learningforsustainability.netLearning for Sustainability (LfS) - Introduction
This guide to on-line resources (formerly NRM-changelinks) is designed for researchers, government agency staff, NGOs and other community leaders wanting to improve social learning and collective action initiatives to support sustainable development and foster community resilience. It is relevant for those working in a range of sectors such as sustainable development, global change, environment, public health, disaster management and education. The site also aims to provide links to social process resources that can be used across sectors.
The areas covered can be accessed directly from the left menu bar. Each section brings links to lot of on-line resources together in one easy to access site, each link is annotated to provide a guide to its contents.
A central section of this site links the reader to a range of guides, tools and checklists that can be used to improve participation and engagement efforts. A new page in this section now covers tools, tips and techniques for facilitators and other social engagement specialists. Other pages provide links to best and emerging practice in social learning areas including networking, dialogue, adaptive management, and knowledge management. Evaluation is given its own section which covers key topics such as participation, empowerment, logic models and scale.
A research methods and approaches section has links to action research resources, material on doing integrated and interdisciplinary research, a listing of on-line journals in these areas, and it hosts the IntSci (Integrated Science for sustainability) discussion network. New pages link to resources on underpinning social research methods including systems thinking and action research. One page lists on-line resources for both post-graduate research students and their supervisors. Topics include thinking about the supervisory team, as well as tips for structuring and writing a thesis or dissertation.
The site also manages additional pages on finding volunteering and career opportunities in the sustainability sector.
Using the site
Each resource referred to is listed with the name of the site and a brief description of the content (in the main taken from the site's own description). You will also notice that, when you click on a link, the site will open in a new browser window. In most cases, these sites provide information on - and links to - a host of relevant topics in addition to the one they are listed under. Therefore, once you arrive at a new site, additional searching of a menu or file hierarchy can often prove fruitful.
Acknowledgements, realities and disclaimer
The Internet is vast, it is continually growing and changing, accordingly this guide represents only a sample of what is available. Moreover, because people tend to move their sites around the Internet periodically the actual address at any given time may be different from that shown here. Thanks in advance for e-mailing any corrections or suggestions for additions and improvement.
The material here is all freely available for use, please acknowledge the source where appropriate. Thanks to all those of you whose whose comments and suggestions have helped improve this site as an Internet resource. The views expressed in this site are my own, and are not necessarily those of any supporting organisations, groups, or individuals. For more about the background to this site it is suggested that you visit the about this site page.
Links to manuals, checklists and tools 