There will be three workshops during the meeting:

1. Common Ground in Conservation Outreach

Tuesday 16 July from 12.30 to 13.30
Keynes Lecture Theatre 2

Workshop Leaders:
Chris Pyke, Department of Geography, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA <pyke@geog.ucsb.edu>
Britta Bierwagen, Outreach Coordinator, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, Santa Barbara, CA, USA <britta@nceas.ucsb.edu>

We will discuss the results of our first year of implementing a new conservation education project. This project emphasises the common themes connecting conservation issues faced by people in difference places. The goal of the workshop is to increase international participation in a conservation education programme that introduces students in grades 3-12 to both local and global threats to biological diversity. The framework of our Common Ground in Conservation (CGC) project is designed to foster communication and dialogue between both students and scientists, while respecting ubiquitous constraints of time and resources for both teachers and scientists. The workshop will provide an opportunity to discuss the progress of the project to date, including results from the first set of partner schools. The workshop will inform members about opportunities for participation either individually or with their local SCB chapters.

The workshop will comprise:

• Strategies for outreach and education in primary and secondary grades and the rationale for the CGC project: Chris Pyke
• Review of completed and on-going Common Ground partner school activities: Britta Bierwagen
• Reports from partner scientists in California, Idaho, and Montana, USA
• Discussion of programme successes and areas of improvement, and opportunities for future collaboration

2. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment: the stage is set and the audience is waiting

Tuesday 16 July from 12.30 to 13.30
Keynes Lecture Theatre 3

Workshop Leader:
Neville Ash, Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Secretariat, UNEP-WCMC, 219 Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0DL, UK. <ash@millenniumassessment.org>

This workshop aims to introduce and present progress of the MA to SCB meeting participants, to provide the opportunity for questions and feedback, and to facilitate discussion of engagement opportunities in the MA process.

The Millennium Assessment (MA) is a four-year process designed to improve the management of the world's natural and managed ecosystems by helping to meet the needs of decision-makers and the public for peer-reviewed, policy-relevant scientific information on the condition of ecosystems, consequences of ecosystem change, and options for response. The Convention on Biological Diversity, Convention to Combat Desertification, and Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar) have all endorsed the MA as a joint assessment process to meet some of their information needs. The MA will also address needs of the private sector and civil society. The MA will be conducted through working groups comprised of technical experts from around the world, and is a "multi-scale" assessment –comprised of a global component as well as a number of sub-global assessments being carried out at regional, national, and local scales around the world.

Further background to the MA can be found at: www.millenniumassessment.org

3. Teaching Conservation Biology: Challenges and Best Practices

Wednesday 17 July from 12.30 to 13.30
Keynes Lecture Theatre 2

Workshop Leaders:
Eleanor Sterling, Melina Laverty, Ian Harrison, Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th St, New York, NY 10024, USA, <sterling@amnh>, <laverty@amnh.org>, <harrison@amnh.org>
Mac Hunter, Department of Wildlife Ecology, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469-5755 USA.

This roundtable discussion, organised in part by the Society for Conservation Biology Education Committee, will explore challenges and best practices in teaching conservation biology. Topics for discussion will include: designing capstone courses, developing multi-disciplinary teaching tools, building critical thinking skills in students, and linking conservation practitioners with educators. Participants will have the opportunity to share their own experiences, including successes and obstacles, and discuss collaborative efforts to improve conservation biology teaching in the future.

We encourage educators, university professors, and conservation professionals from around the world who would like to encourage practical and applied learning in Conservation Biology courses to join the discussion.