As a volunteer member of the SARD Initiative team, Elisa:

• Contributed to the preparation of the SARD Initiative Proposal for fund raising from donor Governments;

• Liaised with Major Groups and facilitated effective communication among them and FAO staff during the process of Project Proposal development;

• Prepared Letters of Agreement and negotiated with an Italian NGO for setting up a FAO/Italy Facility for Sustainable Development;

• Designed and developed a framework for a SARD Inventory encompassing FAO programmes and projects related to SARD. Searched, assessed, synthesised and selected relevant information from existing data banks and web-based information such as WAICENT (FAO web-based information platform), CARIS (Current Agricultural Research Information System), FPMIS (Field Programme Management Information System), WISARD (Web-based Information Platform for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development);

• Assisted in the selection and organization of documentations to be catalogued in the inventory;

• Contributed to the definition of criteria for selection and categorization of projects;

• Production of a report: “Human-Wildlife Conflict worldwide, collection of case studies, analysis of management strategies and good practices”;

• Assisted in volunteer recruitment, communicated with potential volunteers, wrote TOR for incoming volunteers and provided training and appropriate support.

Elisa is currently working in the SARD Initiative as a consultant for the SARD Resource Facility and Good Practices Analyst.