Participants

Participants:

Janet Achora
Is an Information and Community Development worker, currently working with Women of Uganda Network-WOUGNET, as the Programme Officer – Rural Access, with emphasis on the opportunities ICTs offer and use of ICTs to access Information in Agriculture, Health and Entrepreneurship among Rural women. Also involved in implementing a e-society model programme that will work with Civil Society Organisations, Local Governments and communities to improve service delivery using ICTs from the grassroots to top local administrative structures. Holds a Masters degree in International Community Economic Development (ICED) from the Southern New Hampshire University.

Mario Acunzo
is a Communication for Development Officer in the Research and Extension Division of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

Dora Patricia Arevalo
I am a social communicator and journalist with a Masters degree in Business Administration. I am a specialist in the strengthening and analysis of social networks. My work experience is in research and development projects in both rural and urban areas conducted in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru. The main focus of my work is the design and implementation of rural information and communication strategies to use Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) to strengthen social networks between a variety of different local actors.Since 2001 I have conducted research on a variety of ICT related themes: community telecentres, information systems for rural business development and knowledge sharing in supply chains.I currently work for CIAT (International Centre for Tropical Agriculture) as part of the Rural Agro-Enterprise Development team as Regional Coordinator of Bolivia and Peru in the Information and Knowledge management for rural innovation project (-CIP management).

Boniface Bahizire
born in Lugohwa (DR of Congo) in 1961. I am a journalist. I launched the first rural community radio project in South Kivu (Uvira) in 1994. The projet have been distroyed buy the war effects in 1996. Since this year, I am interested in communication for the development focussing rural women. I am the information and communication officer of a rural women's organisation named Sauti ya Mwanamke Kijijini (SAMWAKI). It means "the voice of rural woman".

Geert Balzer

Magdalena Blum

Reinhild Bode
Studied Geography and is currently doing a PhD, linking knowledge management and communication with value chain analysis and the integration of small farmers. I worked four years as a Junior Professional in a GTZ-Project in Ecuador, dealing with agricultural innovation systems and pro-poor value chain development. Besides working in rural areas in Latin America I particularly like hiking in the mountains and having a shower under natural waterfalls.

Vera Börger

Dr. Paul-Mathias Braun
Agricultural Biologist by education, currently head of the GTZ Sector Projects "Agriservice" and "Sustainet". My professional fields of interest are in rural service systems (research, advisory, media, business development) and the related knowledge management. I was along term adviser on extension in the Sudan, Tanzania and Ghana and work now in the GTZ Headquarters in Eschborn. I am married with 3 children.

Riccardo del Castello
is a Communication for Development Officer in the Research and Extension Division of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. He is responsible for projects dealing with multi-media applications to agricultural and rural development, particularly rural radio and new ICTs in rural networks, information and communication systems for agricultural research and extension, farmer information networks and training. Prior to joining FAO he worked as expert in broadcasting and telecommunication systems for developing countries and also as audiovisual production trainer for multicultural community television in Canada.

Achille Deodato
Graduated in Economics, International Management, at the LUISS Guido Carli University of Rome, he has worked in KPMG Business Advisory Services S.P.A. as business consultant. During 2006 he works with the Communication for Development Group of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. He is currently working as Consultant for the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

Hellen Gilman

Pedro Gutiérrez Jiménez
Born in Gran Chaco - Bolivia on October 19th of 1960. He studied Legal, Political and Social Sciences. He has 20 years of experience working in audiovisual productions and qualification (7 years for radio and TV, 13 years training to rural families (Farmers and indigenous) in productive topics, good handling of the natural resources and food security). He his currently the Executive Director of the CARENAS Foundation. He is Married with 2 daughters: Yerovia and Eity

Charlotte Haeusler

Geographer, currently working for the secretariat of the Sustainable Agriculture Information Network (SUSTAINET) located at GTZ in Germany. My work includes the facilitation of documentation activities as well as the coordinaton of networks.

