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Strengthening Collective Innovation Capacity of Forest Stakeholders in Research and Development
Session 043
XXII IUFRO World Congress, Brisbane Australia, 8-13 August 2005
Session Organisers:
Cynthia Miner USDA Forest Service, USA; clminer(at)fs.fed.us
James Johnson Virginia Polytechnic Institute USA jej(at)vt.edu
Michael Kleine IUFRO, Austria; kleine(at)iufro.org, and
Oudara Souvannavong FAO, Italy; Oudara.Souvannavong(at)fao.org.
Rapporteur:
Michael Kleine (IUFRO-SPDC, Vienna, Austria; kleine(at)iufro.org)
In the recent past the shift in paradigm from “traditional technology� transfer to “multi-stakeholder� innovation has been actively pursued around the world. This new concept involves close communication and interaction among different forest stakeholders including scientists aiming at building and improving the capacities for sustainable management and conservation of forests. An essential element of this type of collaborative activity, also called mutual learning is the joint recognition and collective innovation in resolving of complex issues that cut across sectors and scales. Multi-stakeholder groups which are dynamic coalitions of different stakeholders coalesce around specific issues of development involving forest and tree resources, and mutually learn from each other throughout the research development cycle. The more integrated and targeted outputs and solutions expected from these stakeholder collective innovation processes lead to more relevant and better informed policy decisions and more effective implementation resulting in a more sustainable use of natural resources, management of conflicts, improved livelihoods of rural people and ultimately, poverty alleviation.
This session brought together experts from around the world and discussed ways and means of interaction between forest stakeholders including scientists to further the cause of sustainable forest management. Experiences with multi-stakeholder collective innovation processes from various initiatives in Central Europe, North and Central America, and Asia were presented in four papers which are briefly described below. Readers who are interested in more details about these initiatives may access the full papers or presentation slides through the links provided at the end of each description.
Socio-economic impact of environment and natural resources training programs to upland communities/farmers in Benguet, Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines.
Authors: Maddumba, H.A., Mapanao, J.S. (Department of Environment and Natural Resources – Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines)
Presenter: Minda Odsey (Department of Environment and Natural Resources)
The research study was conducted in 2001 in five upland communities of Benguet where environmental and natural resource training programs were conducted. It aimed to determine the benefits and impacts of such training programs, reasons for non-adoption, and training needs of upland communities. The people received training in several technologies such as bamboo propagation, wild food and fruit processing, solid-waste management, nursery and plantation establishment, soil conservation, tiger grass production, and other projects that contributed to their livelihood. Technologies with economic benefits were adopted more quickly than those that offered ecological benefits. However, impacts of training programs on their social condition were recognized. They are now more informed on forest and environmental issues; friendship and cooperation among trainees and respondents was enhanced and strengthened. Some of the reasons for low rates of adoption of technologies include lack of immediate economic benefits, non-applicability to the local area, and an attitude of being suspicious of unproven methodologies. Comments and suggestions made by respondents to improve the delivery of training programs include information on income generating activities, follow-up training, and consultation with regard to training needs.
Balancing tradition and innovation – collaboration in knowledge transfer and extension under changing frameworks: a Central European perspective.
Authors: Begus, J. (Slovenia Forest Service, Slovenia; jurij.begus(at)zgs.gov.si) , Beck, R. (Technical University of Munich / Bavarian Forest Institute, Germany; beck(at)forst.tu-muenchen.de)
Presenter: Jurij Begus (Slovenia Forest Service)
Forestry extension work in central Europe is traditionally dominated by governments through their forest service organisations. Societal changes such as institutional reform, debate on the role of the state in forest ownership, and urbanization have led to efforts to change the existing structure of state ownership. Stronger involvement of multiple partners like active forest owners, entrepreneurs, liability institutions, farmers, and forest-owner organizations etc. have evolved and new information networks have been formed. Participatory approaches in setting objectives, program formulation, design and implementation of extension projects on local and regional levels have shown promising results. Forest owner organizations, especially, play a growing role by linking forest extension efforts to the marketing of forest products. Though part of the knowledge triangle “Education, Extension and Research� (forest) science in Central Europe other than in Anglo-Saxon countries has to play a more active role with respect to forest extension. Greater emphasis on extension research, including education and information needs, communication preferences, and barriers for forest owners, extension specialists, and the general public is needed. Participatory approaches to research, involving multiple partners in project formulation, implementation, and on-the-ground evaluation bear high potential for the adoption of innovative solutions.
Click here for 
pdf file.
Strengthening collective innovation capacity of forest stakeholders in research and development.
Authors: Holding Anyonge, C. (World Agroforestry Centre; C.Holding(at)cgiar.org), Daane, J. (International Centre for development oriented Research in Agriculture (ICRA), The Netherlands; Jon.Daane(at)wur.nl).
