Some CEPA tools and sources of information (30/07/04)

Good afternoon CEPA people:

Three news items that I have picked up recently that provide some useful CEPA tools and sources of information.

1. News item from IUCN's Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) member, Don Alcock (don.alcock@nrm.qld.gov.au), Communication Manager, Coastal CRC in Australia.

CEC members, natural resource planners and community leaders may be interested in a new online resource kit of community engagement strategies, tools and tactics to help your environmental decision-making. The Citizen Science Toolbox can help groups select and plan a range of community consultation, stakeholder participation and environmental education activities involving other people - from simple, awareness-raising projects to complex, public participation programs.

The resource http://www.coastal.crc.org.au/toolbox/index.asp includes more than 60 community involvement methods that can be used by government, community and action research groups for community-based conservation projects. The website describes a number of case studies with practical suggestions about how to choose the most appropriate method for different types of community consultation, communication, capacity-building or partnership activities. Selection is based on criteria such as your budget, level of expertise, timeframe and extent of desired participation. Consultation methods include brainstorming, opinion polls, citizen juries, expert panels, focus groups, open space technology, media campaigns and stakeholder surveys. Each method has information about how to organise the activity, the resources required, suitability for different situations, time requirements and references for further reading. Of course, skilled people must be always used to run any of the activities with community groups. The Australian team that designed the citizen science toolbox would be interested to hear reviews from CEC members so we can improve and develop it further. Several workshops and training sessions are organised, including an international community participation workshop in Brisbane on 7 September for Asia Pacific coastal zone managers. We hope the toolbox helps your capacity building programs. If you have suggestions about resources you would like added to the site, please let me know and we will be happy to post them to the team.

2. How can research-based evidence influence policy? Answers from Overseas Development Institute (ODI)

Based on its policy literature research, the ODI has outlined more than 30 different models of how policy is informed and formed. This site gives paragraph-long descriptions of each model organised according to the ODI's own "context, evidence, links" model. According to this, the answer to the question "Why are some of the ideas that circulate in the research/policy networks picked up and acted on, while others are ignored and disappear?", is a combination of the political context, the evidence and how it is formulated, and how the actors are linked.

Based on a review of the literature, and preliminary and detailed case studies, ODI has identified over 30 theoretical models describing how research-based evidence can influence policy. The first four are cross-cutting models or frameworks, while the remainder are loosely grouped into three categories guided by ODI's three-dimensional
framework: context, evidence and links. Go here for a summary and links to more detailed information http://www.odi.org.uk/RAPID/Lessons/Theory/Index.html.

3. The Science and Development Network Web site has developed an E-guide to Science Communication that may be of interest to readers. The developers assert that "the effective communication of information about science and technology is becoming an essential component of all aspects of social and economic development. This e-guide provides an invaluable 'one-stop shop', containing original articles and guidance and links to the best material elsewhere." To see what's available go here http://www.scidev.net/ms/sci_comm/index.cfm but be aware first, that while access to all the information is free, you do need to register your e-mail address with them with the assurance that your address will not be released to third parties.

With best wishes, Sandra Hails, Ramsar Secretariat

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Sandra Hails, CEPA Programme Officer
Ramsar Convention Secretariat
Rue Mauverney 28, CH-1196 Gland, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 999 0176; Fax: +41 22 999 0169
E-mail: hails@ramsar.org
Web Site: http://ramsar.org
CEPA mini-Web site: http://ramsar.org/outreach_index.htm

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