Summary Title: Policy and Research Unit (PRU) Duration: 2004 - ongoing Contact: Anthea Stephens, anthea.stephens@iucn.org.

Overview

The Policy and Research Unit (PRU) was established at our Pretoria office in 2004 in order to ensure that environmental policy and governance objectives are supported by the projects and initiatives we lead. Since its inception in 1998, IUCN-SA has pioneered innovative tools for advocacy - through the use of film, branding and marketing. The PRU will
coordinate our research and policy work, improving our capacity to support and promote research and influence governance in South Africa.

Objectives:

	support IUCN-SA's overall programme through research
	coordinate IUCN-SA's input into government policy processes by serving as a policy think-tank
	identify current issues of relevance to IUCN-SA's members, Commissions and Working Groups
	disseminate IUCN-SA's policy positions to the South African public through seminars, issue papers and publications
	promote public debate aroun issues relating to the environment, conservation and sustainable development

Focus areas:

	Conservation and development, including transboundary conservation
	Ecosystem management, currently focused on including the management of karst ecosystems and landscapes in South Africa
	Integrated water resources management in Southern Africa, including water demand management
	Biodiversity access and benefit-sharing
	Environmental ethics
	Trade, regional development and environment
	Responses to globalization, including alternative economic systems
	Biotechnology and biopolitics
	Science, risk and environment

Current and recent projects

	A Development Effectiveness Toolkit for transboundary conservation areas (TBCAs). This toolkit builds on the new methodology of management effectiveness in relation to Protected Areas, but aims to provide a broader methodology for the measurement of success in TBCAs, which have unique demands in terms of their larger scale and international elements (see the Working Paper Series on our Publications page)
	Coordination of the Transboundary Protected Areas Research Initiative (TPARI)
	Coordination of the IUCN Karst Working Group

Depending on need, the Unit recruits interns to assist on a part-time basis.