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Navigating Amidst Complexity
A
Guide to implementing effective research and development to
improve livelihoods and the environment. |
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Background |
This
guide Navigating Amidst Complexity was developed as best practice
for researchers and managers facing the challenges of operating
in complex natural resources and livelihood environments. It builds
upon the integrated natural resources management approach.
The paper highlights eleven cornerstones for planning and implementation which serve as a checklist of potentially important process issues. It will depend on te context as to who critical each of the cornerstones are.
The eleven cornerstones comprise:
- Shared Focus - there must be consensus amongst partners about the problems to be addressed, and the desired research and development aims
- Partnership - clear partnerships and collaborative arrangements built on trust, ownership and joint commitment to vision and impacts are vitally important.
- Teamwork - teams should be cross-disciplinary with a focus on learning and be able to work effectively with good team management
- Facilitation – there should be effective facilitation, coordination and negotiation at different levels
- Governance – enabling governance and policy that provides incentives, capacities and resources to key stakeholders is vital
- Organisational - local organisational capacity for collective action and self-governance is necessary. Local social and political organizational structures must exist to facilitate NRM implementation
- Information - access to information on technical, institutional, market and policy options should be available
- Learning – shared creativity and learning through exposure, experimentation and iterative reflection
- Incentives - NRM management solutions should have realistic short and medium term gains to make them economically realistic and attractive
- Scaling-up – explicit scaling-up/out strategy building on successes and strategic entry points. Clear practical strategies for scaling up and extending NRM processes must be developed
- Research design and process - effective research design and process to integrate research and development objectives
It
also discusses key foundations for more effective natural resources
and livelihoods management systems taken from learning approaches;
systems approaches and organizational models.
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Guide to Tools |
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Navigating Amidst Complexity B.M. Campbell, J. Hagmann, A.Stroud,
R.Thomas, E.Wollenberg, 2006. PDF |
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