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PDF
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Type:
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Conference Paper |
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Author:
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Timmer, Vic R.; Timmer, D.; Asaah, E.; Barrow, E.; Jiwa, F. |
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Conference:
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Governing Shared Resources: Connecting Local Experience to Global Challenges, the Twelfth Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of Commons |
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Location:
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Cheltenham, England |
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Conf. Date:
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July 14-18, 2008 |
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Date:
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2008 |
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URI:
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https://hdl.handle.net/10535/1474
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Sector:
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Social Organization |
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Region:
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Africa |
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Subject(s):
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IASC
biodiversity
conservation
poverty alleviation
commons
social behavior
innovation
community development
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Abstract:
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"This paper presents evidence that community-based enterprises, by innovating in their use of the commons, are contributing to both local and global 'social learning' on ways to reconcile biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction. We argue that this is a key benefit of commons management in the African cases profiled in this paper: an indigenous fruit and medicinal tree domestication programme in Cameroon, a honeybee initiative in Kenya, and indigenous tree-based enclosures in Tanzania. These cases support the position that community-based enterprises use the commons in ways that build knowledge and capacity and that result in institutional innovation. We are particularly interested in the ways in which the actors engaged in these cases are enhancing the awareness, capacity, and action to address transnational problem domains-- specifically, biodiversity conservation and poverty reduction--while satisfying local social, environmental and economic goals. This paper builds on social learning research. Social learning refers here to processes that increase the awareness, capacities, and repertoires of action amongst actors in a social domain.
"The paper answers the following research question: what evidence exists of social learning benefits from community-based enterprises innovating in their use of the commons? Through a case study analysis of three African community-based enterprises, we find that enterprises contribute to social learning by (1) identifying issues in innovative and systemic ways; (2) building bridges amongst diverse stakeholders; (3) practicing adaptive management throughout implementation; (4) taking action across boundaries and scales; (5) sharing lessons learned; and (6) building knowledge and capacity for institutional innovation. We conclude by outlining the circumstances under which social learning benefits are more or less likely to occur through innovative uses of the commons within community-based enterprises."
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