Global Testing Experts Gather in Honduras

Over 40 participants from 15 countries were represented at the Alliance’s Intensive Training Workshop for Regional Testing and Knowledge Centers (RTKC) held December 10-14, 2013 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras. The year-end gathering was a follow up to the January 2013 workshop in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA.

The Alliance’s commitment to strengthen and support testing activities worldwide and to convene global discussions about standards and protocols was put into practice at the Improved Stove Certification Center at Honduras’ Zamorano University.

The densely packed week of training was intense and productive as staff from the many testing centers in attendance discussed quality assurance, the challenges of field testing, data management, evaluating uncertainty, protocol updates, and how to manage RTKCs as businesses.

Concentrated workshop sessions were mixed with field visits to a Proyecto Mirador site in the nearby mountain village of Villa de San Francisco. The group also made plans for testing the same set of stoves across multiple labs, which will be conducted over the next months and year.