo, D.I.N.” (Central Mali) for the improvement of biodiversity preservation, local livelihood in seasonally submersed areas and lake shores (enhanced work quality in fishery and animals breeding, improved access to available resources for women, bank of cereals, ecotourism, women woodcraft). Both Italian MAE funding: first project for 700.000Euro, second for 1.500.000Euro.

1995 – 2005

Project manager for the Italian NGO Ricerca e Cooperazione, based in Amman, Jordan, in the project “Rural Development and Gender Extension Services” in three regions, sought to improve perception of women in rural Jordan (improved work quality, redistributed tasks and new work opportunities for women through micro credits, capacity building in gender and organization/administration). Italian MAE funding for 1.500.000 Euro.

Co-owner of a Malian agency: Etudes, Conseils, Actions pour le Développement (ECAD), in Bamako, Mali. Managed consultants to perform surveys and provide technical assistance aimed at sustainable growth. Total budget around 30.000 Euro.

Project manager for the Italian NGO COOP.I., in the project “Soil Erosion Control and Land Reclamation in Awdal and Saxil regions”. Based in Borama –Somaliland, to improve the livelihood of farmers on a sustainable basis (potential yield increased, better pasture availability achieved by reducing land degradation in 26 villages).EU-ECHO funding for 1.000.000 Euro

For the Italian NGO C.I.S.P., based in Northern Colombia, responsible of preliminary studies for the management plan of the basin of the Aracataca River. Introduction of tree plantations in the mountainous areas with 8 local communities. Italian MAE funding. Not in charge for budget.

For the Italian NGO G.V.C., in a team of 5 people, based in Skopje, Macedonia – FYROM, managed emergency project consisting in purchase, transportation and distribution of hygienic packages for poor households all over the country.EU-ECHO funding. Not in charge for budget.

1985 – 1995 

Project manager for the Italian NGO CO.S.P.E. in the project “Développement rurale intégré et sauvegarde environnementale dans la vallée du Goulbi N’Kaba” (Eastern Niger) which main objective was the development of horticulture, forestry and protection of the environment inside 18 rural communities. Italian MAE funding for 1.750.000 Euro.

Associated forestry expert (APO/JPO) in F.A.O. projects in the field (Mali and Niger), in charge of raising awareness and capacity building at village level for forest environment protection, of implementing suitable forestry techniques (utilization and plantations), of adoption of improved stoves for household. Not in charge for budget.

Researcher in Italy, at the University of Florence, about forestry history exploitations in Italy and infrared measurements on the stress on plants as a result of drought (Zea mais and Picea abies). Researcher in The Netherlands, at the University of Wageningen, about architecture of trees and the impact of acid rains on forests.

Over different periods in my home town, Valduggia (from 1992 to 2010)

Collaboration with a geometer: activity in the Cadastral sector.

Countries experience