Reconciling Local and Global Agendas in Sustainable Development: Participatory Research with Indigenous Andean Communities

This paper discusses participatory research in the Andes and presents a case study in Cotacachi, Ecuador, where sustainability scientists and indigenous people seek common ground in their respective but drastically different research and social agendas. Participatory research based on Andean experiences pre-dated and inspired much of the later international movement in agriculture, health, and conservation. Andean communities have a long history in demanding that outsiders address the needs of the community as a condition for carrying out scientific or applied activities. What an Andean community, however, sees as relevant may or may not be within the rubric of ‘participatory research’ as it is practiced throughout much of the world. In fact, overzealous participatory researchers are just as bothersome as their predecessors bearing long questionnaires. More important to Andean people is an equitable relationship with researchers and developers in which exchanges of value are made. A distinction between ‘enriching’ and ‘extractive’ research is drawn. In the case of the SANREM project in Cotacachi, Ecuador, scientists carried out enriching research activities of interest to local people as a wayto generate social capital for conducting basic research which does not have an obvious, immediate local benefit. The requested research did not have a conventional participatory methodology but provided valuable products (educational opportunity, germplasm, community visualization tools, and information) to the indigenous community in exchange for time and resources to conduct research on more basic natural resource questions. We argue that in the Andean context the key to reconciling the needs of scientists and of local needs is seeking new forms of equitable collaboration which reach beyond the present and now somewhat tired discourse of ‘participation’.

Patients Involved in Funding Research.A Look Back at the Unique Experience of the ECLAIR Working Group of Canceropole CLARA

This article aims to share an innovative experience of organizing and funding research involving those most directly affected:patients.The“ECLAIR”working group of the Canceropole Lyon Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes(CLARA)was created at the end of 2020 with the goal of contributing to the development of a call for projects on the patient experience in oncology,which was launched in January 2021.Initially composed of 8 members,including 7 patients,coordinated by a project manager from CLARA,the ECLAIR working group actively participated in drafting the specifications of the call for projects,developing the eligibility criteria for applications,revising the evaluation and selection criteria for projects,and monitoring the selected projects.This experience was repeated twice.With significant freedom of action,the working group made two decisions that strongly demonstrate the commitment to supporting research partnerships and the active involvement of those affected:firstly,by making partnership a mandatory requirement for the eligibility of applications,and secondly,by conducting the selection of projects themselves,after an independent scientific evaluation phase.Seeking to shed light on the“black box”of partnership,the article also presents the concrete modalities of interaction among the working group members,the adjustments made between different editions of the call for projects,and the relationships maintained with CLARA.

Participatory Action Research for Catalyzing Adaptive Management： Analysis of a ＂Fits and Starts＂ Process

This paper argues that contextual constraints can significantly interfere with the conduct of research and development, and accordingly should be analyzed more honestly. It describes a five country research project, Landscape Mosaics, in which participatory action research （PAR） was intended as one of two central approaches in the original research design （the other approach being more conventional research）. The five sites, in Cameroon, Indonesia, Laos, Madagascar, and Tanzania, are described, with an emphasis on their implementation of PAR. The fact that personnel and partners on three of the five sites failed to implement PAR is analyzed, to determine the constraints to such action. These findings are then compared with our experience with two other similar projects in which PAR was more widely implemented. We conclude by identifying the most important constraints to be overcome in implementing a PAR process, something we consider important in efforts to deal with change processes in developing countries.

Mobile Application for Research Knowledge Sharing and Dissemination: The Case of Nm-Aist Univeristy Tanzania

The utilization of mobile and web applications has surpassed all other platforms in terms of disseminating researchers’ knowledge among diverse communities throughout the world. The current method of disseminating researchers’ knowledge to the communities in the Arusha region in Tanzania is through meetings, workshops, and focus group discussions held by researchers, agricultural extension officers and community members after every three months or during field study. Yet the strategy is inefficient and ineffective in practice. The purpose of this study was to determine the most efficient and successful method of disseminating knowledge in communities. The study began with a qualitative phase, utilizing an interpretive technique and a qualitative multiple case study research design. The Arusha region in Tanzania was selected as a case study where different social activities were undertaken, including farming, livestock keeping, tourism activities and fishing. Individual participants were interviewed by using a semi-structured questionnaire. In addition, focus group discussions were conducted to gather more information regarding the needs of the mobile application. Through the implementation of the application, the second phase of the study led to the development of a mobile application that includes community members, agricultural extension officers, and researchers that will enable anyone to install the application on their mobile phones to access knowledge regarding activities undertaken in Arusha. According to the findings of the first phase of the research, a substantial percentage of community members own mobile phones, and hence a mobile application would be sufficient. The research also found that most researcher-community interactions occur at the data collection and intervention assessment (field trials) stages. Hence, the mobile application will benefit community members, district agricultural, irrigation, and cooperative officers (DAICO), and researchers.

