Promoting the use of research in coastal resource management |
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| Communication and advocacy for pro-poor coastal resource management and development | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
A communication strategy to promote integrated and equitable (pro-poor) coastal resource management and development is responding to the needs of different stakeholder groups. It's vital to transfer the lessons, methods and tools gained from field experience and research projects in ways that influence policies and practice. The process used in this multi-stakeholder strategy focuses on the identification, testing and dissemination of a series of products (like policy briefs, presentations, posters, websites, courses) and pathways (like meetings, community events, ministerial briefings), each tailored to the different needs of the different stakeholders. The strategy was developed in the Caribbean and although until now it is only used in the region, the experience gained is applicable in similar locations around the world. Project Ref: NRSP07:
Research Programmes: This is a cluster of outputs coming primarily from a research project on Institutional arrangements for coastal management in the Caribbean that was carried out by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and other partners, under the auspices of the Land Water Interface (LWI) component of the Natural Resources Systems Programme (NRSP), within the framework of the Renewable Natural Resources Research Strategy (RNRRS) of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The outputs also include lessons, methods and approaches derived from the overall experience of CANARI in the area of communication and advocacy for pro-poor coastal resource management and development in the Caribbean region over the past two decades. This work has been supported by a wide range of funding sources, including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the European Union, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Hivos. Relevant Research Projects: The main DFID-funded project that has generated this cluster of outputs is project R8317, which was implemented by CANARI in collaboration with the Caribbean Conservation Association (CCA) and MRAG Ltd. Project R8317 built on the outputs of four previous NRSP-sponsored projects in the Caribbean, namely:
The main output is a communication strategy that includes a range of communication products and pathways to promote integrated and equitable (pro-poor) coastal resource management and development. The output also includes the process used in developing a multi-stakeholder strategy, focussing on the identification, testing and dissemination of products and pathways to ensure that the lessons, methods and tools gained from field experience and research projects are communicated in ways that influence policies and practice. The directly relevant outputs are:
While the content of the strategy outlined above may be project specific, the approach and tools that were developed are transferable to other similar environments and contexts. The main problem these outputs aim to address can be expressed in three broad research questions:
The production system that these outputs focus on is the land water interface, in the context of small island developing states and regions. The main commodities, services and ecosystems that are included in these production systems include:
The main economic and social sectors concerned are:
This output can be applied to other commodities, because it offers lessons, methods and templates for the design of communication strategies and activities that are replicable in all production systems. The experience gained in developing and implementing communication and advocacy activities for coastal management and development in the Caribbean are particularly applicable to contexts and locations where:
By engaging and targeting a wide range of stakeholders - including policy makers, management agencies and resource users - in dialogue about integrated and equitable (pro-poor) coastal management that supports coastal livelihoods, the outputs have shown how to deliver new knowledge that enables poor people who are largely dependent on the natural resource base to improve their livelihoods, while equipping other actors (policy makers, entrepreneurs, professional managers) with the awareness, attitudes, knowledge and tools they need to support pro-poor coastal management and development. The project thus illustrates how one can achieve real and lasting improvement in the contribution of coastal management to livelihoods through a coordinated and sustained effort from a wide range of partners, both in the area of uptake promotion and in terms of further research. It would be valuable if this set of outputs could be clustered with the research outputs from a number of other sources, including:
