SciDev.Net

A project of the Thomson Reuters Foundation, AlertNet is a news aggregator that aims to raise awareness of humanitarian crises around the globe, particularly 'forgotten' emergencies that rarely make headlines. It publishes news from over 400 aid agencies and other media outlets across a range of topics, from natural disasters to climate change to health. AlertNet also provides tools for journalists, including facts and figures, crisis briefings and training modules.

The Dartmouth Flood Observatory, based in the United States, uses remote sensing data to detect, measure and map river discharge and flooding. It publishes rapid response inundation maps during a flood as well as an atlas of large floods from 1985 to present.

Data from the observatory are used by several disaster alert and relief agencies, including Sentinel Asia, Thomson Reuters AlertNet, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Europe's Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System.

The Desert Research Institute is based in Nevada in the United States. Its principal research areas include atmosphere, water and land management – in the United States and in the developing world. The institute is engaged in a project to bring clean water and sanitation to communities in Ghana, Mali and Niger through the West Africa Water Initiative (WAWI). WAWI aims to do this before 2008.

Part of the UN Development Programme, the Environment and Energy group work in six areas: water governance, frameworks and strategies for sustainable development, sustainable energy, sustainable land management, biodiversity and chemicals management.

The group publishes information on its projects in each of these areas as well case study analyses, policy papers, toolkits for practitioners, press information and links to external websites.

The Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) Water Development and Management Unit website promotes sustainable water use for food production. It utilises data on water resources and agricultural water usage to help form national and regional water management strategies, inform agricultural policies and provide technical expertise on issues such as wastewater treatment and salinity control. The FAO Water website publishes promotional and educational material as well as reports on individual projects, it also provides links to interactive maps, multimedia and databases relevant to water management.

The Guardian Environment website publishes news and commentary on environmental issues such as climate change, energy, ethical living, food and recycling.

It also provides blogs, job listings and multimedia, including audio and video podcasts. Users can comment and are encouraged to join discussions.

The website also aggregates relevant news from members of the Guardian Environment Network, which brings together the world's best environment websites including SciDev.Net, China Dialogue, Real Science and the World Resources Institute.

IBSA, a joint project of the departments of science and technology in Brazil, India and South Africa, promotes research collaborations between scientists working on applications of nanotechnology. Its priority fields of research include health, water treatment and agriculture. India leads its flagship project on water purification.

IBSA publishes information on participating scientists from all three countries, ongoing projects, key global events and activities, and fellowships and job openings.

Nanowerk is a clearing house for information about nanotechnology and nanoscience. It publishes regular news on key developments and a daily feature article — written in cooperation with scientists — looking at new findings, reviewing current research or exploring interesting applications such as water treatment.

Nanowerk also hosts a database of more than 1,900 nanomaterials and links to key events, reports, documents, magazines, organisations and blogs relevant to nanotechnology. Its video library links to dozens of animations and videos about nanotech research, speeches and lectures.

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, a partnership between the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Pew Charitable Trusts in the United States, is dedicated to minimising the possible risks of nanotechnologies as these technologies advance and ensuring public engagement in decision-making.

It publishes research results and meeting reports on topics such as agriculture and food, medicine and water treatment. The project also publishes news on its own projects and other key developments, and lists relevant events, mostly in the United States. A photo gallery provides access to images of some nano-based products and events.