Lea Herberg
B.Sc. Environmental and Resource Management, M.Appl.Sc. International Rural Development, currently working for the sector projects “Sustainet” and “Agriservice” in the GTZ Headquarters, Germany. My work is related to the fields of knowledge management in rural areas, rural networks, and sustainable agriculture

May Hani

Joachim Hofer

Prof. Dr. Volker Hoffmann

Born 1947, studied agricultural economics and did a PhD in Social Sciences at Hohenheim. 1990 became a professor for Communication in Horticulture at Hannover and 1992 for Agricultural Communication and Extension at Hohenheim University. Married, two daughters and two grand children.

Venus Easwaran Jennings
is a Programme Specialist at UNESCO’s Communication and Information Sector. She has a Masters degree in Mass Communication Research and specializes in identifying synergies between media and social development. The main focus of her work is to strengthen traditional and community media capacities to improve and accelerate responses to key development and health issues. Since 2003 she has served as UNESCO’s focal point on communication for development, designed projects to reinforce community and traditional media capacities, and managed a capacity building global network for TV producers on HIV and AIDS.Venus E. Jennings is a former development worker and TV presenter.

Andrea Kuhlman

Andreas Mandler
graduated as magister artium at Humbolt University of Berlin. I collaborated with the Goethe Institute Moscow/ Russia and the German Academic Exchange Board (DAAD) in Dushanbe/ Tajikistan. My professional interests concern social aspects in rural development, education and local communication networks – especially in Central Asia. I have been living in Italy for one year and a half year, where I am currently working as consultant for the GTZ.

Federica Matteoli
is a Community Development Specialist. She has worked with NGOs in the field of disaster management, refugees and community development. She has worked at the World Bank in the field of participation and civic engagement on environmental projects. She has graduated in Law at the University of Pisa and she has a Master in International Services taken at the American University of Washington DC. She is working with the Italian Ministry of the Environment on Communication and Development for NRM and Climate Change.

Eliane Najros
I was born in Paris, France and I have a Master Degree in Law and Political Science from the University Paris-XIII, France and a Master of Arts in International Relations from SAIS (School of Advanced International Studies), Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC, USA. I have been the Coordinator of the FAO Dimitra Project, Gender and Development, since 1998. The Dimitra team works a lot on the synergies between rural community radios and farmers/women organisations to make people’s voices heard, with pilot projects in Senegal, Niger and the DRC.
I have an extensive international experience, having lived and worked for over 10 years in various African countries.

Dimitre Nikolov
Agricultural Economist by education, currently engaged as national consultant in Extension and Training at FAO-TCP/BU300(T) project with title “Capacity Building for Sustainable Delivery of Agribusiness Advice to market-oriented farmers: Phase II” in Bulgaria. My permanent work is at Institute of Agricultural Economics in Sofia as Senior Researcher. I’m leading the project for “Farm Investment Behaviour under different policy scenarios”. My main field of interests are in the farm management, rural development and services (agricultural and rural extension) and related information knowledge.

Clare O'Farrell
I am a Communication for Development Officer at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). I have 10 years professional experience in applying participatory communication approaches and media with a focus on the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to agriculture and rural development. I mainly work in Anglophone Africa, Asia and the Near East. Prior to FAO I worked as a Rural Development Officer for the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva and as a Research Fellow at The University of Reading, UK.

Chiara Paffarini
Graduated in Agricultural Sciences and Technologies, Faculty of Agriculture at University of Perugia, she is PhD candidate in "Agro-food Policies and Economics". She has experience in the organisation of international conferences and events

Enrica Porcari
An Italian national, became first chief information officer (CIO) of the CGIAR in 2002. Based in Penang, Malaysia for 3 years she is now based in Rome. A social scientist by training, Enrica has an extensive knowledge and experience of information technology related to development, having worked as chief of telecommunications and ICT Field Services at the UN World Food Programme, as coordinator of CGNET services to CGIAR centers and in the Field support Unit at FAO. In the CGIAR Enrica is responsible for information technology and knowledge management strategies.

