Murcia, Spain, 1 to 5 October 2007

Brief summary

The DESIRE Research Theme 3 training workshop was attended by 21 participants from 12 DESIRE study sites in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, China, Russia, Cape Verde, Botswana, Mexico and Chile. The participants received the guidelines and material for the conduction of the stakeholder workshop 1 and the assessment of SLM strategies in advance. With the help of this material, the training allowed to conduct practical exercises with a high learning effect.

Participants also got the chance to act as moderators of certain exercises.

• Day 1 focused on a general introduction to Research Theme 3 methodology and the introduction to the
  objectives and the organisation of stakeholder workshop 1. This stakeholder workshop will
  be organized in each study site and aims at a mutual learning on land degradation and
  conservation and the identification of actual and potential solutions to mitigate desertification.
• Day 2 was conducted in the field and allowed to experience certain exercises in the
  Torrealvilla catchment of the Guadalentín basin (Spanish study site). A transect walk in two
  groups enabled to illustrate the disturbances of the water and the biomass cycle, their
  causes and impacts as well as their solutions.
• Day 3 aimed at identifying the stakeholders and at assessing locally applied solutions as well
  as potential strategies.
• Day 4 included field training on the documentation and evaluation of applied technologies
  and approaches in the Torrealvilla catchment. The 3 groups worked on the assessment of
  terraces, contour ploughing and check dams.
• Day 5 focused on the WOCAT database and the data review process. Enough time was also
  dedicated to the tentative planning of Research Theme 3 activities for each study site.

The training was well received by the participants. They all participated very actively and
developed an outstanding group spirit.