CBCRM RC attends ICSF Documentation Workshop

The CBCRM Resource Center participated in the Workshop on Documentation Processes held last 18-22 July 2005 at Chennai, India. The workshop was organized by the International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF) and aimed to provide a forum for discussing information and documentation concerns among organizations working on CRM and small fisheries. A total of eight (8) resource and documentation centers on small fisheries and coastal resources management issues working in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and Africa participated in the workshop and agreed to improve collaboration related to their work in the coming months.

The five-day workshop provided relevant training on the process of setting up resource centers and appropriate information management systems. "The organizations that have been invited to the workshop are currently into different points or stages within such a process," clarifies Chandrika Sharma of ICSF. "Some have already set up their own resource centers and information systems, and are well on their way to expanding their information networks, while some are still in the early stages of collating documents and thinking about their data management requirements. In any case, the workshop aims precisely to provide a venue for sharing of experiences and lessons, so that those in the initial stages could learn from those who are more established, while the latter can also reflect on their own work by discussing issues with the former group," added Sharma.

The participants and ICSF resource persons presented the work being done by their respective institutions in information and knowledge management during the first part of the workshop. The rest of the workshop was devoted to an orientation on the ICSF Documentation Centre's database management system, presentations on various modes of information and knowledge dissemination, and discussions on possible areas of collaboration. The participants agreed on a number of initial steps towards linking up including coming out with a database of institutions working on small fisheries and coastal resources management, and exchanging news articles and documents through the web. go back to CBNRM LC homepage