Maria Protz
is an independent Communication for Development consultant with an M.A. in Rural Planning and Development from the University of Guelph and a Ph.D. in International Rural Development from the University of Reading in the U.K. Her work has concentrated on rural development and environmental issues with a focus on gender and participatory media applications in communication processes. She has worked in Pakistan and India, but is based in Jamaica and works mainly in the wider Caribbean region. She is married and also teaches at the Caribbean Institute for Media and Communications (CARIMAC), University of the West Indies.

Laura Ramirez Cartin
Agricultural Engineer, currently head of the Technology Transfer Department at INTA-Costa Rica and national coordinator for the Agricultural and Rural Technology, Information and Communication Platform (PLATICAR) which facilitates knowledge management processes in rural communities. My professional fields of interest are integrated whatershed management and knowledge management for rural development. Has been a national and internation consultant.

Simone Sala
graduated in Information and Communication Technologies at the University of Milan, after a four-month research in FAO on the applications of Information and Communication for Development to Natural Resources management and Climate Change Adaptation in Developing Countries. The focus of his studies and experiences is ICTs for Developing Countries, managing also a cooperation project in Ghana for an Italian Ngo (RAY Foundation). He is currently involved in a joint Research program of FAO and the Italian Ministry for Environment and Territory, on the topic of Communication for Development in Natural Resources Management and Climate Change Adaptation.

Roxanna Samil

Jan Schwaab

Studies in business administration, economics and ecological economics at the University of Mainz (Germany). Research on globalisation, complexity and the environment. Guest lecturer at the Universities of Warsaw (Polcand) and Dalian (China). Since 2001 German Technical Cooperation (GTZ): project leader "transport policy advice", team leader during "renewables2004" conference, since 2004 chief knowledge officer.

Thomas Sommerhalter
Landscape Engineer and Rangeland Manager by training, I am currently technical adviser on Pastoralisme of the Nigero-German Programme « Lutte contre la Pauvreté” (fight against Poverty – LUCOP) based in Niamey Niger. Previously I have been assigned as a long term adviser to rural development projects in Eastern Africa (IGAD), Chad, Mauritania and Burkina Faso working in the field of extension and natural resource management. My special interest is focused on mobile livestock production systems.

Patricia Spallek
is an independent consultant with focus on Knowledge Management, Process Implementation & Change. Her KM experience comprises 14 years practice and consulting in concept development, implementation and supervision of KM initiatives in various industries. For more than 7 years she headed the global KM of an international management consulting company with some 30 locations worldwide. She holds a professorship at the University of Applied Science Deggendorf in Germany and was senior advisor to several research projects about KM and knowledge sharing culture in networks and between companies, funded by the German Government. Prior to her KM activities Patricia Spallek worked as a strategy consultant in the Chemical Industry with focus on pacing technologies and advanced materials. She studied and received a Ph.D. in Chemistry.

Gabriele Stoll

Sophie Treinen

has a background in communication, translation and development studies. She works at FAO as Information Management Specialist working in the Knowledge Exchange & Capacity Building Division (KCE). Sophie has 20 years’ experience in communication and information management. Her work is related to knowledge management in the new sphere of e-agriculture (www.e-agriculture.org/) and in the fight the Bridge the Rural Digital Divide (www.fao.org/rdd/), with particular focus on projects in Africa, Middle East, Asia and Latin America which address the role of information and communication in support of rural livelihoods. Her major responsibility is to develop approaches for building institutional and individual capacities to create information and communication systems which make the most of digital technologies to address stakeholders’ needs and enable them to share knowledge.

Alberto Troilo
Born and educated in Argentine, studied electronics engineering specializing in telecommunications. More than 20 years of experience in the field of information and communication for development, mainly linked to FAO and other UN agencies. Currently an independent consultant on information, communication and training systems for urban and rural development; programmes and projects design, implementation and evaluation. Field experience in 25 countries of three continents.

Communicating Knowledge Assisi, Italy - 18 to 22 June 2007