The ViRTU@LiS (Social Learning on EnVIRonmental Issues with the InTeractive Information and CommUnicAtion TechnoLogIeS) project brings together a consortium of specialists in information technology, sustainable development, environmental modelling, public policy and governance, learning psychology and open learning, to develop computer-based learning tools on ecosystems and natural resources.

This site aims to provide a practical resource for those who work with communities (in the wider sense of the term) to help them identify and adopt more sustainable practices. This site was initiated in 1998 as part of a PhD thesis, and has developed over the past years as the NRM-changelinks site. During 2007 the NRM-changelinks was discontinued, and has been superceded by this Learning for Sustainability site.

LEARNing is an interdisciplinary project based on interactive approaches and stakeholders’ participation. It aims at building a research agenda for social sciences on R&D in European agriculture.
The main emphasis is to engage stakeholders in a new way of learning in order to tackle new issues like multifunctionality, food safety, rural development, environment.
LEARNing involves eight European countries (Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom) and Australia.

The aim of the HarmoniCOP project (2002 -2005) was to increase the understanding of participatory river basin management planning (RBMP) in Europe. RBMP is the integrated cross-sectoral planning and management of river basins if necessary across political and administrative borders. The project’s objective was to generate practical information about participation processes in river basin management and to support the implementation of the public participation provisions of the European Water Framework Directive.

The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) is a North American organization of social and economic justice, environmental, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, community development, labor, anti-poverty, anti-hunger, and other groups. The Coalition has 325 organizational members in 41 states, 4 Canadian provinces and the District of Columbia. We are dedicated to building strong, sustainable, local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food to all people at all times.

Rural areas in the UK are experiencing considerable change. The Rural Economy and Land Use Programme (RELU) aims to advance understanding of the challenges they face. Interdisciplinary research is being funded from 2004-2010 in order to inform future policy and practice with choices on how to manage the countryside and rural economies.

Against the background of the ongoing reform of the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) the research project “Encouraging collective farmers marketing initiatives” (COFAMI) aimed to identify the social, economic, cultural and political factors that limit/enable the formation and development of collective marketing initiatives.

• European Participatory Technology Assessment (EUROPTA) (2000) Participatory Methods in Technology Assessment and Technology Decision-Making. Copenhagen, Denmark: Danish Board of Technology.
• Health Canada, Office of Consumer and Public Involvement (2000). Public Involvement: Framework & Guidelines. Ottawa, Ontario: Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada.
• Health Canada, Corporate Consultation Secretariat, Health Policy and Communications Branch (2000). Health Canada

• Policy Toolkit for Public Involvement in Decision Making.

Alimenterra is a new network of European organisations committed to developing practical and co-operative actions leading to the creation of a truly sustainable european food system. The organisations participating in the creation of AlimenTerra currently come from five European countries: France; Italy; the Netherlands; Spain and the UK and cover all the food chain from farmers’ unions and development organisations to NGO’s, local food initiatives and organic support bodies.