Building the information system (Work package 4)

Activity 4.1: Pilot data gathering

The project partners and the national focal points in Austria, Denmark, France, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom started to gather data on the gene conservation units after the second Expert Group meeting held in Avignon, France in April 2008 based on the draft data standards. The pilot data gathering continued until the third meeting of the Expert Group (Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 2008). (Activity leader: Slovenian Forestry Institute)

Activity 4.2: Pilot group meeting

The pilot group meeting was organized together with the third meeting of the Expert Group in Ljubljana, Slovenia on 1-2 October 2008. The national focal points from the pilot countries also attended the meeting together with the Expert Group and the project partners. During the meeting, the participants shared experiences in compiling national data sets according to the draft data standards and discussed the data sets of the pilot countries. (Activity leader: Slovenian Forestry Institute)

Activity 4.3: Pilot implementation

The national focal points in Austria, Denmark, France, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom started to test the Intranet in March 2009. The pilot implementation is continuing to improve the functionality of the Intranet and to correct possible errors in the uploading procedures and the database design. (Activity leader: Slovenian Forestry Institute)

Activity 4.4: Training workshops

Four training workshops have been organized for the national focal points. During each workshop, the national focal points were provided an update to the project activities and outcomes, including the pan-European minimum requirements and data standards for gene conservation units of forest trees. The participants also exchanged updates on recent developments in FGR documentation efforts in their countries. During the hands-on training sessions, the national focal points used the Intranet, prepared national datasets and uploaded their data into the database.

• 1st training workshop (Central and Western European countries), Vienna, Austria on 24-26 March 2009 (Activity leader: BFW)
• 2nd training workshop (Eastern and South-Eastern European countries), Ljubljana, Slovenia, 21-23 April 2009 (Activity leader: Slovenia Forestry Institute)
• 3rd training workshop (the Mediterranean countries), Avignon, France, 5-7 May 2009 (Activity leader: INRA)
• 4th training workshop (Northern European countries), Copenhagen, Denmark, 12-14 May 2009) (Activity leader: SNS)

Activity 4.5: Data gathering and uploading

The national focal points are now compiling and uploading data into the information system. Most of the work is expected to be completed by the end of 2009. Currently the information system contains data on 1020 gene conservation units in 30 countries (May 2009). (Activity leader: Bioversity International)