As a resource manager, you are well aware of the multiple perspectives of the daily problems you face: many stakeholders, different interests, different value sets, resulting in problems that manifest at different levels. Dealing with these complexities and uncertainties requires an adaptive management approach.
managing environmental impact of rural development
Complex problems do not have one-fits-all solutions
Rapid change and increasing complexity characterise the natural resources management (NRM) practice. The NRM domain is increasingly seen as multidisciplinary, matching various ecosystem functions with social and economic realities. Easy fixes for these problems rarely exist.
This two-week course has been developed in partnership between Wageningen University and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (CANR) at Kwame Nkrumah University, Ghana. It offers a critical analysis of current developments and trends in the NRM sector, and advocates an adaptive management approach (AM). Built on the principles of multi-stakeholder participation and social learning, it does not promise easy solutions. Rather it emphasises the importance of collaborative action learning, in order to generate negotiated strategies for joint action.
Course objectivesUpon completion of the course you will have:
- understanding of the conditions in which AM can be successfully applied;
- understanding of the importance and use of collaborative learning processes in multi-stakeholder settings;
- the ability to design an AM process, selecting appropriate participatory tools and methods that fit in the local situation;
- the knowledge and ability to organise participatory social learning processes;
- have improved your skills to facilitate AM processes.
The course targets mid-to senior-level resource managers and rural development, agriculture, forestry, fisheries and nature conservation sectors, academia, private sector and civil society representatives with a stake in rural development and the NRM sectors.