While the work described in this document is based entirely on Caribbean projects, the methods developed and lessons learned in these processes could be directly useful and relevant to other coastal regions of the world. This assumption was successfully tested in May 2006, when one of the project leaders facilitated a regional training course in social communication for coastal resource managers in seven countries of West Africa (as part of an IUCN-sponsored regional programme) and used this framework as the basis for a seven-day participatory training exercise involving 40 participants representing government agencies, non-governmental organisations and leaders of community-based organisations. How the outputs were validated: The overall communication strategy has not yet been formally and systematically validated, because it is so comprehensive that it could only be tested and validated in the context of a regional communication initiative over the medium and long terms. Nevertheless, the recent process used in the formulation of CANARI's own regional strategic plan has allowed the organisation to apply much of the learning gained in R8317 with respect to the formulation of comprehensive communication strategies. The overall framework was also tested and validated in a training exercise held in West Africa in May 2006.Elements of the strategy were tested and validated in project R8317, which was designed and implemented through four communication experiments. Each experiment was guided by a communication plan that identified the messages, target audiences, products, and pathways to be tested, and the ways in which the effectiveness of outputs would be validated. The plans were implemented by CANARI and its project partners. The project was innovative because it was based on a belief that products cannot be separated from pathways: the best product will have little value if it is not effectively and strategically disseminated and promoted. Processes of validation thus examined both products and pathways. Validation was carried out through a range of methods that included:
The table below addresses the question of what target groups validated project outputs. With specific reference to people living in poverty, pathways and methods were tested by some of the initial projects that informed R8331, especially project R7559, which used a range of methods. It was based on the understanding that one of the purposes of acquiring and disseminating information at the local level is to create and promote equality in the negotiation process, as this equality requires equality in information. This project has also highlighted the importance of forms and formats in deliberative and participatory planning and management processes, and it has shown how meeting venues, language, attitudes, formats of discussions, arrangements of meeting rooms or the use of informal interaction are all factors that can hinder or promote effective communication. Where the Outputs were Validated: All outputs (communication products and pathways) tested and validated through this project pertain to the Caribbean coastal zone and to related farming systems (smallholder rainfed humid and coastal artisanal fishing). The following tables indicate the specific validation activities undertaken. Table 1 deals with product outputs and Table 2 with pathways or methods. Table 1. Validation of product outputs
Table 2. Validation of methods (pathways)
Policy and Institutional Structures, and Key Components for Success: For research and advocacy on coastal management and livelihoods to have an impact on poverty reduction and sustainable development, it needs to produce and disseminate information that can change attitudes, behaviours, practices and policies. That information must be provided to the right audiences in forms they can use. Before considering how information should be packaged, the following questions need to be considered and answered:
Uptake is a gradual and iterative process. A single product or intervention is unlikely to achieve a desired change; multiple tools, strategically sequenced for reinforcement, are generally needed. Follow-up communication or activities a few months after delivery can also reinforce messages while assessing and measuring impacts. Such strategies imply the need for collaboration among a range of actors at multiple levels (e.g., local, national, regional), and networks and regional institutions can become key factors of success in capacity development and promotion. The collaborators who were involved in disseminating the outputs of this project included regional resource management technical and advocacy institutions; universities; environmental NGOs and CBOs; governmental ministries and technical agencies; environmental departments of private sector corporations; and journalists. The outputs described here could be usefully shared with other global regions through regional academic and research institutions, civil society networks and organisations, and inter-governmental bodies. Because understanding about coastal management and livelihoods is still partial and evolving, a key factor in the success of communication products is the extent to which they are flexible and adaptable and allow audiences to bring their own experience into them. Process and experience outputs such as seminars, field trips, study tours, and guided discussions are particularly useful for:
Lessons Learned and Uptake Pathways Potential Barriers Preventing Adoption of Outputs: Table 3 below indicates the main barriers identified through the project and approaches that were effectively used in overcoming them. Other barriers have to do with conventional assumptions regarding communication effectiveness. The process of validating outputs suggested that many products may be more "deliverer-dependent" than commonly believed, for example, training materials may not be used unless they come with a trainer. Most often, message uptake requires face-to-face meetings and discussions, and uptake of tools and approaches requires hands-on training and instructions for use. While remote dissemination of products may work for specific groups of stakeholders, it is unlikely to be universally effective. The projects that generated these outputs (and especially R7559 which focuses on local processes and institutional arrangements) have also confirmed the need for deliberate methods and efforts to include those who are normally excluded. While the literature on deliberative and inclusionary processes places much emphasis on events, i.e. citizen's juries, workshops, or focus groups, the experience of project R7559 yielded important caveats in this regard. First, events cannot be fully inclusive, and they inevitably exclude some people on the basis of social status, culture, sex, age or abilities; and second, beyond the events, there are many other factors of inclusion and effectiveness of deliberation, such as transparency, legitimacy, and information dissemination. How to Overcome Barriers to Adoption of Outputs: Table 3. Approaches to reducing barriers to uptake
