Resources

Since coming to power in 1994, the African National Congress (ANC) has been implementing a land reform programme, which includes land tenure reform, land restitution and land redistribution. The Department of Agriculture however, has no methodology for supporting land reform groups in the process of developing and implementing land management plans. To address this FARM-Africa has developed and piloted a participatory land use planning methodology with eight land reform groups: this paper describes the experiences of implementing this new approach with these groups, many of whom had little experience of farming. With the help of diagrams and examples it runs through the steps of developing a participatory land use plan which are: identifying project stakeholders; understanding the situation; sharing and making use of the information; training the planning sub-committee and approving the plan, and implementing the management plan. Finally it concludes that the participatory process offers the chance to learn new skills, to understand the institutional and organisational environment and to improve day-to-day effectiveness. Access to agricultural knowledge is important but must be inclusive, and importantly this planning method should be initiated much earlier the land reform process.

This document describes the method used by the Athabasca Native Development Corporation to study traditional land use and occupancy. The booklet contains sections on how community participation in the study was planned for, how traditional knowledge was collected and organised and also how information collected using western science methodology can be added and comparisons made.

As part of the special 50th edition of PLA Notes, this article highlights key lessons from experiences on livelihoods and natural resources. The three key themes identified are: participatory learning and action for local adaptive management of natural resources rooted in indigenous and local knowledge and skills; bureaucracies and organisations ought to challenge themselves and become learning-oriented organisations; and that facilitating and encouraging individual and collective learning for inclusive and equitable participation in natural resource management requires action at various levels (local, national and international). The article also provides short information about a couple of case studies, such as fishing associations and the co-management of freshwater ecosystems in Sweden, an example from the Solomon Islands and community integrated pest management in Indonesia. The article then focuses in on learning by doing, creating inclusive platforms and the shift from participation to transformation. Exploring the challenge of social learning for local adaptive management, the author looks at transforming knowledge and ways of knowing as well as the challenges of institutional reform. The article concludes by looking at the emerging challenges for national resource management and participation in a climate of globalisation, and suggests that bold innovations will be needed to strengthen the voices of the weak in setting research agendas and framing policies, create safe spaces and participatory processes that can scrutinize corporations and æexpertÆ knowledge, and support the emergence of transnational communities of inquiry and coalitions for change.

This volume of the Gatekeeper series from the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) looks at the economic education efforts of Highlander Research and Education Centre (Tennessee, USA) in Appalachia and its role in promoting community development. It gives a background to social problems in Appalachia and describes the Highlander project. The project concentrated on three rural communities (Dungannon, Virginia; Jelico, Tennessee; and Ivanhoe, Virginia) and was oriented towards helping communities gain knowledge necessary for local development. Community groups were offered technical and educational support for grassroots economic leadership development through a participatory process where the community could assess their own situation, and define and implement strategies for themselves. Part of the participatory methodology were oral history, community surveys, community mapping and drawings, decision-maker interviews, videos and readings, brainstorming and feasibility studies, and cultural components. Finally the outcomes of the project are examined.

This article reports on an innovative secondary school environmental awareness initiative designed to complement a program to develop village level aquatic resource management. Students were provided with discussion questions on past, present and future issues regarding local aquatic resources resand encouraged to use semi-structured interview techniques to investigate the issues in their own villages with elders and relatives. Essays were then written by the students based on this research and the best essays presented at ceremonies where district government officials, village chiefs and members of the school parents committee attended. One of the best essays was also published in the Lao language newspaper. The process increased awareness levels regarding aquatic resource management not only amongst students but also amongst teachers, those who helped supply information and the village leaders and district government officials attending the ceremonies.