Mettre en dialogue disciplines et personnes concernées par le cancer pour améliorer le parcours des soins en oncologie Dialogue between Disciplines and People Affected by Cancer to Improve the Path of Care in Oncology

Interdisciplinarity and participatory research have become the guiding principles of cancer research.But what are the practical forms and methods?Based on the experience of 3 successive research projects aimed at improving cancer care pathways-PARCA1,PARCA2 and 4P-we present the encounters between researchers on the one hand,and between these same researchers and patients and health professionals on the other.Gradually,these meetings have led to the co-construction of projects and the shared conduct of research.The motivations behind the participatory approach are highlighted,as well as the‘step-by-step’approach needed to familiarize the people involved with the research process,and the limits of the approach:while everyone’s position tends to be adjusted as the projects progress,there is still an imbalance between the researchers and the people involved.

Local Criteria Used by Farmers to Evaluate the Agronomic Performance and the Fertilizing Capacity of Cowpea Varieties: Diversity, Variability and Proximal Relation with Agronomic Measurements in Contrasted Sahelian Locations

When contributing to participatory research, farmers usually appreciate the performance of cowpea varieties using qualitative scores. The score they attribute to each variety are based on local knowledge. The specific criteria they individually use to attribute a score are not well described. The objectives of this work were to: 1) identify and describe exhaustively the local criteria used by farmers to measure the agronomic performance of cowpea;2) assess the variability and statistical structure of these farmer criteria across local contexts;3) and analyze the association between these farmer criteria and the classical agronomic measurement. To achieve these objectives, an augmented block design was implemented across fifteen locations in the regions of Maradi, Dosso and Tillabéri, representing a diversity of local contexts. From a set of 36 cowpea varieties, fifteen varieties were sown per location, including five varieties (controls) common to all locations. In each location, two replicates were sown in randomized Fisher’s blocks. After agronomic measurement and participatory evaluation (scoring of varieties by farmers), a group survey (focus group) was conducted in each location to identify the criteria considered by farmers to found their discretional scoring of varieties during the participatory evaluation. The analysis of the data identified, across locations, thirteen criteria defined by farmers to characterize the agronomic performance of cowpea. Some of these criteria were different according to location. Farmers ranked the three varieties with the best performance for each agronomical trait (Top 3 varieties). A comparison of the farmer ranking with the ranking based on agronomic measurements revealed similarity and complementary between both methods. This study highlighted the importance of considering both local and scientific knowledge in local varietal evaluations.

Mechanized Transplanting of Rice(Oryza sativa L.)in Nonpuddled and No-Till Conditions in the Rice-Wheat Cropping System in Haryana,India

The common practice of establishing rice in the rice-wheat system in India is manual transplanting of seedlings in the puddled soil. Besides being costly, cumbersome, and time consuming, puddling results in degradation of soil and the formation of a hard pan, which impedes root growth of subsequent upland crops. In addition, decreased availability and increasing cost of labor have increased the cost of rice cultivation through conventional methods. Because of these concerns, there is a need for mechanized transplanting of rice which is less labor-intensive and can ensure optimum plant population under nonpuddled and/or no-till conditions. A large number of on-farm trials were conducted at farmers’ fields in Haryana, India, from 2006 to 2010 to evaluate the performance of the mechanical transplanted rice (MTR) under nonpuddled and no-till situations as compared to conventional puddled transplant rice (CPTR). Compared with CPTR, nonpuddled MTR produced 3%-11% higher grain yield in different years. Rice cultivars, viz. HKR47, HKR127, PR113, PR114, PB1, PB1121, CSR30, and Arize6129, performed consistently better under nonpuddled MTR as compared to CPTR. Performance of different cultivars (PR113, PR114, HKR47, and Pusa 44) was also better under no-till MTR as compared to CPTR. The “basmati” cultivar CSR30 performed equally in no-till MTR and CPTR systems. The results of our study suggest that rice can be easily grown under nonpuddled and no-till conditions with yield advantages over the CPTR system. Even in the case of similar yield between CPTR and MTR systems, the MTR system will help in reducing labor requirement and ultimately, will increase overall profits to farmers.

