Kaanbal Suut

Strengthening local capacities and leadership in the Yucatan Peninsula

Allies

Kaanbal Suut aims to strengthen the capacities, leadership, and networking opportunities of organized groups and civil society organizations in the Yucatan Peninsula that lead socio-environmental initiatives. Through this support, the program seeks to enhance the reach of their efforts and amplify their impact on the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources in the region.

Context

Kaanbal Suut is an initiative created in 2020 by Mexican Fund for the Conservation of Nature (FMCN,acronym in So with the support of The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and operated by  Sureste Sostenible  since 2022.

To achieve its objective, Kaanbal Suut offers both in-person and virtual training, as well as personalized support to groups from the three states of the Yucatán Peninsula. These groups have diverse profiles and approaches, which significantly enriches the exchange of experiences and knowledge. Participants include alliances, civil associations, collectives, cooperatives, authorized grantees, ejidos, networks, among others.

The training focuses on strategic topics for organizational resilience, such as strategic planning, fiscal and legal risk management, financial sustainability, and territorial defense. The workshops are designed with a practical approach, allowing groups to make progress on key processes, protocols, and foundational documents for their internal operations.

In addition to training spaces, the project fosters exchange and networking opportunities to encourage synergies and collaboration among groups in the region.

The lines of work that guide the actions of Kaanbal Suut are:

Theoretical-practical training and group consulting for civil society organizations and organized groups that lead socio-environmental projects in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Strengthening organized groups and civil society organizations in the Yucatan Peninsula that work with and/or are led by groups of women, youth and/or indigenous peoples.
Facilitation of virtual networking spaces for civil society organizations and organized groups that have participated in the courses and belong to the Kaanbal Suut network, to trigger knowledge exchanges and the creation of collaborations.

The Kaanbal Suut project seeks to strengthen the internal capacities and leadership of civil society organizations and networks in the Yucatan Peninsula.

Achievements

In 2024, Kaanbal Suut held its First In-Person Gathering of the Kaanbal Suut Community, bringing together all three generations of the project for the first time. A total of 28 representatives from 18 groups across the Peninsula participated in practical workshops focused on assertive communication and the management of strategic alliances.

Additionally, four virtual workshops were held, covering key topics such as fiscal obligations, diversification of funding strategies, and administrative and organizational aspects. As a result, more than 100 people participated in these training sessions, and several collaborations were identified, some of which have already been implemented.