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Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE)
[last updated November 13, 2007 4:09 PM]
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General Information
Partnership website(s) |
Expected TimeframeNovember 2006 - Open Ended |
Partners
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Major Groups:
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UN System:
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Other intergovernmental organizations:
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Other:
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Thematic Focus
Primary Themes:
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Secondary Themes:
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Geographic Coverage
Geographic Scope: Global
Country(ies) where the partnership is being implemented: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Bhutan, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cuba, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kyrgyzstan, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Maldives, Mali, Marshall Islands, Mauritania, Micronesia (Federated States of), Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Palestian Territory, Occupied, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Rwanda, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Serbia, Serbia and Montenegro, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sudan, Suriname, Swaziland, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tokelau, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Republic of Tanzania, Uzbekistan, Vanuatu, Viet Nam, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe |
National Focal Points
This partnership has made contact with the national focal points for sustainable development in the countries involved
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Goals and Objectives
Summary of the partnership's goals and objectives
Through Online Access to Research in the Environment (OARE), a new international public-private partnership, the world’s most prestigious scientific publishers, societies and associations are now offering one of the world’s largest collections of peer-reviewed natural and environmental science literature to more than 1500 national institutions in 106 least-developed nations of Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe.
Launched October 30, 2006 in New York, OARE has a mission to improve the quality and effectiveness of natural and environmental science research, education and training in low-income countries. In doing so, OARE will help achieve four primary development objectives:
• Growth in the number of national scholars and experts who will, through their knowledge and reputation, integrate into and facilitate the development of more progressive science-driven policy development processes, regulatory frameworks, and governance structures.
• Strengthen the intellectual foundation of universities and research institutions so as to enable faculty to perform research on a par with peers in industrialized countries, develop their own publishing record, and enable students to conduct research and seek education in new and emerging subjects.
• Build the capacity of independent national organizations to gather, interpret, and disseminate and use global scientific research. Local rather than foreign organizations will engage/empower end-users of information.
The average annual US institutional subscription fee of each title provided through OARE is approximately $1,500. Each institution enrolled in OARE will receive access to more than 1200 serial titles and search engines with a US annual retail subscription value of more than $1 million. The total US annual retail subscription value of scholarly literature and scientific search engines to be provided through OARE to all enrolled institutions is more than $200 million per year.
Research is provided in a wide range of disciplines, including biotechnology, biology, botany, climate change, wildlife conservation, ecology, energy, environmental chemistry, environmental economics, environmental engineering and planning, environmental law and policy, environmental toxicology and pollution, forest and fisheries sciences, geography and population studies, geology, meteorology, natural disaster prevention, natural resource management, oceanography, urban planning, water and hydrology, zoology, and many others. In addition to obtaining direct access to vast quantities of scientific findings, developing countries will be provided access to the world’s most powerful scientific abstract and information databases and indexes, critical intellectual tools the scientific community uses to identify information located in tens of thousands of articles across thousands of international publications.
Launched October 30, 2006 in New York, OARE has a mission to improve the quality and effectiveness of natural and environmental science research, education and training in low-income countries. In doing so, OARE will help achieve four primary development objectives:
• Growth in the number of national scholars and experts who will, through their knowledge and reputation, integrate into and facilitate the development of more progressive science-driven policy development processes, regulatory frameworks, and governance structures.
• Strengthen the intellectual foundation of universities and research institutions so as to enable faculty to perform research on a par with peers in industrialized countries, develop their own publishing record, and enable students to conduct research and seek education in new and emerging subjects.
• Build the capacity of independent national organizations to gather, interpret, and disseminate and use global scientific research. Local rather than foreign organizations will engage/empower end-users of information.
The average annual US institutional subscription fee of each title provided through OARE is approximately $1,500. Each institution enrolled in OARE will receive access to more than 1200 serial titles and search engines with a US annual retail subscription value of more than $1 million. The total US annual retail subscription value of scholarly literature and scientific search engines to be provided through OARE to all enrolled institutions is more than $200 million per year.
Research is provided in a wide range of disciplines, including biotechnology, biology, botany, climate change, wildlife conservation, ecology, energy, environmental chemistry, environmental economics, environmental engineering and planning, environmental law and policy, environmental toxicology and pollution, forest and fisheries sciences, geography and population studies, geology, meteorology, natural disaster prevention, natural resource management, oceanography, urban planning, water and hydrology, zoology, and many others. In addition to obtaining direct access to vast quantities of scientific findings, developing countries will be provided access to the world’s most powerful scientific abstract and information databases and indexes, critical intellectual tools the scientific community uses to identify information located in tens of thousands of articles across thousands of international publications.