Roles of mutual help of local community networks in community health activities: Improvement for the quality of life of older people in Thailand

Objectives: This study aimed to describe work and activities of community networks focusing on the improvement of the quality of life (QOL) of older people in Thailand.The understanding of the work can help enhancing the community development and strengthening of local communities and their networks.Methods: Qualitative methods including in-depth interview,observation,and focus group discussion were employed to the study.64 participants participated to the study and were recruited from 4 key actors within the community.Content analysis was used to analyze the obtained data.This study was conducted in 6 local administrative organizations (LAOs) which selected from the outstanding areas of the project.Each LAO represents one sub-district of the regions of Thailand namely;(1) the upper north,(2) the lower north,(3)the upper eastern,(4) the lower eastern,(5) the central and (6) the south.Results: The findings of this study were categorized into three main themes: (1) Social capital including people in the community,social groups,and organizations,(2) Mutual help/collaboration activities composed of six sets of activities related to social capitals working on the improvement of QOL of older people,and (3) Impacts of the mutual help/collaboration activities on older people and local communities who help to improve of QOL of older people.Conclusion: The findings are important features for the community development.These themes should be recommended for community nurses,health related groups and organizations for the improvement of QOL of older people in the community.

Community social capital on fighting dengue fever in suburban Surabaya, Indonesia: A qualitative study

Purpose:Dengue hemorraghic fever(DHF)is a communicable disease that is difficult to manage,espe-cially in tropical countries.Social capital is believed to be able to improve the ability of entire com-munities to work together to solve a collective health problem.This study aimed to describe the existing social capital in a community and how it was used to fight DHF.Methods:Qualitative descriptive methods were used,and in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 participants.This study was conducted in the Sawahan sub-district,Surabaya,Indonesia,an endemic area that combats DHF every year.Findings:Results showed that social capital as a community feature provides the main cornerstone of collective action.The creation of social groups,intersectoral collaboration,mutual assistance in cleaning,and voluntary work were visible forms of social capital in the prevention and control of DHF.Support from strong leaders also had significant implications.Conclusions:This study showed that social capital was an important feature,which,if managed,used and accessed properly,would be able to provide ideas for solving community problems.

Reviving Ancient Water Tunnels in the Desert—Digging for Gold?

The water shortage in the Middle East is a well-known problem. The introduction of diesel operated pumps for irrigation has caused a severe drop in groundwater levels. At the same time the demand for groundwater is growing to alarming proportions. Alternative ways of groundwater supply and management need to be found to halt social and economical disaster in the future. Why not look at history？ Qanats are subterranean tunnels ancient civilizations built to access groundwater. The technique is a sustainable method of groundwater extraction. Throughout the Middle East some settlements still make use of these ancient systems. In the summer of 2000, a community rehabilitation of a qanat was executed International Center for Areas （ICARDA） and with support from the Agricultural Research in Dry international donors. The renovation served as a pilot community intervention within a participatory action research project aimed at evaluating the use of qanats in Syria. In a second stage of the project, the pilot was scaled up to a nation-wide survey of Syrian qanats in 2001. This resulted in qanat renovations on other sites executed in 2oo2 and 2oo3 with further international support. This paper compares the first pilot renovation with a recent qanat renovation that took place in Qarah, Syria.

Community Soil Resources Management for Sub-Saharan West Africa： Case Study of the Gourma Region in Burkina Faso

A study on community soil fertility management concepts and practices was conducted through rapid and participatory method of research in 15 villages of the Gourma region in Eastern part of Burkina Faso. These investigations aimed at determining farmers＇ knowledge on soil resources： local soil taxonomy and indicators of soil degradation, soil fertility management practices, and capacity for adoption of new technologies in soil fertility management. The results of the study showed that the main parameter for soil classification for all the investigated villages was soil texture composition; soil degradation was evaluated according to crops yield decrease and the development Striga sp. in 100% of the investigated villages; the use of organic manure and long term fellow were the main practices for soil fertility management; concerning the villages where modem technologies of soil fertility management were introduced, the lack of tools and capacity building were the main limiting factors of the adoption of these improved practices at small scale farmers＇ level. Even if discordance between scientific and local soil taxonomy were revealed by our investigations; significant similarities between indigenous and scientific indices of soil degradation were noticed. With regard to the actual magnitude of soil degradation; the local techniques of soil fertility management need to be improved and accessible to a big number of farmers.

