Centre for Development and Environment (CDE)

Knowledge hubs

Global Land Programme

GLP is an interdisciplinary community of science and practice fostering the study of land systems and the co-design of solutions for global sustainability. The GLP Scientific Steering Committee contributes to the implementation of research to advance sustainability transformations worldwide. The International Project Office (IPO) is hosted by CDE. More information

Land Matrix

The Land Matrix Initiative is a global and independent initiative monitoring land deals in the global South. Its goal is to facilitate an open development community of citizens, researchers, policymakers, and technology specialists to promote transparency and accountability in decisions on large-scale land acquisitions. As an open tool, the Land Matrix Initiative’s database allows wide participation in constantly upgrading, correcting, and improving the information it contains. More information

Mountain Research Initiative (MRI)

The Mountain Research Initiative (MRI) is an international research coordination network. It promotes mountain research efforts conducted across borders and disciplines to generate knowledge that enables decisions, actions, and transformations towards sustainable development. The MRI is a strategic partner of Future Earth and a participating organization of the Group on Earth Observations, and hosted by CDE.
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Geo-Myanmar

The online, open-access spatial data platform developed under the project compiles and makes available land data from various sources. It brings together data on land use, cover, and tenure, and combines them with participatory maps developed by local communities as well as crowdsourced public contributions
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TABI - The Agrobiodiversity Initiative

The Agrobiodiversity Initiative (TABI) is a long-term commitment by the Lao Government and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) that seeks to conserve, enhance, and manage the biological diversity found in northern Laotian farming landscapes in order to improve the livelihoods of upland farm families. CDE has been mandated to develop and implement an information/knowledge management component for TABI. More information

The Lao DECIDE Info Project

The Lao DECIDE info Project seeks to stimulate data and information sharing between relevant sectors and administrative levels to improve evidence-based socio-economic planning and decision-making in Lao PDR. Funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), the project supports the Lao Department of Statistics in providing user-friendly statistical and spatial data to a wide range of users. Through a set of practical tools and procedures, the project provides web-based open access to detailed socio-economic data and information in various formats.
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WOCAT

WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies) is an established global network of sustainable land management (SLM) specialists, contributing to SLM by sharing and evaluating knowledge. In 2014, WOCAT was officially recognized by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as the primary recommended database for documenting sustainable land management best practices.
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Water and Land Resource Project

The Water and Land Resource Centre (WLRC) Project concerns two transboundary river basins in the Horn of Africa and East Africa: the Blue Nile/Eastern Nile Basin in Ethiopia, and the Ewaso Ng’iro Basin in Kenya/Somalia. It is designed to systematically collect, integrate, and share data that are otherwise highly fragmented, incomplete, or not available at all. Cross-sectoral and cross-scale knowledge generation and dissemination are essential preconditions for integrated regional management of water resources and resulting sustainable use of water and land.
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