Institute full name:

Centre d’actions et de réalisations internationales

Institute acronym:

CARI

Institute profile:

CARI is a non profit organization based in France, it has been founded in 1998 by some experienced people in the field of international cooperation in rural and agriculture developpment overseas, especialy in drylands of francophone Africa and Maghreb. The domain of competence and action of the CARI is agroecology in dryland areas.
This methodology in approaching development aims at economy and autonomy, particularly in the rural and agricultural domain, and seeks to bring together the economic, social, and environmental aspects of sustainable development.
Due to its original position and experience in the field of organic agriculture and environment management in drylands and due to its knowledge about international negotiation process in these fields, CARI is participing in several networks and working groups like water management or climate change. On the other hand CARI is since years practicaly involved in project management in the fields.

Website

www.cariassociation.org

Address

Association CARI
Rue du Courreau
34380 Viols le Fort
France
Fax: +33 4 67 55 74 37

Institute logo

Institute image

Involved personnel

Name	Contact details	Key qualifications	Photo
Patrice Burger	Tel: +33 4 67 55 61 18 E-mail: cariassociation@yahoo.fr	UNCCD process and substance, NGO and CSO capacity building, Agroecology or organic farming in drylands : soil fertilty management, water management, Participatory project management in drylands with CBO's, Member of the UNCCD roster of experts.
Maude Gentit	Tel: +33 4 67 55 61 18 E-mail: cariassociation@yahoo.fr	Master of Engineering in ecology and biodiversity management. Facilitation of network on desertification Science/ONG link
Marjolaine Souchon	Tel: +33 4 67 55 61 18 E-mail: marjolaine@cariassociation.org	Facilitation of network on desertification Development Fair trade
Nadia Roldan	Tel: +33 4 67 55 61 18 E-mail: cariassociation@yahoo.fr	Administration Finance

Institute full name:

Both ENDS, Environment and Development Service

Institute acronym:

Both ENDS

Institute profile:

Both ENDS strives for social justice and a sustainable environment by connecting and empowering civil society organisations (CSOs), key players in poverty reduction and the improvement of environmental governance. The core of our activities lies in supporting the work of these CSOs, specifically in developing countries. Since 1986 we have supported more than 4,000 organisations through shared campaigning activities, networking, exchanging knowledge, capacity building and influencing policy. We have longstanding strategic partnerships with some 200 organisations and local networks. Our cooperation focuses on local and participative approaches towards the use and management of natural resources, with a specific focus on: sustainable land use and integrated water management. Within this line, we support small-scale initiatives that contribute to human and ecosystem well-being in drylands.

Website

www.bothends.org

Address

Both ENDS
Nieuwe Keizersgracht 45
1018 VC Amsterdam
The Netherlands
Tel.: +31-20-623-0823

Institute logo

Involved personnel

Name	Contact details	Key qualifications	Photo
Marie Jose van der Werff ten Bosch	Tel: +31-20-623-0823 E-mail: mjb@bothends.org E-mail: drynet@bothends.org	Biology graduate with specialization in environment and development issues. Work focus: supporting local CSOs working in dryland regions; lobbying for political commitment towards dryland inhabitants
Karen Witsenburg	Tel: +31-20- E-mail: kw@bothends.org	Karen is program officer in the Policy Development team of BothENDS. She holds a PhD in Human Geography from the University of Amsterdam, and has worked in research until she joined Both ENDS. She worked at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. She has lived in Kenya and is very aware of and specialized in dryland issues.

Institute full name:

Fondazione per lo sviluppo sostenibile del Mediterraneo

Institute acronym:

Fondazione MEDES

Institute profile:

Foundation for the Sustainable development of the Mediterranean (MEDES Foundation) is a non-profit organization, aiming to promote activities on sustainable development and management of Mediterranean areas highly exposed to desertification. People involved in the Foundation have a strong background in agricultural economics and policy; social sciences, natural resources management and cultural and natural sites promotion. MEDES Foundation has highly-regarded expertise in a number of areas including: i) using a range of technologies for communication and dissemination of project results and best practice guidelines for decision-makers, ii) translating science to non-scieintific language, and iii) the use of strategic indicators and benchmarks for assessing and monitoring. The MEDES Foundation team includes the designer and editor of two web-base information systems: the Harmonised Information System for the EU-funded DESIRE Integrated Project, and the LEDDRIS Land and Ecosystem Degradation and Desertification Response Information System for the EU-funded LEDDRA project.

