Significance of Local Knowledge in Environmental Governance

Key Debates in Environmental Governance

Week-9: The Public Participation Debate

Presented by: Shahadat Hossain Shakil

Contents

• Broader Debate: Public Participation

in EG Process

• Sub-debate: Significance of

Local/Lay Knowledge

• Community Based Adaptation to

Climate Change

• Case Study: CBA in Vulnerable

Coastal Areas of Bangladesh

• Critical Analysis

• Further Debate

2

3

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study

Analysis Further Debate

Public Participation in EG Process - Evolution

o Involvement of stakeholders and the public in policy

making is a recurrent theme

o Early phase (from the 1960s until the early 1980s) –

• Consensual arrangements between the state and

industry, informed by (certain) science, while other

stakeholders and publics were left to influence

events from ‘outside’ the policy making process.

• Deviations from the formal model or idea of a

hierarchical state

o Contemporary Practices (since the early 1990s) –

• Calls for the inclusion of a wider range of

stakeholders and publics

• Non-participatory forms of policy making are

defined as illegitimate, ineffective and

undemocratic

(Bulkeley and Mol, 2003)

4

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


Public Participation in EG Process - Positive

• Collaborative processes enable local actors to place their

knowledge in the broader context of what state actors

know, and vice versa (Innes et al., 2004 cited in Taylor and

de Loë, 2012).

• Involving communities and the public in the governance

makes instrumental sense, by improving the quality of

decisions. Only recognizing expert knowledge as a valid

basis for decision-making excludes the knowledge and

experience of people who live and work in ecosystems

(Taylor and Buttle, 1992 cited in Evans, 2012)

5

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


Public Participation in EG Process - Negative

• Ulrich Beck (1999) argued in the face of this ‘risk society’, the conventional political institutions of modernity are increasingly irrelevant, inadequate or impotent as decision-making power, control and legitimacy increasingly locate outside the political system in economic, technological, scientific, community and consumption ‘sites which were previously considered unpolitical’ (cited in Bulkeley and Mol, 2003).

• Exclusions can become inherent in a decision making process, as the skills and knowledge required to participate in deliberations restrict who is authorized to speak, along with what and how issues are debated (Demerrit, 2001 cited in Taylor and de Loë, 2012)

• In the global South, researchers have been highly critical of a wide range of participation initiatives which, despite a rhetoric of decentralization, are characterized by power imbalances between participants, explicit and implicit co-option, cost-shifting and continuing centralization (Cooke and Kothari, 2001; Hickey and Mohan, 2004 cited in Taylor, 2007).

6

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


Is lay knowledge as significant as scientific

knowledge and expertise? Why?

Definition

• [h]eld by non-scientists that is based on local

wisdom, experience, and practices that are adapted

to the local ecosystem (Ballard et al., 2008).

• Science as objective, verifiable, and tested using

accepted methods is contrasted with local knowledge

based on common sense and lived experience (Petts

and Brooks, 2006; Hommes et al., 2009)

7

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


Is lay knowledge as significant as scientific knowledge and expertise? Why?

Positive

[c]ontextualized knowledge, in turn, can lead to problem-specific responses that are more likely to be accepted and supported by the public (Lach et al., 2005; van Ast and Boot, 2003)

Negative

• Discounting local knowledge in a collaborative process can lead to outcomes based on imposed, coerced community consensus rather than shared understanding and ownership that collaboration is intended to achieve (Kapoor, 2001; Berkes, 2002).

• [b]ias against local knowledge highlights the critical relationship between knowledge and power in collaborative processes (Flyvbjerg, 2001; Healey, 2003)

(cited in Taylor and de Loë, 2012).

8

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


Community Based Adaptation to Climate Change

Definition

Community-based adaptation to climate change is a community-led process, based on communities’ priorities, needs, knowledge, and capacities, which should empower people to plan for and cope with the impacts of climate change.

Combination of Knowledge

• Scientific information (e.g. long-term predictions from climate change models, seasonal forecasts, information on trends based on data collected at nearby weather stations); and

• Local knowledge about trends and changes experienced by communities at a local level and strategies these communities have used in the past to cope with similar shocks or gradual climatic changes

(Reid et al., 2009).

9

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


CBA in Vulnerable Coastal Areas of Bangladesh – Innovation to Build Resilience

Location: Satkhira District, Bangladesh

Duration: March 2011-April 2013

Implemented by: Practical Action Bangladesh

Funded by: Asian Development Bank

Source: Google Map (Accessed: November 17, 2013) Source: Banglapedia, 2012

10

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study



Project Backdrop

Coastal communities of Bangladesh have been dealing with vulnerabilities with many faces :

• Salt water intrusion affects their surface and ground waters

• Salinity transformed their agricultural practices from rice-based to shrimp-farming-based.