Targets and Progress
Partnership targets• Enroll and provide training to approximately 1,200+ eligible national government, academic, research, educational, and civil society organizations in 106 eligible low and middle income countries (World Bank GNI, 2006).
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Progress against targets• 200+ developing country institutions in 54 countries enrolled in 3 months since launch of project, October 30, 2006.
• 35+ publishers and 200+ societies and associations representing 1200 scientific titles in natural and environmental sciences participating in OARE partnership as of February 2006. |
Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
Arrangements for Capacity-Building and Technology Transfer
- Human resources development/training
- Education/building awareness
- Institutional strengthening, including local participation
- Technology transfer/exchange
OARE leverages proven information and communication technologies, recent digitization of vast quantities of proprietary scientific literature, and an international public-private partnership structure to help reduce the North-South scientific gap, an objective of both the United Nations Agenda and the Millennium Development Goals, with unparalleled efficiency and scale. It also contributes to the achievement of Agenda 21 goals (strengthening capacity of developing country institutions), and Articles 12 (research and training), 17 (exchange of scientific information) and 18 (technical and scientific cooperation) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.
Relationship to International Agreements on Sustainable Development
How the partnership contributes to the implementation of Agenda 21, the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation
In North America and Europe, the research/expert community is exceptionally strong. Located in universities, research and policy institutes, government agencies, non-profit organizations, and other related institutions, the members of this community publish seminal articles that mobilize interest/protest on environmental issues; testify in court cases and inquiries between environmental stakeholders; address government policy makers (e.g. parliament, congress, etc.); guide the long term activities of public and private development institutions; and perform the key information intermediary role – filtering, flagging, disseminating, and advocating use of information – that is so important in the US and Europe today.
In contrast, in developing countries the research/expert community is very small, the manifestation of a phenomenon generally referred to as the north-south scientific gap, which is characterized by great differences in the availability of related human, physical and intellectual scientific capital. A lack of access to the global scientific record is a major contributing factor to this gap. Without direct access to the knowledge recorded in thousands of prestigious peer reviewed journals in the natural sciences, the expert/research sector has great difficulty competing with their peers in the developed world. Unable to perform basic research or keep up with developments in their own fields, they are isolated from the intellectual mainstream. Their creativity and productivity are stifled, their opportunities for publication are dramatically reduced, and their ability to compete within the global scientific community is limited. There are always individuals or organizations outside of their home country who know more and to whom they must go for scientific information. Unfortunately, without knowledge of the contents of the global scholarly record, many developing country experts may not even know what to ask for.
Not surprisingly, the lack of an ability to stay abreast of scientific advances is an important factor contributing to brain drain, a phenomenon that is crippling scientific institutions in the developing world and which, as a result of rapid globalization, is worsening each year. In universities and research institutions, the situation is chronic. Without a stable group of qualified faculty, institutions of higher learning have great difficulty educating the next generation of leaders. Developing countries are often forced to send their young adults abroad at enormous cost to obtain an education.
The OARE partnership, by redressing great imbalances in access to global scientific knowledge, will help developing countries build new and improved higher education programs in the natural sciences, help government and civil society manage more sustainably natural resources using the latest scientific technologies and knowledge, and educate a new generation of leaders and scientific innovators capable of competing on more equal terms with their peers in the developed north.
Relevant Sections of Agenda 21
In contrast, in developing countries the research/expert community is very small, the manifestation of a phenomenon generally referred to as the north-south scientific gap, which is characterized by great differences in the availability of related human, physical and intellectual scientific capital. A lack of access to the global scientific record is a major contributing factor to this gap. Without direct access to the knowledge recorded in thousands of prestigious peer reviewed journals in the natural sciences, the expert/research sector has great difficulty competing with their peers in the developed world. Unable to perform basic research or keep up with developments in their own fields, they are isolated from the intellectual mainstream. Their creativity and productivity are stifled, their opportunities for publication are dramatically reduced, and their ability to compete within the global scientific community is limited. There are always individuals or organizations outside of their home country who know more and to whom they must go for scientific information. Unfortunately, without knowledge of the contents of the global scholarly record, many developing country experts may not even know what to ask for.