Website

www.fondazionemedes.it

Address

C.da San Licandro, 1

Sicignano degli Alburni

Salerno - Campania

84029

Italy

Institute logo

Involved personnel

Name	Contact details	Key qualifications	Photo
Prof. Giovanni Quaranta	Tel: +39 971 205 411 E-mail: medes@medes.eu	Involved in MEDALUS and DESERTLINKS, developing ManPras, relating indicators to management practices. Coordinator of a Masters Course on desertification and rural development. Member of Italian NCCDD.
Dr. Nichola Geeson	Tel: +44 1981 590457 E-mail: nicky.geeson@googlemail.com	Project Manager of MEDALUS II, III, and Coordinator of DESERTLINKS, producing the desertification indicator system DIS4ME.
Dr. Jane Brandt	Tel: +44 1435 874701 E-mail: medesdesire@googlemail.com	Project Manager of MEDALUS I, II, III, and Coordinator of DESERTLINKS, producing the desertification indicator system DIS4ME.
Dr. Rosanna Salvia	Tel: +39 971 205 411 E-mail: rosanna@medes.eu	Involved in MEDALUS III, DESERTLINKS and many National Funded research Projects concerned with desertification issues involving local communities.

»Fondazione MEDES (IT)	Nichola Geeson, Giovanni Quaranta, Rosanna Salvia, Jane Brandt
»Both ENDS (NL)	Marie Jose van der Werff ten Bosch, Karen Witsenburg
»CARI (FR)	Patrice Burger, Maude Gentit
»University of Leeds (UK)	Mark Reed, Lindsay Stringer

... and all the study site teams

»Estación Experimental de Zonas Áridas (ES)	»Universidade de Aveiro (PT)
»Escola Superior Agrária de Coimbra (PT)	»University of Wales Swansea
»Agricultural University of Athens (GR)	»Democritus University of Thrace (GR)
»Eskişehir Osmangazi University (TR)	»UNESCO-GN Chair, University Mohammed V-Agdal, Rabat (MA)
»Institut des Régions Arides (TN)	»Moscow State University of Environmental Engineering (RU)
»Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)	»University of Botswana (BW)
»Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR)	»Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias (CL)
»Instituto Nacional de Investigação e Desenvolvimento Agrário (CV)

These guidelines for writing a policy brief have been compiled to help study site teams with writing a policy brief based on the results of their DESIRE research.

Contents   1. Why should we write policy briefs, with what aim? 2. Some general tips - Title of the paper - Executive summary - Context and importance of teh problem or issue - Policy recommendations - Appendices - Sources consulted or recommended 3. Layout and Choices 4. Check list 5. Used resources 6. Annex 1: How do I brief policymakers on science-related issues (Chandrika Nath) 7. Annex 2: "The Little Manual on Science Communication: a summary" (Cássio Leite Vieira)

Download the full document

Guidelines for writing a policy brief [0.4 MB]

How to write for different audiences

Different groups of stakeholders will respond to different approaches, as outlined below. General guidance for writing for different audiences, and communication in general, is also dealt with very efficiently by the ESRC Communications Toolkit (Economic and Social Research Council, UK).

How to write Policy briefs
International Society for Technology in Education provides comprehensive tips and templates
The policy brief (International Policy Fellowships)
How to write a policy memo (Trevor Thrall, University of Michigan-Dearborn)

How to make video clips and video podcasts
Video material for student education (Mark Reed, University of Leeds, UK)

Intellectual Property and Copyright
Broadly speaking, the results of the project (knowledge) are the property of the contractor who has generated them. Where several contractors have jointly carried out work generating such results and their respective share of the work cannot be ascertained, they shall have joint ownership thereof. However, they shall agree among themselves on the allocation and terms of exercising the ownership of the knowledge in accordance with the FP7 model contract. See IPR helpdesk.

See also Comprehensive copyright advice for the United Kingdom (UK Copyright Service) but each country is likely to have slightly different laws. For audio-visual or video material it is always essential to pay attention to copyright. Participants being filmed should sign consent forms and all images and soundtracks must be copyright-cleared. See also advice on providing copyright notices and using copyright notices (UK Copyright Service).

Copyscape is a useful tool that will compare your web pages to others indexed by Google and return any it finds with matching text. If you notice another web site using your content, the best place to start is by reading the copyright infringement fact sheet (UK Copyright Service).

