Workshops

The 3 proposed workshops, approved at the eighth ECPGR Steering Committee meeting, October 2001, aim at facilitating the exchange of experience from different regions in the following areas identified as priority:

Documentation and information systems development
Policy issues
On-farm conservation and management

PGR information networking: towards regional approaches to PGR documentation of ex situ collections

Coordinators
Eva Thörn, Director, Nordic Gene Bank, Alnarp, Sweden
Brigitte Laliberté, Regional Office for Europe, IPGRI

Objectives of the workshop
Support the development/exploration of regional strategies and action plans for PGR information exchange mechanisms
Promotion of standards in information/data exchange
Exchange experiences and create links for future collaboration between Europe and Africa
Strengthen inter-regional collaboration and regional PGR networks

Regional networks involved
ECPGR and GRENEWECA (Genetic Resources Network for West and Central Africa)

Dates and location
18-20 March 2003, Cotonou, Benin

Reports
Workshop programme
Workshop report

Policy and legal issues workshop

Coordinators
Bert Visser (CGN, the Netherlands)
Marcello Broggio (IAO, Italy)

The workshop will be developed in close collaboration with the ECPGR Inter-regional Cooperation Task Force members.

Objective of the workshop
To host a workshop to facilitate an exchange of experiences and views on the implementation of new international agreements, as well as on national law and policy based on these agreements.

Regional networks involved
ECPGR, GRENEWECA, EAPGREN and SPGRC

Dates and location
December 2003, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

On-farm conservation workshop - plans for this workshop have been cancelled

Coordinators
Vladimir Meglič, Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Additional coordinator to be confirmed

Objectives
In consultation with the ECPGR Inter-regional Cooperation Task Force and the ECPGR On-farm Conservation and Management Task Force, this project will develop the programme for a workshop (3-5 days) on on-farm conservation and management to be held in 2002.

Region involved
ECPGR and the countries of the REMERFI network (currently 7), the Red Mesoamericana de Recursos Fitogenéticos (Latin America PGR Network).

Second meeting of the Inter-regional Cooperation NCG, Maccarese (Rome) December 2007
The Inter-regional Cooperation Network Coordinating Group held its second meeting in Maccarese (Rome), Italy, on 6 December 2007.

A joint ECPGR-DIVERSEEDS-Bioversity Inter-Regional Workshop on Crop Genetic Resources Networks was also held on 3-5 December 2007 in Maccarese (Rome), Italy. One of the objectives was to develop approaches and platforms to facilitate the cooperation among regional PGR networks. Other objectives focused on to clarify the roles and responsibilities of networks vis-à-vis PGR ex situ conservation, to define strategies for network operations and to secure networks' long-term sustainability.
A CDrom containing the summary report and the presentations given during the meeting is available from the ECPGR Secretariat.

The Inter-regional Cooperation Network is overseen by a Network Coordinating Group (NCG), composed of members agreed by the Network and combining specific expertise and geographical representation. The NCG formulates proposals for the attention of the ECPGR Steering Committee (SC) on Network priorities and activities, following the planning and prioritizing mechanism established by the SC.
Member countries nominate representatives in the Inter-regional Cooperation Task Force. These people are considered as resource persons that can be mobilized for Network-related activities.

At the onset of Phase VII, the NCG proposed to focus efforts towards international cooperation on two areas of work:
documentation and information systems
policy implementation

The NCG has also proposed the following:

Coverage:
In addition to collaboration with the SSA networks, collaboration with CWANA networks, including the Central Asian and TransCaucasian Network, seems logical, given historical ties and ecological similarities (Mediterranean Basin).
Scope:
The following topics can be identified but need further discussion with other regional networks:
- collaboration on characterization and evaluation of genebank collections qualifying for inclusion in conservation strategies of the Global Crop Diversity Trust; more in particular, on crops of common interest the options for consortium development may be explored;
- capacity building in documentation and information expertise, and support for database development, in particular central databases (regional or crop-wise);
- further collaboration in policy implementation, in particular in the implementation of the International Treaty and the implementation of the concepts for Prior Informed Consent, Mutually Agreed Terms and benefit-sharing mechanisms.

A meeting of the NCG was held on 5 April 2005 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, to develop more detailed plans for Phase VII.
For more information, please see the meeting minutes [here].

Contacts

Inter-regional Cooperation Task Force memebers