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Have the objectives been attained?

With the information we have at hand we are not in a position to clearly determine whether all the objectives of WP 3.1 have been attained in all study sites and up to which degree. Nevertheless, we try to make a best estimation:

Table 26: Attainment of WP 3.1 objectives

Objectives Attained by: 1 = less than 50% of SS; 2 = 50-75% of SS; 3 = 76-95% of SS; 4 = 100% of SS Comments

Overall goal:

To identify promising (existing and potential) strategies for land conservation for the selected study sites.

 4
Objectives of the 1st stakeholder workshop
  • To initiate a mutual learning process among local and external participants by sharing experience and jointly reflecting on current and potential problems and solutions regarding land degradation and desertification.
 2 In 5 out of 12 cases it must be assumed that mutual learning was constrained by organisational changes, uneven representation of stakeholder groups, or own objectives of SST. Without being able to determine the degree to which mutual learning occurred, we presume it did in the other 7 study sites considered here.
  • To create a common understanding of problems, potentials and opportunities by integrating external and internal perceptions and to foster a common understanding of problems and solutions related to land degradation and desertification in the study site.
3 Except from China, where no direct interaction between local and external participants except from researchers did take place, we assume that everywhere it was possible - although to strongly varying degrees - to work towards a common understanding of problems and possible solutions.
  • To strengthen trust and collaboration among concerned stakeholders.
 3 In Morocco farmers seem to be suspicious
  • To identify existing and new strategies to prevent or mitigate land degradation and desertification.
 3 From Eskisehir it was reported that no existing strategies are there
  • To select a set of these identified strategies for further evaluation and documentation with the WOCAT methodology.
 4 Finally, in all study sites a set of strategies (although not always including existing and potential strategies) was selected for in-depth assessment and documentation with the WOCAT questionnaires.


The workshop reports themselves as well as the one-to-one-talks (WB leaders - Study Site Coordinators) and plenary discussions on participation held during the 3rd DESIRE General Meeting (Eskisehir, November 2008) revealed several strengths and weaknesses of the WP 3.1 methodology as well as limitations in the use of the methodology. They will be discussed in the next chapter.