• Natural hazards, like cyclones and storm surges

• Reduced tree coverage and damaged embankments/polders have further reduced resilience

• Affect the poor and extreme poor the most, which have inadequate knowledge and technologies to adapt to changing climate and to reduce their risks to disasters.

(Practical Action Bangladesh and ADB, 2013)

11

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study



Activities

Name Description Knowledge/Resource Used

Observations

1. Weather Forecasting Board

- Weakly Forecast collected by the UICO (Union Information Service Officer)

- In consultation with the local Agriculture, Livestock and Forestry Officer forecast than transformed in understandable format for the farmers.

Scientific Knowledge

Traditional Knowledge is being obsolete due to climate variability

Source: Practical Action Bangladesh and ADB, 2013

12

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study



Activities


Observations

2. Rice-based Cropping System

- Mini ponds are excavated adjacent to crop field to hold rain water and to cultivate low-saline resilient fish variety

- In the dry season this water is being used for irrigation

- Introduction of area specific cropping pattern

Combination of Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge

Saline resistant crop and fish species needs scientific input, on the other hand local requirement and resources needs to be accounted


13

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study



Activities


Observations

3. Artificial Aquifer Tube well

- A ring well is placed beside a rainwater harvesting pond

- Ring well’s layers are filled with gravels and sands

- Water flows to the end of the well through tube

- People collects purified water through a hand pump

Combination of Local Practice and Area Specific Technology

Rain water harvesting alone is not sufficient to provide safe water


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Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study



Activities


Observations

4. Community Shelter Home

- Semi-pucca house (room 18’X20’; veranda 6’X13’)

- Locally available materials are used

- Structural design allows them to withstand high-wind speed

- Plinth is above the highest storm surge-induced flood level

- Equipped with a 2000-litter rain water harvesting

- During disaster events serves as a community shelter

Combination of Local Practice and Area Specific Technology

High cost of cyclone shelter introduces this alternative. Local knowledge about the magnitude of the disaster and location specific building material has been utilized.


15

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


Scientific Knowledge Vs Lay Knowledge

Accessibility, Purpose and Scale

• Local people face difficulties using scientific information due to lack of accessibility and expertise

• Climate models are still weak in terms of spatial and temporal scale

• Data from meteorological station do not fulfill the specific and changing demand of the farmers due to climate variability, they have to rely on their own

• Scientific data needs to verified with local data to ensure credibility

(Christian Aid, 2009; Reid et al., 2009)

16

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study



Reliance

• Local communities has less confidence on scientific data in question of reliability, in contrast scientists are reluctant about local data because of subjectivity and lacking in rigorous (Gaillard and Maceda, 2009)

• Gill (1991, cited in Reid et al., 2009) compared rainfall patterns recorded by Nepali farmers using rainfall calendars with the ‘real’ data recorded at the nearby weather station, and found a remarkably good fit when comparing modal rainfall.

17

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study



Convergence

• Murdoch and Clark (1994, cited in Taylor and de Loë, 2012) argue that it is difficult to distinguish between ‘‘people’s science’’ and ‘‘scientists’ science’’ because the knowledge that various actors possess is a result of ‘‘knowledge encounters’’ where local and scientific perspectives get mixed up.

• Raymond et al. (2010) highlight the convergence of the local knowledge of farmers and scientific knowledge in Western culture due to increased participation by farmers in formal academic training and learning.

• Local knowledge can also be held by scientists and technicians working in local offices. Thus, individuals can hold both ‘‘local’’ and ‘‘scientific’’ knowledge, and in some cases may find it difficult to untangle the two (Giordano et al., 2010, cited in Taylor and de Loë, 2012).

18

Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


Findings

• Local knowledge is significant equally as the scientific knowledge (in some cases exceeds) in environmental decision making and planning, in the era of complex challenge imposed by climate change, to adapt and sustain.

• Public participation from the beginning of the development planning can make the process more focused, legitimate, resource optimized and worthy.

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Broader Debate

Sub-debate

CBA Case Study


Participation in True Sense ?

• Often the priorities and interests of outsiders over-ride those of communities, and there is still a lot of ‘doing to’ communities, rather than communities taking charge (Reid at al., 2009; Few et.al, 2007)

Linear Trend of Government to Governance ?