1.  General

Desertification and civil society, a sort of a starting kit on desertification, containing 10 leaflets in three languages (CARI)
Information Packages for Civil Society Organisations, on desertification, on the Rio Conventions, etc, to explain more about the subject but also about the institutional and political context (BothENDS)

Drynet includes newsletters, policy papers and success stories among other features.

2.  For technicians and farmers
AGRODOK series on small-scale agriculture, published by the Agromisa Foundation. The books are aimed at people who work directly with small-scale farmers.

3.  For Policy Makers
NGP Pulse for advice on lobbying politicians
Theme papers of the GTZ (an international cooperation enterprise for sustainable development with worldwide operations)

Policy Brief of DCG (Drylands Coordination Group)
Dossier thématiques du CSFD (French Scientific Committee on Desertification)
Publication series from Both ENDS
INSPIRE geoportal: a Directive of the European Parliament and the Council aiming to assist policy-making in relation to policies and activities that may have a direct or indirect impact on the environment.
GEOSS: the Group on Earth Observations (or GEO) is coordinating international efforts to build a Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS).

4.  For Teachers and others involved in education

Desertification Kit: educational suitcase of the UNCCD

Educational suitcase of Eau vive
SOIL-NET (Cranfield University, UK)  is a free environmental Internet resource for primary and secondary schools providing teachers and students extensive curriculum-based information about soil.

DesertNet International
CORDIS European Commission News
European Commission Science for Environment Policy 
European Environment Agency
European Water Partnership
Drynet
Geography Directions
IISD mailing lists for MEA bulletin, Earth Negotiations Bulletin, Water-L, etc. 
MEA Bulletin invites articles from practitioners, MEAs and academics. Contact

Mongabay.com blog

Science in School aims to promote inspiring science teaching by encouraging communication between teachers, scientists, and everyone else involved in European science education.

UNCCD Library Contact
UNCCD Newsbox Contact

UNCCD on Facebook
UNCCD on Twitter

UNDP Newsroom
UNESCO Water, sustainable development, and conservation of freshwater resources 
Willem van Cotthem’s desertification blog

This dissemination training presentation was given at the 5th DESIRE Plenary Meeting, Xi'an, China, October 2010

Now you have seen a selection of DESIRE posters, newsletters, etc. please consider what products you yourself could plan and make that would be useful for stakeholders. As you compile material from the study sites, what can you say about results so far?

Templates for newsletters, posters, brochures and PowerPoint presentations can be downloaded from the DESIRE website (login first), some in a choice of Microsoft and InDesign formats. These templates can also be adapted to make leaflets, factsheets, policy briefs, etc. All the templates have a similar border and design features that will make DESIRE products instantly recognisable.

Level of complexity
In DESIRE we are trying to provide information for all audiences by considering three levels of complexity: advanced with scientific detail; middle range in non-scientific language; simple, with less text and many pictures. If you are writing at one of these levels of complexity, this can be shown by a coloured box on the front of the product. As in skiing slope grades, blue can denote simple, red is for moderate and black indicates scientific levels of information.

All products funded wholly or partly by DESIRE should have:

• the DESIRE logo displayed prominently;
• the FP6 logo, this is important as it denotes our funding;
• date of issue.

All products funded wholly or mostly by DESIRE should also have:

• a DESIRE disclaimer box (see the version in the latest downloadable Newsletter and poster guidelines templates).

In addition:

• say who wrote/compiled/edited the product;
• give contact details of the author or the institution making the product (plus logo if applicable);
• preferably use standard fonts as chosen by DESIRE;
• add the name of the photographer to photos, and also the date when the photo was taken if known;
• reduce the size of photo files so that the document can be circulated by email more easily;
• obtain a DESIRE publication number if the product will be part of a DESIRE series (e.g. Newsletters, Factsheets, Info-briefs) so that all products can be catalogued more easily. PLEASE ASK ME FOR A NUMBER;
• ask a non-scientist friend or relative to comment on your draft product, to check that the language and layout are attractive, balanced, and easy to understand;
• consider whether you can translate existing products to your local language, for local dissemination. Google translate may save you some effort, by providing an instant translation that can be adjusted as necessary;
• products available in more than one language may be labelled accordingly, (e.g. Newsletter 1_spa), using language abbreviations as used by the UNCCD;
• send a copy of all your products to Jane or Nicky for placement on the HIS.