Presenter: Oudara Souvannavong (FAO)
Research related to forests and natural resources must respond to global and local cross-sectoral challenges. Adequately responding to these, using mainstream linear “technology transfer� paradigms, has proved problematic. National forest and natural resource-related research institutions have frequently expressed frustration at the low impact of their research and called for improved technology transfer. Studies show that to deal with these challenges, forest and natural resource-related scientists need to strengthen their ability to address complex issues through an interdisciplinary approach and integration of a broader array of stakeholders throughout the research and development cycle. Only through such stakeholder interaction and social learning can the relevance – and hence the efficiency and effectiveness – of forest research be improved. A substantial challenge in mainstreaming social learning is to enhance the capacity in national research, education and extension organisations to support and guide these processes. Experience indicates that the change from a “technology transfer� to a “multi-stakeholder innovation� paradigm requires simultaneous capacity strengthening at the level of individuals, teams, organizations and inter-institutional relationships. This paper discusses some practices and experiences gained in social learning in agroforestry, forest and natural resource programmes and provides some reflections and strategies towards mainstreaming social learning processes in research and development.
(Full paper to be published soon as an online IUFRO Occasional Paper)
Click here for full Powerpoint presentation
Experiences in multi-stakeholder cooperation in Central America in the generation and utilization of knowledge.
Author: Galloway, G. (Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), Costa Rica; galloway(at)catie.ac.cr).
Presenter: Glenn Galloway (CATIE)
During the last 15 years, a number of multi-stakeholder platforms have been formed in Central America to augment cooperation among diverse entities in the generation and utilization of knowledge. Since the inception of this type of cooperation, a number of innovations have been made to increase the effectiveness of multi-stakeholder cooperation. Examples of important innovations include: a broadening of the types of entities taking part in these multi-stakeholder platforms; a structuring of these platforms to better address the diverse dimensions of sustainable forest management; shared strategic planning to establish long-term strategic objectives; the utilization of strategic plans as a basis for operational planning; and greater attention to policy and governance issues. Examples of progress, as well as problems limiting success, are addressed in this presentation.
Click here for full Powerpoint presentation
Stakeholders as full partners in creating, transferring, and applying new knowledge – some North American experiences.
Author: Norland, E. R. (U.S. Department of Agriculture – Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.; enorland(at)csrees.usda.gov)
Presenter: Eric Norland (USDA)
Serving the needs of people through research-based, non-formal education programs has been the foundation of the extension work in the United States. This cannot be done effectively without involving all who have in interest in the programs. Since its formal inception in 1914 with the passage and enactment of the Smith-Lever Act by the U.S. Congress, the Cooperative Extension System has engaged people in programs in various roles. The term “stakeholder� has different connotations for different people, depending on local cultures, experiences and perspectives. In the context of extension work in the U.S. it is broadly and inclusively defined as all who have an interest in the extension system and its programs. Thus it includes individuals and organizations that: 1)participate in programs; 2) collaborate in planning and conducting programs; 3) provide funding and other resources for programs, and 4) conduct extension programs. Stakeholder involvement is not only a tradition and a best practice in the U.S. extension system, it is also mandated in federal legislation in order ensure that programs are meeting the needs of those who would benefit from the programs. The various roles of extension stakeholders and mechanisms for their participation are presented, along with perspectives and examples from the U.S. experience.
Click here for full Powerpoint presentation.
Discussion
The four papers presented in this session reconfirmed that there is a clear trend in forestry extension work around the world towards more participatory approaches and joint learning involving a multitude of forest stakeholders. The participants of the session agreed that extension programmes are much richer and productive today compared to past top-down technology transfer methods, but their implementation has become messier and more complex.
In general, the participants felt that extension specialists should concentrate on the facilitation of the joint learning process among forest stakeholders and remain impartial. Extension workers need not to tell people what to do, but leave the decisions on forest land-use and management to the forest owners.
Another point in the discussions related to the evaluation of multi-stakeholder processes. It would be important that stakeholders during strategic planning of their project would set their own indicators and rank them according to their priorities. This would provide a sound basis for evaluation.
Partnership is a basic principle for multi-stakeholder innovation processes. However, the question was discussed to what extent it is possible to measure the success of such partnerships. Main points mentioned include:
- Measure results of joint learning and decision-making on the ground (e.g. better income, higher level of production etc.)
- Take into consideration how people work together (culture, power distribution among stakeholders, exchange of information etc.)
- Besides looking that the outcome of multi-stakeholder learning also concentrate on the process itself (i.e. ways and means of communication, conflict resolution etc.)
The challenge of sustainable development in the forestry sector, in balancing issues of social justice and environmental sustainability while meeting the ever- increasing demand for tree and forest products, is becoming increasingly paramount in all discussions on policy and management of forest and tree resources. As clearly demonstrated in this session, the involvement of a multitude of stakeholders is needed to promote social learning and the identification and subsequent application of innovative solutions to the many and complex natural resources management problems. Integrating the forest research community into multi-stakeholder learning is essential for increasing the impact of research on policy and management and also making research more relevant for policy makers and practitioners.