IISD expands range of knowledge products to cover chemicals and wastes, land, forests

WINNIPEG—December 18, 2012—The International Institute for Sustainable Development has launched three new knowledgebases to help sustainable development policy-makers track various international activities and issues related to land, forests and chemicals and wastes.

These knowledgebases are part of IISD's suite of knowledge management projects tracking international activities addressing sustainable development issues. Each knowledgebase is managed by IISD Reporting Services. Knowledgebase content is researched and written by IISD's team of thematic experts. They are:

• Chemicals and Wastes Policy & Practice (http://chemicals-l.iisd.org/)
• Land Policy & Practice (http://land-l.iisd.org/)
• Forests Policy & Practice (http://forests-l.iisd.org/)

Features of each knowledgebase include:

• Summaries of activities (publications, meetings, statements and projects) by a range of actors, and an option to search the summaries by several categories (region, actor, action or issue);
• An archive of all posts to the site, organized by date;
• A clickable world map, enabling users to view the latest news by region (Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America & the Caribbean, Near East, Northern America and South West Pacific);
• A link to subscribe to LAND-L, FORESTS-L or CHEMICALS-L, IISD's moderated community announcement lists for policy-makers and practitioners, as appropriate;
• A link to the most recent update, a periodic newsletter of recent posts to the knowledgebase, distributed via email through the respective listserv;
• A calendar of upcoming international events related to land, forests or chemicals and wastes policy;
• A link to iCalendar, which automatically updates your own calendar program with upcoming related events; and
• A link to an RSS feed.

IISD manages and is fully responsible for the content posted on Land Policy & Practice, Forests Policy & Practice and Chemicals and Wastes Policy & Practice. Information on United Nations activities is provided in co-operation with the UN system agencies, funds and programs through the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination (CEB).

Funding for Land Policy & Practice, Forests Policy & Practice and Chemicals and Wastes Policy & Practice has been provided by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.

Land Policy & Practice, Forests Policy & Practice and Chemicals and Wastes Policy & Practice join IISD's other knowledge management tools:

• Climate Change Policy & Practice (http://climate-l.iisd.org/);
• Biodiversity Policy & Practice (http://biodiversity-l.iisd.org/);
• Sustainable Development Policy & Practice (http://uncsd.iisd.org/);
• SIDS Policy & Practice (http://sids-l.iisd.org/);
• Water Policy & Practice (http://water-l.iisd.org/);
• Sustainable Energy Policy & Practice (http://energy-l.iisd.org/);
• Africa Regional Coverage (http://africasd.iisd.org/); and
• Latin America & Caribbean Regional Coverage (http://larc.iisd.org/).

In early 2008, during preparations for the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, IISD Reporting Services launched its first knowledge management site, Climate Change Policy & Practice. This knowledgebase supported efforts by the sustainable development community to track the various activities undertaken by international actors addressing climate change. Work on IISD's flagship publication, the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, positioned it to make this transition into monitoring the implementation of international multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs). IISD's Reporting Services teams, which attend the MEA negotiations, track the decisions of the international community and understand the wide variety of actors involved in each arena.

For further information on our knowledge management activities, please contact Lynn Wagner, senior manager, knowledge management projects (lynn@iisd.org). To provide us with information about your land- or forests-related activities, please contact Lauren Anderson, content editor (lauren@iisd.org). To provide us with information about your chemicals and wastes activities, please contact Faye Leone, content editor (faye@iisd.org).