Commission on Diffusion of Knowledge

Plitmann (Secretary); Heywood, Mathez, Pignatti, Vasić, Wraber

2004-2006. The Commission for the Diffusion of Knowledge on Mediterranean Plants convened at the XI OPTIMA Meeting in Belgrade. It was decided that the book “Plant Landscapes of the Mediterranean” should be published by a private publisher. Prof. Heywood will be in charge of the actual publication and he will contact publishers such as Oxford University Press. The Secretary of the Commission will send Prof. Heywood the following:

1)      The book´s contents in detail.

2)      A synopsis which may contain the abstracts of the Symposium on "Landscape Ecology of the Mediterranean".

3)      The rationale behind the book.

4)      A list of contributors.

5)      Expected readers and their estimated numbers.

6)      Preliminary edited chapters.

With regard to progress made this year, most of the chapters have already been revised. However, the chapters corresponding to the Balkan Peninsula and Lebanon-Syria are still in preparation, and the chapters on Sicily and cultivated landscapes should be finished soon. However, the first edition of the book will be published with or without these chapters. A translator is also being sought for to translate three chapters in French (North Africa, France and Corsica) to English. The Commission is open to suggestions in this respect. At a later stage, authors will be requested to provide photos and maps. 

At the XI OPTIMA Meeting in Belgrade highlights or extracts of certain chapters of the book were presented in the symposium "Landscape Ecology of the Mediterranean".

2007. Prof. Heywood has been in touch with Cambridge University Press and Kew Publications. An accurate estimate of page size with illustrations is needed before coming to a view on the book’s commercial viability.