Unifying the trans-disciplinary arsenal of project management tools in a single logical framework: Further suggestion for IUCN project cycle development

Project Management, as the trans-disciplinary arena with the aim to solve problems through operational strategies and actions, represents a wide technical dominion in which a large number of concepts, tools and approaches (CTAs), have been developed to make effective projects. In this review, I selected a large number of old and recent CTAs scarcely used in operational conservation practices, and included them in the classic Hocking' IUCN project management cycle. This arrangement has been synthesized in a star-shaped conceptual framework where each CTA has been placed and might be opportunistically utilized, when necessary, in an environmental-based project. For every CTA, I reported the definition with the related basic references, a rationale and some hypothetical and/or real examples in nature conservation, depending on availability of specific literature. I foster a trans-disciplinary use of these operational CTAs to improve the effectiveness of projects and to provide further opportunities for the new generation of professionals.