One of the benefits of the job is that you get to meet a lot of interesting people. I recently found myself sitting in the back of taxi talking to Achim Steiner, for example - he’s the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. I’m pleased to say that I didn’t just find him to be extremely knowledgeable (something you’d expect from someone in his position). I also found him to be a very amiable, down-to-earth guy who talked a lot of sense - particularly about the importance of including agriculture in the upcoming negotiations.

Anyway you can hear a snippet of what he had to say in the interview below - well of course I had a tape recorder!

All the best,

Jim

His lecture dealt with lots of the issues that we at Scriptoria hold dear - and many of which are usually only considered in this depth in closed meetings of experts. Many of the points raised by the Prince were, for example, also raised by Achim Steiner (head of UNEP) at a meeting of major donors I was invited to in Brussels last week. So it was huge pleasure to hear on national TV such a public figure getting those messages out to the public.  

And top marks for the Prince’s comms team, who had already posted the transcript online to satisfy the needs of people like me who were inspired to get onto Google as soon as the credits started to roll.

Read the lecture at:

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/speechesandarticles/index.html

If you’re in the UK, check out the TV broadcast coming soon (the BBC promises!) at

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00lncxc/Richard_Dimbleby_Lecture_Facing_the_Future/

All the best and good night!

Sandy

Problems on these islets range from the fact that the few assets families have tend to be swept away by yearly flooding, to the fact that many children are starving simply because what little food they do get does them no good because of the huge number of gut parasites that they carry. This problem can be solved by cheap and simple measures like de-worming them every 6 months or so with tablets that cost 3 pence each – an important issue in an area where many people only get to eat once every 2 or 3 days.

Communicating these kinds of issues is something that I thrive on, because I know that it’s really helping some of the poorest. So watch the video and let me know what you think.

All the best, Jim

Hi all, and again sorry for another extended leave of absence. I’ve just got back from overseeing communications at a UK Department for International Development workshop in Bangladesh. This was a really fascinating event as it brought together movers and shakers from the development world in Asia who are working on many important projects. These range from tackling climate change and its impact on the poor in India, to helping to improve the lives of ultra-poor people on temporary islands that form on large rivers in the north of Bangladesh.

Finding new and interesting ways to record the messages from the event was perhaps the most interesting part of the job for me – as I know it’s key to ensuring that the good work they’re doing gets taken up and continued, both by other governments and by international development agencies.

I also got the chance to visit one of the projects and get some communications work done in the field. More on this within the next couple of days – as by then Scriptoria’s team will have put together a short multimedia presentation/video based on this to take you on a trip around one of these islands and see the work being done there.

All the best,

Jim

It’s been pretty quiet on this blog lately as I’ve been in Africa for the last couple of weeks helping a large UK government initiative to plan its communications strategy - I’ve literally just arrived back in the UK. This has been really interesting work, based around helping the state governments improve their efficiency as a way of tackling wide-scale poverty and providing key services like clean water.

I won’t write much here as I fly out to the Chars project in Bangladesh tomorrow. So, I’ll try and come back to this later once I have a little more time.

All the best, Jim

This very light option comes on a roll of statically charged sheets - just tear one off and stick it to whatever surface is in front of you (as in the picture).  And each sheet is wipe-clean and can be re-used 20 times. So, it looks like this could be a really good solution for trainers working in either the developed or the developing world who don’t want to lug heavy materials around. It’s certainly cheaper than paying the excess baggage to take a whiteboard out with you. The website is http://www.magicwhiteboard.co.uk and they’re for sale on the UK high street in Rymans, which is where I saw them (see http://www.ryman.co.uk/Magic-Whiteboard-0351010170.asp#).

All the best,

Jim

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Earth Hour invites one billion people in more than 2800 cities representing 83 countries to turn off their lights for one hour – tonight, Saturday, March 28 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm in their local time zone. On this day, cities around the world, including Paris, Sydney, London, Cairo, New York, Los Angeles and Cape Town, will join together to demonstrate their commitment to energy conservation and sustainability. Here’s how you can participate:

All you have to do to Vote Earth is turn your lights out for one hour tonight, Saturday, March 28 from 8:30pm to 9:30pm local time, in your city. Your light switch is your vote!

Set your computer’s power management and save up to $60 on your electricity bill and nearly half a ton of C02 over the next twelve months. Climate Savers Computing Initiative provides instructions on how you can save electricity all year long through efficient computing.

If you are affiliated with a college, for example, help your university reduce its environmental impact by adopting green computing practices. Pledge to Power Down for the Planet and create a video to teach others about the importance of energy efficient computing in the fight against climate change.

Earth Hour is about more than dimming lights for sixty minutes; it’s about making a commitment to reduce energy consumption throughout the year.

(Source: Google.com)

Though I wasn’t there myself, I’m told that it was a real success, with GWP’s dynamic team making the most of the opportunity to showcase the great work that their organization does around the world.

 All the best,

Jim

So, if you’re involved in agricultural research, why not take a moment to visit the Forum’s new site? Simply running your cursor down the buttons at the side of each page will tell you what information is available in each section. And, if you have important news, events or publications to share with the world, this portal allows you to publish them instantaneously. To go to the site, click here.

All the best,

The Scriptoria Team

What people don’t seem to realize is that you only have to press a couple of buttons in Word and PowerPoint to optimize images and vastly reduce file sizes - which means you can send them to your colleagues almost anywhere in the world, even when their internet connections are very slow.

So, I’m posting here step-by-step instructions. I’d value your comments.

To open the document, please click here >>>

All the best,

Jim