Quality of life during COVID-19 pandemic:a community-based study in Dakahlia governorate,Egypt

Background:The sudden transmission of the novel coronavirus along with instant measures taken in response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019(COVID-19)pandemic caused many new challenges adversely disturbing quality of life(QoL).The objective of this study is to measure quality of life of the public during the COVID-19 pandemic and factors affecting it among adults.Methods:This is a community-based cross-sectional household study with analytic component conducted in an agricultural area in Dakahlia governorate,Egypt and included 500 individuals.Data were collected through a structured interview,and the collected data included socio-demographic characteristics as well as some data related to their habits and comorbidities,their experience with COVID-19 and data about QoL using the COV19-Impact on Quality of Life(COV19-QoL)scale Arabic version,after assessing Content validity and reliability.Results:The total QoL score(mean±standard deviation)is 2.3±0.6 and the score for QoL in general and perception of danger on personal safety show the highest mean with 2.6±0.7.The lowest mean score is related to the perception of mental health deterioration(1.9±0.8).Independent predictors of the total QoL scale are sex(regression coefficient(95%CI)=0.1(0.02 to 0.2),p value=0.02),monthly income(regression coefficient(95%CI)=0.1(0.004 to 0.2),p value=0.04),knowing someone infected with COVID-19(regression coefficient(95%CI)=0.15(0.08 to 0.3),p value=0.001),and data collection time(regression coefficient(95%CI)=0.1(0.006 to 0.2),p value=0.04).Conclusions:COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the public quality of life,particularly in terms of general quality of life and personal safety.People with substantial predictors of lower quality of life should be given more attention.

A Systematic Review of Forensic Approaches to Disasters: Gaps and Challenges

Disaster forensic approaches aim to identify the causes of disasters to support disaster risk management.However,few studies have conducted a systematic literature review of scientific articles that labeled themselves as a forensic approach to disasters.This article provides a qualitative analysis of these forensic studies,focusing on five main issues:(1)the methodologies applied;(2)the forensic approaches used in the disaster risk management phases;(3)the hazards addressed;(4)if the methodologies involve social participation,and using what types of participation;and(5)if there are references to urban planning in the scientific studies analyzed.Our results showed a predominance of the Forensic Investigations of Disasters(FORIN)and Post-Event Review Capability(PERC)methodologies used in isolation or combination.There is a need for methodologies that engage people in participatory FORIN,fostering the co-production of knowledge and action research approaches.

Crowdsourcing to identify social innovation initiatives in health in low- and middleincome countries

Background:Crowdsourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production mechanism that leverages the collective intelligence of non-expert individuals and networked communities for specific goals.Social innovation(SI)initiatives aim to address health challenges in a sustainable manner,with a potential to strengthen health systems.They are developed by actors from different backgrounds and disciplines.This paper describes the application of crowdsourcing as a research method to explore SI initiatives in health.Methods:The study explored crowdsourcing as a method to identify SI initiatives implemented in Africa,Asia and Latin America.While crowdsourcing has been used in high-income country settings,there is limited knowledge on its use,benefits and challenges in low-and middle-income country(LMIC)settings.From 2014 to 2018,six crowdsourcing contests were conducted at global,regional and national levels.Results:A total of 305 eligible projects were identified;of these 38 SI initiatives in health were identified.We describe the process used to perform a crowdsourcing contest for SI,the outcome of the contests,and the challenges and opportunities when using this mechanism in LMICs.Conclusions:We demonstrate that crowdsourcing is a participatory method,that is able to identify bottom-up or grassroots SI initiatives developed by non-traditional actors.

Empowering the community through participation and action in historic neighbourhood conservation planning

This paper presents an attempt to initiate community empowerment within the participatory neighbourhood upgrading context of the Sengul Hammam Neighbourhood(istiklal).We adopted the Participatory Action Research methodology,which aims to generate knowledge meaningful for the community towards upgrading and revitalizing the neighbourhood.Respectively,a series of workshops,focus groups,and community activities were implemented in parallel processes with different neighbourhood groups.In order to change the situation in the neighbourhood,the inquiry began by mobilizing neighbourhood stakeholders and planning the future with primary school children.Later,this gained the active support of parents,women,the municipality,local leaders,and civil associations,and led them to take collective action over garbage collection,cleaning up the neighbourhood and building a playground-park.The mayor at the time of the research showed interest in istiklal but did not or could not give any financial or political support to upgrade the physical setting as a whole.The lack of support from the municipality in that regard and the neighbourhood being left to its own destiny caused a gradual dilapidation and loss of historic and cultural values.