Not surprisingly, the lack of an ability to stay abreast of scientific advances is an important factor contributing to brain drain, a phenomenon that is crippling scientific institutions in the developing world and which, as a result of rapid globalization, is worsening each year. In universities and research institutions, the situation is chronic. Without a stable group of qualified faculty, institutions of higher learning have great difficulty educating the next generation of leaders. Developing countries are often forced to send their young adults abroad at enormous cost to obtain an education.
The OARE partnership, by redressing great imbalances in access to global scientific knowledge, will help developing countries build new and improved higher education programs in the natural sciences, help government and civil society manage more sustainably natural resources using the latest scientific technologies and knowledge, and educate a new generation of leaders and scientific innovators capable of competing on more equal terms with their peers in the developed north.
Relevant Sections of Agenda 21
International cooperation to accelerate sustainable development in developing countries and related domestic policies; Integrating environment and development in decision-making; Protection of the atmosphere; Integrated approach to the planning and management of land resources; Combating deforestation; Managing fragile ecosystems: combating desertification and drought; Managing fragile ecosystems: sustainable mountain development; Promoting sustainable agriculture and rural development; Conservation of biological diversity; Environmentally sound management of biotechnology; Protection of the oceans, all kinds of seas, including enclosed and semi-enclosed seas, and coastal areas and the protection, rational use and development of their living resources; Protection of the quality and supply of freshwater resources: application of integrated approaches to the development, management and use of water resources; Environmentally sound management of toxic chemicals, including prevention of illegal international traffic in toxic and dangerous products; Environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes, in hazardous wastes; Environmentally sound management of solid wastes and sewage-related issues; Safe and environmentally sound management of radioactive wastes; Strengthening the role of non-governmental organizations: partners for sustainable development; Scientific and technological community; Transfer of environmentally sound technology, cooperation and capacity-building; Science for sustainable development; Promoting education, public awareness and training; National mechanisms and international cooperation for capacity-building in developing countries; Information for decision-making
Relevant Sections of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation Changing unsustainable patterns of consumption and production ; Protection and managing the natural resource base of economic and social development ; Sustainable development in a globalizing world ; Health and sustainable development ; Sustainable development of small island developing States ; Sustainable development for Africa ; Sustainable development in Latin America and the Caribbean; Sustainable development in Asia and the Pacific; Sustainable development in the West Asia region
Coordination and Implementation
Coordination Mechanism of the PartnershipMany organizations are participating in the OARE partnership. Partners providing scientific journals through the program include the world’s largest scientific publishers and over 200 of the world’s most prestigious scientific societies and associations. Coordinating partners include United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Yale University, and the International Association of Scientific Technical and Medical Publishers. Primary funding partners include John D and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. OARE is built and managed in close partnership with HINARI, a program launched by the World Health Organization in partnership with Yale providing research to the medical community in developing countries, and AGORA, a program launched by the Food and Agriculture Association and Cornell University providing research to the agricultural community.
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Implementation Mechanism of the Partnership |
Resources
Funding Currently AvailableAmount in US$:
Source(s):
A $500,000, 3 year grant from the John D and Catherine T MacArhtur Foundation and William and Flora Hewlett Foundation is funding coordination of the consortium. Key Partners are also providing support in the form of donated time. |
Non-financial resources availableType(s):
Source(s):
Individuals in partner institutions are donating time and other non-finanical resources. For example, starting in 2007, Microsoft Corporation is providing major support in the form of a customized user authentication system and servers. |
Funding SoughtRequired Amount in US$:
Source(s) already approached: Funding is being sought for training programs in eligbile developing countries.
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Non-financial resources soughtRequirement(s):
Source(s) approached and details:
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Additional Information
Additional Relevant Information
As the partnership is only 12 months old, we have not yet had a opportunity to evaluate progress, constraints, or strategies. However, one important observation is that the remarkably flexible organizational structure of the OARE partnership (there are no contracts, all participation is voluntary, and responsibilities are decided through discussion with the partnership and agreed upon with a friendly handshake) has encouraged/enabled more innovative problem solving on a number of different fronts, and, by facilitating the sharing of various technical and financial responsibilities as the need has arisen, allowed OARE to develop more quickly than would have otherwise been possible.