The workshop was held at the Vihaga Reception Hall in Meegoda. Mr Jinasiri Dadellage, former Secretary, Ministry of Public Administration and Dr Ananda Mallawatantri, Country Representative of IUCN facilitated the information sharing and discussion processes. Mr G S K Kannangara, Divisional Secretary (DS), Homagama and staff supported in the organization that brought in nearly 200 Govt. and Non-Government Champions, identified as volunteers, from the Homagama DS division, including a few key stakeholder companies situated within the district such as Brandix and Orange Electricals.

The programme aimed to promote Public-Private-Community Partnerships (PPCPs) within the DS division. During the workshop, Dr Mallawatantri explained the need for combined Public Private Community combined efforts to safeguard the Kelani River Basin environment. Kelani River Basin environment is critically important as it provides home for over 5 million people; support jobs through over 10,000 enterprises; energy through hydropower; and drinking water for all living in the basin and outside the basin in the Western Province, among others. He also explained the potential social and economic impacts of continued pollution in the Kelani River basin.  

Mr Dadellage elaborated on the information based approach to engage Public, Private and Community members towards improving Kelani River Basin environment. The participants were provided with instructions and maps to carry out a research at the Grama Niladari or village level covering housing, agriculture, service delivery, environmental issues, health issues and livelihoods. This information will be used to develop an activity basket to address the development challenges in the DS division, including the pollution prevention to the Kelani River. The event also provided a platform for the community representatives to voice their opinion and discuss pressing issues directly related to the Kelani River and the greater environment that they live in.

KRMP approach was first developed in early 2016 by IUCN with the help of over 25 agencies as a  medium to long-term strategy to manage and conserve the Kelani River Basin. It comprises of three intervention levels, namely; River basin scale programmes led by government and technical agencies; Private-public partnerships at basin, sub-basin or minor watershed levels and Public-Private-Community Partnerships (PPCPs) at village or minor watersheds by local level committees with the support of Private and Public agencies.