Using Research to Support Transformative Impacts on Complex, “Wicked Problems” With Pastoral Peoples in Rangelands

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Lauren M. Porensky¹  Apin Yasin²  Elisa Oteros-Rozas³  Federica Ravera⁴  Umed Bulbulshoev⁵  Daler S. Kaziev⁵  Corrine N. Knapp⁶  Robin S. Reid⁷  María E. Fernández-Giménez⁸  Tungalag Ulambayar⁸  Karim-Aly S. Kassam⁹  Tomas Pickering^1,10  Khishigbayar Jamiyansharav^1,11  Justin D. Derner^1,12  Chantsallkham Jamsranjav^1,13  David Nkedianye^1,14  Hailey Wilmer^1,15 

[1] Indigenous Studies Program, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United States;;the Environment, and the American Indian &0Center for Environmental Management Military Lands, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States;1Zoological Society of London, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;2Chair on Agroecology and Food Systems, University of Vic - University of Central Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain;3Public Foundation CAMP Tabiat, Khorog, Tajikistan;Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States;Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States;;Department of Natural Resources &Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, United States;Independent Researcher, Athi River, Kenya;Samburu Youth Education Fund, Archer's Post, Kenya;United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Cheyenne, WY,United States;United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, CO, United States;United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service Pacific Northwest Research Station, Juneau, AK, United States;

关键词: transformations;    social-ecological systems;    social learning;    pastoralist;    collaborative partnerships;    co-generation of knowledge;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fsufs.2020.600689

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Pastoralists and researchers (and others) are finding new ways of working together worldwide, attempting to sustain pastoral livelihoods and rangelands in the face of rapid and profound changes driven by globalization, growing consumption, land-use change, and climate change. They are doing this partly because of a greater need to address increasing complex or “wicked” problems, but also because local pastoral voices (and sometimes science) still have little impact on decision-making in the governmental and private sectors. We describe here, using six worldwide cases, how collaborative rangelands partnerships are transforming how we learn about rangelands and pastoralists, whose knowledge gets considered, how science can support societal action, and even our fundamental model of how science gets done. Over the long-term, collaborative partnerships are transforming social-ecological systems by implementing processes like building collaborative relationships, co-production/co-generation of knowledge, integration of knowledges, social learning, capacity building, networking and implementing action. These processes are changing mental models and paradigms, creating strong and effective leaders, changing power relations, providing more robust understanding of rangeland systems, reducing polarization and supporting the implementation of new practices and policies. Collaborative partnerships have recurring challenges and much work is yet to be done. These challenges rest on the enduring complexity of social-ecological problems in rangelands. At a practical level, partnerships struggle with listening, amplifying and partnering with diverse (and sometimes marginalized) voices, the time commitment needed to make partnerships work, the bias and naivete of scientists, the recognition that partnerships can promote negative transformations, management of power relations within the partnership, and the need to attribute impacts to partnership activities. We think that the future of this work will have more focus on systems transformations, morals and ethics, intangible and long-term impacts, critical self-assessment, paradigm shifts and mental models, and power. Overall, we conclude that these partnerships are transformative in unexpected and sometimes intangible ways. Key transformations include changing mental models and building the next generation of transformative leaders. Just as important is serendipity, where participants in partnerships take advantage of new windows of opportunity to change policy or create new governance institutions. We also conclude that collaborative partnerships are changing how we do science, creating new and transformative ways that science and society interact that could be called “transformative science with society.”

【 授权许可】

Unknown