Evaluation of the E-Mail Conference on Irrigation Management Transfer

A short questionnaire was distributed on 22 November 2001 at the conclusion of the conference to evaluate the usefulness of the e-mail conference. We like to thank those who took the time to fill out the form and present herewith the results from the 57 replies received, representing 14 % of the EMC participants.

The overall appreciation for the Conference has been very positive, demonstrating the considerable interest for the subject and confirming the need for a further follow-up.

Although we were concerned about the duration of the conference, an overall majority (74%) considered the length just right, with 24% considering the conference too long.

In particular the notes and comments prepared by the theme coordinators were considered very useful by 81% of the respondents. This was also reflected in the ranking of the different documents prepared for the conference, where the themes notes scored highest (3.3) in a range of 1-4, followed by the conference overview paper (3,2). In general both the quality and usefulness of the various documents were well appreciated, reaching an average score of 3.1 , with 3 classified as good and 4 as excellent.

Almost all considered the Conference website useful, and the site was classified by 46 % of the respondents as very good, and by another 46% as OK. Many of the respondents used the website to download the background papers (70%), discussion documents (53%), and synthesis notes (47%). A slight majority (61%) of the respondents would have preferred to receive the documents as attachments. However a substantial group (35%) would still have difficulties in receiving the attachments.

A large majority (88%) would like to receive the conference proceedings electronically, although many (58%) would like to receive it both electronically as well as in printed form. Only 9% would like to receive it in printed format. As the electronic copy is relatively easy to prepare we will give priority now in making available a CD-ROM with the Conference proceedings and linked documents.

For further details on the results of the questionnaire we refer to the summary below.

We feel very encouraged for a follow-up by the comments and suggestions provided by some of the respondents from which we take the following excerpts:

Shankar Narayanan: Hope the website and the resources there would continue to be available.

Wicher Boissevain: Thanks again for the excellent e-mail conference on IMT. It was very useful indeed and e-mail proves to be an efficient medium for exchange of such information.

Carlos Garcés: Thank you very much. Excellent effort from the organizers

Amitabh Pandey: The conference was really a learning experience for me, as I am working on culture and water management strategies at micro level, where irrigation systems is also a feature to study.

Plusquellec Herve: I may not be the only one to have missed the pre-conference documents given the absence of any reference into the discussion

Leonor P. Fernandez: The conference is very useful to me personally as a researcher on IMT and officially as a staff of the planning group of the National Irrigation Administration. Congratulations for a job well done, for bringing together so many participants from all over the world to share their experiences and views on IMT. More power to you. I hope to participate in similar undertakings in the future.

Kees Blok: I'll be looking forward to the IMT sourcebook. And congratulations on the achievements of the e-mail conference.

Teobaldo Pinzas: I would like to say that this has been the richest and most interesting electronic conference I have been able to participate in, even if my role has been basically that of a "consumer" of papers and interventions. Congratulations!

Arik Aharoni: I would like to express my appreciation and satisfaction from this very interesting and useful E-conference.

Martin Parkes: Many thanks for your efforts in creating an instructive forum. The result has been very good. I just need about a week to digest all that was discussed!

Manfred W Steidel: Why not translate the sourcebook into Russian? Would be very useful when working in Central Asia

Daniel Renault: The conference was very useful and well organised. Unfortunately for me I have not been able to contribute as much I was expecting to do so initially, and to value other contributions because of an overload in my agenda. Too bad for me, hope to get some time early 2002 to read carefully all the material piled in my computer. Thus, I am not in a position to fill the form, but VERY WELL DONE except too short for my situation.

Too long 23%
Just right 74%
Too short 3%

Very useful 81%
fair 18%

the conference overview paper? 3.2
the theme notes? 3.3
the case studies? 3.2
the IMT country profiles? 3.0
the WUA legislation profiles 2.9
Average 3.1

On a scale of 1 (poor) 2 (fair) 3 (good) and 4 (excellent), how do you rate the usefulness of:

the conference overview paper? 3.2
the theme notes? 3.2
the case studies? 3.1
the IMT country profiles? 3.1
the WUA legislation profiles? 3.0
Average 3.1

Was the Conference Website useful to you?

Very much so 46%
OK 46%
Hardly so 4%

Download background papers 70%
Download discussion documents sent by participants 53%

Discussion archives 30%
Synthesis notes 47%

Yes 61%
No 35%

electronically 30%
in printed form 9%
both 58%

Arabic 5%
French 21%
Spanish 25%

Contact: imt-moderator@fao.org