Lessons Learned: The first lesson, as the table above illustrates, is that effective communication requires a range of products and pathways tailored to the various audiences being targeted. A deliberate strategy is therefore required to ensure that the most appropriate products and pathways are used at the most appropriate time for the relevant audiences. Secondly, poor coastal resource users are interested in outputs that can contribute to the success of their livelihood strategies. These can include scientific information, new resource uses, improved technologies, or lessons applicable to their own experience. The level of uptake depends on the extent to which outputs are introduced in ways that allow people to absorb, question, challenge, test, and adapt them to meet their own needs. Products or technologies that are merely introduced, however forcefully, are unlikely to be widely adopted. Thirdly, people's understanding and acceptance of information is filtered through their attitudes towards and relationships with the source of that information. It is therefore necessary to understand the underlying dynamics of message delivery, which are affected by such factors as the professional, class, gender, political and other social relations between the messenger and the target audience. The use of intermediaries, including "opinion leaders" within target groups, is often an effective method of message delivery, as it can reinforce the power of the message through the credibility of the messenger. But it is important to:
Poverty Impact Studies: The main formal instruments used in the insular Caribbean to assess and measure poverty are the Country Poverty Assessment (CPA) and the Survey of Living Conditions (SLC). Over the past few years, sustained efforts have been deployed in several countries of the region, including all the member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), to design SLCs and to train local personnel in the conduct of such exercises. In addition, most countries have produced reports and continue to monitor progress on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. In Jamaica, the Jamaica Social Policy Evaluation Project (JASPEV) produces regular progress reports on the national social policy goals, which are consistent with and expand on the MDGs. CPAs have been conducted at intervals of approximately 10 years in most countries of the Commonwealth Caribbean, and such exercises have recently been carried out, or are currently being conducted, in several of the countries where communication outputs have been developed, tested, validated and used, including Grenada and Saint Lucia. In Saint Lucia, the site of one of the NRSP-sponsored projects (R7559) was also used by the CPA Team for a more in-depth participatory assessment of poverty at the community level. While these impact studies do not relate specifically to the outputs discussed in this proforma, they are highly relevant to the work proposed here, because they provide baselines and data, as well as case study materials, that can be used in future monitoring and evaluation work. Direct and Indirect Environmental Benefits: All outputs of this project aimed at improving the sustainable contribution of natural resources to coastal livelihoods, especially those of poor resource users, through:
The experimental activities undertaken to test the effectiveness of project outputs in meeting these aims sought to achieve the following specific impacts:
Adverse Environmental Impacts: None that we are aware of. Coping with the Effects of Climate Change, or Risk from Natural Disasters: Caribbean coastal communities have considerable and regular experience of natural disasters, including hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes, and volcanoes; as well as other impacts such as trade shocks and climate variations. This environment of uncertainty has generated important lessons in adaptation and resilience for use in addressing future changes and risks, including the current and anticipated effects of climate change. The outputs of this project all are oriented towards increasing the control that coastal communities have over their livelihoods and the natural resources and environmental services upon which those depend, as well as improving the policy environment and support systems for sustainable resource use by poor coastal communities. In these ways, the outputs of the project should assist them to be active and informed participants in the development of strategies and actions to address risk and disaster, while assuring that the risks that they face are recognized and addressed properly by governments and other institutions involved in coastal resource management. Relevant Research Projects,
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For relevant research projects, with links to further information
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