COmmunity-based Management of EnvironmenTal challenges in Latin America.
Current development models are leading to unprecedented environmental challenges, chief amongst them, climate change. How to respond to these challenges are key research questions. Although they are global problems, their effects are felt locally, especially by the communities that traditionally base their livelihoods in those natural resources. The relevance of these problems at global level has driven different initiatives to increase public awareness and to put in practice measures to improve them. However, many good conservation and management practices are done at local level. Research is needed to better understand local capabilities and to encourage and support potential locally-owned solutions.
COMET-LA’s objective is to identify sustainable community-based governance models for the management of natural resources that could be used in different social-ecological systems in a context of climate change and increasing competition for the use of these resources.
A civil society-scientific partnership has been created to develop the project. Three Latin American civil society organizations, a global CSO and 7 research institutions (3 Latin American and 4 European) comprise this partnership.
COMET-LA will create a space of interaction for CSOs, policy makers and research organizations, sharing local and scientific knowledge and contributing to a better knowledge of problems and potential solutions for current and future sustainable management of natural resources.
Three different case studies will be analyzed: water and biodiversity systems in Colombia, forest systems in Mexico and marine and coastal areas in Argentina. Similar methods will be used to characterize the current and future ecosystem states, sustainable governance models and locally-tailored scenarios for future changes and challenges.
The outcomes will be synthesized and up-scaled to deliver a potentially useful tool to other local communities facing current environmental challenges.
The overall COMET-LA objective is to identify sustainable community-based governance models for the management of natural resources that could be used in different social-ecological systems in a context of climate change and increasing competition for the use of these resources.
Role of the andalusian partner
1.To create a partnership between CSOs, research institutes and policymakers, both at local and global levels to share scientific and local knowledge in the management of natural resources.
2.To apply scientific knowledge and methods to identify: i) the situation, the critical points and the main tensions and conflicts affecting now and in the future to the use of resources at local level and ii) opportunities for a more sustainable management of environmental problems.
3. To identify and analyze locally owned knowledge and develop solutions to be put in place to prevent and resolve tensions in the use of natural resources in the case studies, with the informed consent and participation of local communities.
4. To improve the understanding and knowledge of local governance models for the management of natural resources, through the analysis of the lessons learned in the case studies.
5. To develop conflict transformation approaches to facilitate solving current and future problems connected to natural resources management.
6. To explore how local community based management systems might respond to future shocks, with the use of scenario building.
7. To identify the role played by women and men and their relations in the management of natural resources as well as the underlying factors involved.
8. To identify the obstacles to matching scientific and local knowledge and how to overcome these in order to provide scientific frameworks useful for local communities and policymakers to monitor the evolution of the ecosystems.
9. To scale up the results in order to be used in other social-ecological systems and to identify the obstacles to scaling-up good/best local practices to face environmental challenges.
10. To provide policymakers with useful tools that could guide adaptive policy making to tackle a riskier and more complex environment.
Impact
Development of a knowledge-base of the situation of the social-ecological system where they base their livelihood, including contextual facts, governance models, potential future shocks and challenges, and eco-innovative solutions for livelihood
Empowerment and capacity-building
Solving conflict capabilities
Creation of a partnership with CSOs in other countries, with EU and LA research institutions, with policymakers, with global institutions and CSOs
Guidelines and best practices for the management of natural resources
Policy briefs about sustainable governance models for the management of natural resources
Locally-adapted dissemination tools
Development of inter-disciplinary science for society
Development of evidence-base analysis of the situation of different social-ecological system, including contextual facts, governance models, potential future shocks and challenges, and eco-innovative solutions
Development of knowledge about community, participatory approaches for environmental public policy delivering Development of EU-LAC Research Area
Bottleneck removing tools in environmental conflicts
Policy briefs about sustainable governance models for the management of natural resources
Locally-adapted dissemination tools
Increasing relationships with LA institutions and strengthening its role as a global player in the fight against climate change
Development of evidence-base analysis of the situation of different social-ecological system, including contextual facts, governance models, potential future shocks and challenges, and eco-innovative solutions
Development of knowledge about community, participatory approaches for environmental public policy delivering
Cover of information gaps about the situation of local social-ecological systems
Locally-adapted dissemination tools
Policy briefs about sustainable governance models for the management of natural resources