UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
Gondwana Project

Gondwana Project

Date: Mon, 21 Feb 1994 15:39:30 MET Reply-To: godard@bota.ucl.ac.be Sender: RINAF-L@vm.cnuce.cnr.it Subject: GONDWANA Introduction To: Multiple recipients of list RINAF-L ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Dear netters,

I am very pleased to introduce my-self and our GONDWANA project devoted for its major objective to develop electronic networking among African scientists especially working in the fields of sustainable agriculture and forestry.

I have a scientifical background in ecology (Ph. D. in Sciences at the Universite Catholique de Louvain, Belgium) and extensive experience in computer & telecommunication....* or the launching of the GONDWANA project, I will travel through N-E, E & S Africa with my girl friend Petra Vandecasteele (reporter) for one year.

What do we need from you? One of the challenges of the expedition is to stay in permanent contact through electronic mail to prepare our agenda and appointments from country to country. We also plan to install an individual modem connection to local research, commercial or fido network (or international to our university in Belgium). Thus we need your assistance in this project. Please have a look at the multi purposes of the expedition which are described below.

If you feel interested in collaborating with us, please send your comments or suggestions by e-mail directly to me (godard@bota.ucl.ac.be) and I will have the pleasure to forward you the description of the whole project in details.

Regards, Pol Godard, GONDWANA Project

GONDWANA : Supercontinent of the Southern Hemisphere

**************************************************** Some people like to accomplish incredible challenges for going the whole way of their dreams. Our challenge is to establish a communication line from 51 lattitude North down to 35 lattitude South, from Belgium to the Good Hope Cape.

Communication by road & trail network

------------------------------------- To accomplish the very ends of our dream, we have chosen to drive the zigzagging roads and trails and go at encounter the African continent. The idea is to physically connect 30 countries together through our itinerary. We want to realise a global project independent from the moving political situations occurring among the neglected continent. Following the rhythm of the encounters along the road, we will take the time to feel the relations between local people and their fragile environment. Instead of flying to Africa in only a couple of hours, we prefer to experience its North-South transition in nature and culture.

Communication technologies for building global African networks

--------------------------------------------------------------- Beyond the challenge of the expedition, the main goal of the Gondwana project is to contribute to global networking in Africa to allow people to choose their development alternatives. To achieve this objective, we will bring information and affordable computerised telecommunication tools right to African decision makers, scientists and field workers. The selection of these key-people is in progress among international organisations, universities, research centres, NGO's and private companies involved in a sound developmental scheme.

Communication by images via the media

------------------------------------- Following the tracks of the two famous agricultural and botanical explorations of Dr. Homer L. Shantz, first in 1919 and secondly in 1956, we will rephotograph as many as possible the original sites; three series - separated by 37 years each - of the same picture from the same view point and angle to illustrate the evolution of the plant cover over two thirds of a century.

Images will be the reflection of our travel emotions and our deep respect towards the beauty of nature and the culture of indigenous African life. Through the artist's eye, nature will become sculpture, and the unusual, evidence. This is the way we have chosen to diffuse Gondwana's values and messages. By establishing regular communication with our European partners along the trip, the media will indeed be able to make people share the on-going adventure and project results.

Please, send a personal e-mail to the authors to get the whole detail project.

********************************* The GONDWANA team, Paul Godard & Petra Vandecasteele. godard@bota.ucl.ac.be

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Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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