Lars T. Soeftestad • Prakash Kashwan
www.cbnrm.net

Environmental online communication (EOC) epitomises the opportunities offered by information and communication technologies (ICTs) in managing the changes brought about because of globalization of environmental and developmental concerns, and the increased integration of environmental issues with socio-political concerns of development.

CBNRM Net, a network serving the global CBNRM community of practice, is an ongoing process and experiment in EOC. To achieve its goal of contributing to social change, leading to more equitable and sustainable natural resource management, CBNRM Net has moved from an emphasis on information and data to focusing on knowledge, and to management and production of such knowledge. CBNRM Net's communication model concentrates on fostering an open and inclusive dialogue involving all stakeholders, aimed at participation in defining and implementing sustainable natural resource management strategies, and ensuring ownership of these strategies by all involved stakeholders. The strategic use of available communication tools, including the Web and e-mail, helps ensure such inclusion.

CBNRM Net's knowledge management and communication model consists of a series of reiterative steps that places EOC in a larger context, and that aims, through a cyclical process of adaptability and flexibility, to ensure that useful knowledge is made available at the right place at the right time.