theNRgroup

The NR group was started in August 2001, as an association of independent consultants providing a wide range of services promoting sustainable development throughout the world.

Most of the founding members previously worked together for the Natural Resources Institute, but left and set up The NR group following the restructuring of the Institute within the University of Greenwich and the increasing focus on teaching and training in the UK Higher Education sector.

NR group members provide training, research, consultancy and advisory services. We have experience of working at the community level and with local, national and international NGOs, with national governments, universities and research institutes.

Since August 2001 we have worked on projects funded by the World Bank, GEF, DFID. The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation, the Commonwealth Secretariat, Asian Development Bank, the EU and UNDP.

The NR group operates a "virtual office". All group members can be contacted through the NR group server - using their individual email addresses or through the general email address . The server also provides a private area for group members to exchange information on projects, schedules, dates of meetings and other logistical information.

Individual Consultants and Multidisciplinary Teams

Based on this working relationship, the NR group members provide consultant services covering a wide range of disciplines and can also field multidisciplinary teams with many years experience of working together. These teams are capable of mobilising rapidly and functioning in the field with few delays. They are aware of how their skills complement each other and where their separate disciplines can benefit from inputs from others.

Members of The NR group also have extensive overseas contacts with resource managers, engineers, planners and researchers working with the private sector, with NGOs, with universities and other institutions, and with government. The NR group can bring in these overseas contacts to provide local knowledge and expertise, and very significantly local project management experience.

A Support Network

From the clients perspective, an important aspect of The NR group is that individuals can call on other members for advice during missions, providing a multidisciplinary backup to an individual's expertise.

Draft reports can be circulated among group members for "peer review", providing a high degree of quality control. This can be particularly useful when reports need to be presented in a number of languages and group members can assist in translation and checking reports in English, French, Spanish, Swedish, and Italian

Regular Meetings

The NR group hold regular meetings to encourage members to maintain contacts and discuss ongoing projects and proposed bids.

Possibly more significantly it provides an opportunity for members to make presentations on recent projects, updating their colleagues on "best practice", current or changing donor and development agency guidelines and policies, and the latest research results and relevant reference materials.

Page last updated June 26, 2008