TY - JOUR
T1 - Community owned solutions
T2 - identifying local best practices for social-ecological sustainability
AU - Mistry, Jayalaxshmi
AU - Berardi, Andrea
AU - Tschirhart, Celine
AU - Bignante, Elisa
AU - Haynes, Lakeram
AU - Benjamin, Ryan
AU - Albert, Grace
AU - Xavier, Rebecca
AU - Robertson, Bernie
AU - Davis, Odacy
AU - Jafferally, Deirdre
AU - de Ville, Géraud
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Policies and actions that come from higher-scale structures, such as international bodies and national governments, are not always compatible with the realities and perspectives of smaller-scale units including Indigenous communities. Yet, it is at this local social-ecological scale that mechanisms and solutions for dealing with unpredictability and change can be increasingly seen emerging from across the world. Although there is a large body of knowledge specifying the conditions necessary to promote local governance of natural resources, there is a parallel need to develop practical methods for operationalising the evaluation of local social-ecological systems. In this paper, we report on a systemic, participatory and visual approach for engaging local communities in an exploration of their own social-ecological system. Working with Indigenous communities of the North Rupununi, Guyana, this involved using participatory video and photography within a System Viability framework to enable local participants to analyse their own situation by defining indicators of successful strategies that were meaningful to them. Participatory multi-criteria analysis was then used to arrive at a short-list of best practice strategies. We present six best practices and show how they are intimately linked through the themes of Indigenous knowledge, local governance and values, and partnerships and networks. We highlight how developing shared narratives of community owned solutions can help communities to plan governance and management of land and resource systems, while reinforcing sustainable practices by discussing and showcasing them within communities, and by engendering a sense of pride in local solutions.
AB - Policies and actions that come from higher-scale structures, such as international bodies and national governments, are not always compatible with the realities and perspectives of smaller-scale units including Indigenous communities. Yet, it is at this local social-ecological scale that mechanisms and solutions for dealing with unpredictability and change can be increasingly seen emerging from across the world. Although there is a large body of knowledge specifying the conditions necessary to promote local governance of natural resources, there is a parallel need to develop practical methods for operationalising the evaluation of local social-ecological systems. In this paper, we report on a systemic, participatory and visual approach for engaging local communities in an exploration of their own social-ecological system. Working with Indigenous communities of the North Rupununi, Guyana, this involved using participatory video and photography within a System Viability framework to enable local participants to analyse their own situation by defining indicators of successful strategies that were meaningful to them. Participatory multi-criteria analysis was then used to arrive at a short-list of best practice strategies. We present six best practices and show how they are intimately linked through the themes of Indigenous knowledge, local governance and values, and partnerships and networks. We highlight how developing shared narratives of community owned solutions can help communities to plan governance and management of land and resource systems, while reinforcing sustainable practices by discussing and showcasing them within communities, and by engendering a sense of pride in local solutions.
U2 - 10.5751/ES-08496-210242
DO - 10.5751/ES-08496-210242
M3 - Article
SN - 1708-3087
VL - 21
SP - 1
EP - 17
JO - Ecology and Society
JF - Ecology and Society
IS - 2
M1 - 42
ER -