Name: Project-specific websites

Reference: Lees (2010) CBSG Virtual Workshops - A Resource for Organizers. http://www.cbsg.org/content/cbsg-search-virtual-workshop-environment. 2011.

Source: Any website-building or virtual space-providing application able to accommodate the regular manipulation of content, including uploading and downloading briefing materials, will serve this purpose. The one used as an example here can be sourced at Google Sites:  https://sites.google.com

Conservation planning step(s) when this would be used: A virtual space can be used throughout planning and implementation, as a shared repository for briefing materials, progress reports and other key documents and broadcasts. Use of this tool would ideally be agreed during the Preparation step.

Description of tool use: A website or virtual space is established by project organizers and populated with pertinent materials such as: project aims; planning workshop briefing materials; profiles of project collaborators; literature pertinent to status and threats analyses; project milestones and progress reports; and so on. The site operates as a central, dedicated space where planning collaborators can go to find the latest versions of key documents and to upload and download materials as they need to.

Experience and expertise required to use the tool: A basic understanding of how computer programs work, and some trial and error, are sufficient to set up a Google Site. The process takes approximately 30 minutes though complete customization can take longer. Other website applications and virtual spaces can be more complex.

Data requirements: The website merely hosts project information; it has no specific data requirements.

Cost: Google Sites websites are FREE. Prices can vary enormously for other virtual spaces.

Strengths and weaknesses, when to use and interpret with caution: This tool will be less useful where a proportion of planning collaborators have unreliable internet access. A Google translation facility is available, which can translate Google Sites, instantaneously, into the relevant local language, which may be useful where collaborators do not speak a common language, or do not speak it fluently. However this translation facility may not be adequate, depending on site content and the languages involved. 

Case study:  Examples of Google Site used for conservation planning purposes:

https://sites.google.com/site/cbsgaustralasiamalapilot/

Back to Abruzzi Table 1.

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Contributor(s) name: Caroline Lees
Affiliation: CBSG
Email: caroline@cbsgaustralasia.org
Date: 16 January 2012