The consortium of European partners comprised:

• Union of International Associations (UIA), Brussels (Coordinator)
• World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), Cambridge, UK
• Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), Arnhem, Netherlands
• Nordic Center for Innovation, Norwegian School of Management and Marketing (NSM), Oslo

UIA and WCMC have provided the information content and information management expertise. IEEP and NSM have been advisors in their specialist areas of expertise. All partners have contributed significantly to developing an understanding of the product, its market and users.

Specifically, IEEP provided advice on environmental policy (particularly within Europe) and on the requirements of the project from the viewpoint of professional users.

NSM provided advice on electronic publishing, product design and marketing.

WCMC provided its substantial experience in collating and managing major databases on the conservation of species, ecosystems and protected areas. In collaboration with its other organizational partners and co-funders of this project, it extended the scope of this information, its interlinkages and accessibility, and developed significant new WWW information tools and services (described in Section 3.2 Compilation and integration of WCMC on-line datasets).

UIA has for over two decades integrated and managed information, provided by international organizations of all concerns and colours, on global problems and the actions society is taking to alleviate these problems. Its wider competence is as a clearinghouse for information on international associations, their perceived concerns and activities. UIA contributed these data, enhanced in the fields relevant to biodiversity conservation. It also provided CD-ROM capability and experimented with virtual reality structures for complex networks.

The datasets and competence in data handling and delivery of UIA and WCMC are fundamental to this project. Information content accumulated over many years was made available to the project. However, it must be acknowledged here that the work of both organizations rely on extensive links with other organizations working in their respective fields. Through the collaborative networks of UIA and WCMC, thousands of organizations and individuals are effective partners and beneficiaries of the project; it is anticipated that a number of these would be drawn into the follow-up phase of the project, both as contributors and to test and evaluate the product.