• Tatenhove and Leroy (2003) argue, we should not assume that increased involvement of stakeholders in the decision-making process is necessarily symptomatic of a loss of state power.

• It is vital not to confuse ‘a hollowing-out of state forms with a hollowing-out of state power’, nor to assume that a linear trend of shifts from government to governance is taking place (Macleod and Goodwin, 1999, 522 cited in Bulkeley and Mol, 2003).

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References: Ballard, H.L., Fernandez-Gimenez, M.E. and Sturtevant, V.E. (2008). Integration of Local

Ecological Knowledge and Conventional Science: A Study of Seven Community-Based Forestry Organizations in the USA. Ecology and Society, 13(2), p.37. [online]. Available from: http://dlc.dlib.indiana.edu/dlc/bitstream/handle/10535/2424/ES-2008-2594.pdf?sequence=1 [Accessed: November 15, 2013].

Banglapedia. (2012). Satkhira District. Banglapedia - National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. [online]. Available from: http://www.banglapedia.org/HT/S_0156.htm [Accessed: November 18, 2013].

Bulkeley, H. and Mol, A.P.J. (2003). Participation and Environmental Governance: Consensus, Ambivalence and Debate. Environmental Values, 12(2), pp.143–154. [online]. Available from: http://www.erica.demon.co.uk/EV/EV1207.html [Accessed: November 17, 2013].

Christian Aid. (2009). Developing a Climate Change Analysis H. Reid et al., eds. Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) : Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change, 60, pp.141–48. [online]. Available from: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/14573IIED.pdf [Accessed: November 15, 2013].

Evans, J.P. (2012). Participation and Politics. In Environmental Governance. Oxon: Routledge, pp. 187–209.

Few, R., Brown, K. and Tompkins, E.L. (2007). Public Participation and Climate Change Adaptation: Avoiding the Illusion of Inclusion. Climate Policy, 7(1), pp.46–59. [online]. Available from: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14693062.2007.9685637 [Accessed: November 18, 2013].

Hommes, S. et al. (2008). Knowledge and Perceptions in Participatory Policy Processes: Lessons from the Delta-Region in the Netherlands. Water Resources Management, 23(8), pp.1641–1663. [online]. Available from: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11269-008-9345-6 [Accessed: November 18, 2013].

Jean Christophe Gaillard and Maceda, E.A. (2009). Participatory Three-Dimensional Mapping for Disaster Risk Reduction H. Reid et al., eds. Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) : Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change, 60, pp.109–118. [online]. Available from: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/14573IIED.pdf [Accessed: November 15, 2013].

Petts, J. and Brooks, C. (2006). Expert Conceptualisations of the Role of Lay Knowledge in Environmental Decision Making: Challenges for Deliberative Democracy. Environment and Planning A, 38(6), pp.1045 – 1059. [online]. Available from: http://www.envplan.com/abstract.cgi?id=a37373 [Accessed: November 18, 2013].

Practical Action Bangladesh and ADB. (2013). Community-Based Adaptation: Innovation to Build Resilience. Dhaka: Practical Action Bangladesh Resident Mission & Asian Development Bank. [online]. Available from: https://practicalaction.org/media/preview/28852 [Accessed: November 15, 2013].

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References: Raymond, C.M. et al. (2010). Integrating Local and Scientific knowledge for Environmental

Management. Journal of Environmental Management, 91(8), pp.1766–1777. [online]. Available from: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0301479710000952 [Accessed: October 5, 2013].

Reid, H. et al. (2009). Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change: an Overview H. Reid et al., eds. Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) : Community-based Adaptation to Climate Change, 60, pp.9–34. [online]. Available from: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/14573IIED.pdf [Accessed: November 15, 2013].

Van Tatenhove, J.P.M. and Leroy, P. (2003). Environment and Participation in a Context of Political Modernisation. Environmental Values, 12(2), pp.155–174. [online]. Available from: http://www.erica.demon.co.uk/EV/EV1208.html [Accessed: November 17, 2013].

Taylor, B. and de Loë, R.C. (2012). Conceptualizations of Local Knowledge in Collaborative Environmental Governance. Geoforum, 43(6), pp.1207–1217. [online]. Available from: http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S001671851200067X [Accessed: October 5, 2013].

Taylor, M. (2007). Community Participation in the Real World: Opportunities and Pitfalls in New Governance Spaces. Urban Studies, 44(2), pp.297–317. [online]. Available from: http://usj.sagepub.com/cgi/doi/10.1080/00420980601074987 [Accessed: November 17, 2013].

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