Strengthening Collective Innovation Capacity of Forest Stakeholders in Research and Development

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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)

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

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

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

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.