On October 6th 2008, the DESIRE project has been reviewed by a panel of two external experts at European Union FP6 office in Brussels, Belgium.

In the morning session, project coordinator Coen Ritsema, colleagues Rudi Hessel, Erik van den Elsen, and Working Block leaders Godert van Lynden, Christos Karavitis, Gudrun Schwilch and Victor Jetten (WB1..WB4 resp.) gave presentations about various First-year aspects of the project. In the afternoon, the well-prepared panel posed questions to the DESIRE representatives. In general, the projects first-year accomplishments were well-receive, although there were critical questions and remarks. Also suggestions were made for corrections, alterations and improvements throughout the project. An extensive report will be received from the panel later.

The presentations from the morning session, given by the DESIRE representatives, can be downloaded from the Download section > EU reporting documents by registered users. 

The Joint Master's Degree programme on Integrated Drylands Management is offered jointly through the partnership between the United Nations University (UNU), Institut des Régions Arides (IRA), Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute (CAREERI), the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Institut National Agronomique de Tunisie (INAT) and Tottori University (TU).

It brings together different expertise and scientific resources of the partner institutes to build advanced human capital, generate and adapt global knowledge for local solutions in drylands. The programme is designed to provide young professionals and scientists an international perspective on integrated resource management approaches in drylands and allow them to gain practical experience in different dryland countries.

The Master's Degree program starts on October 31st 2008 in Medenine, Tunisia.

More info and an application form can be found HERE. 

I have added a Calendar page to the DESIRE website. The Calendar page is an integration of a Google Calendar -page into the DESIRE website. The following features are shown;

• Calendar page.
  A Calendar showing the current week, month, or an agenda, listing stored events. Stored events (such as meetings, conferences, and deliverables due dates) are displayed in the Calendar.
• Upcoming events.
  The next two upcoming events stored in the Calendar are shown just below the Main Menu of the website.
  

The Calendar page is shown by clicking on the 'Calendar' in the Main Menu. If you would like to add an Event to the DESIRE Calendar, please send me an This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .