CIRVAL, AN OPERATIVE TOOL FOR THE SHEEP AND GOAT SECTOR

Morand-Fehr, Pierre
Network on Sheep and Goats
c/o InA GP Department of Animal Sciences
Paris Cedex, France

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ABSTRACT

The International Resource Centre on the utilization of information in the milk production of "small ruminants", CIRVAL, is set up to in order to contribute efficiently to ensure two joint interests:

· Improve the access to information and its handling by all the operators in these sectors: professionals, industrialists, service agents, researchers, teachers and policy makers. Also to be considered are treatment of the data by crosschecking and confrontation of the different forms and sources, regular synthesis of updated knowledge, circulation of unpublished information and development of target informative products adapted to the client-operators profile and their particular request.

· Encourage a collective survey in all the concerned sectors - science, technology, economy, legislation, professional organization, communication in the enterprise - and inform on the organization and the current activities in research, industries and markets on a regional, national and international level. Organize prospective groups and events encouraging the comparison of opinions. Create initiatives to increase synergies and solve the identified deficit, support for training and upgrading of skills.

Proceeding in an innovative way for the treatment of information, the permanent CIRVAL team intends to create a dynamic in the knowledge exchanges between experts from different countries and with varied skills. The CIRVAL documentary system allows one to embed all types of written information (scientific, technical, economic and legal, reviews, professional reports, informal reports).
CIRVAL edits a specialized data base on CD-Roms, with a direct access to numbered documents. This service, regularly up to date, could be very efficient and useful in facilitating technology transfer in Eastern-Europe for the small ruminants sector. All translations or selections can be discussed with the users.
Furthermore, CIRVAL edits a newsletter "Tintenna" and has a WEB SERVER : http://www.cirval.asso.fr
The operational centre is located in Corsica; the project is backed up by the European Community, the French Agricultural, Fishing and Research Ministries, the Territorial Collectivity of Corsica. It is called upon to regroup organizations wishing to encourage scientific and technical knowledge, the promotion of joint actions (exchanges, meetings, training) in the ewe-goat sector. A project for a multilateral constitutive agreement was established in this order.
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