SATOYAMA DIALOGUE: TOOLS, TECHNOLOGY AND PEOPLE

The UNU-IAS held a Satoyama Initiative Regional Workshop during April 18-20 in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia under the theme “Mainstreaming concepts and approaches of SEPLS in Asia”. A total of 80 people gathered and actively engaged in the discussion of 1) Ecosystem Restoration, 2) Economic Incentives, 3) Traditional Knowledge, and 4) Communication, Education and Public Awareness. At this event,

 

Objectives:                                                                                                                                                                                                         

The “side event” was intended to foster discussions among the participants to the IPSI Regional Workshop on two specific topics: 1) the use of the Indicators of Resilience in SEPLS and 2) the possibility of information technology in knowledge and experience sharing.

 

Program

Session 1: The Use of Indicators of Resilience in SEPLS 

To share  experiences and ideas in the use of the Indicators of Resilience as a tool for the monitoring and evaluation of SEPLS.

• Experiences in using the Indicators in Karen Communities in Northern Thailand – Dr. Prasert Trakansuphakon
• Participatory Evaluation of Indicators of Resilience in SEPLS: A Case Study of Taiwan- Dr. Kuang-Chung Lee
• GEF SGP Supporting Community Conserved Areas in China – Ms. Yi Liu
• GENERAL DISCUSSION

Session 2: IT Use Under IPSI 

To explore the available IT resources and their use by IPSI members.

• IPSI and Information Technology – Mr. Jady Smith
• Global mapping of Priority SEPLS under the GEF-Satoyama Project – Dr. Yoji Natori
• Example of IT use for mapping of rotational farming in Thailand – Dr. Prasert Trakansuphakon
• GENERAL DISCUSSION

 

Report

Twenty-seven persons participated from 13 different countries. Ms. Kien Dang of the Social Policy Ecology Research Institute in Vietnam chaired the event.

In the first session, Dr. Prasert Trakansuphakon of IMPECT, disclosed that that the three Karen communities which used the indicators were happy that they had the opportunity to analyse their own situation and that the discussions they had were well done. As a result of the exercise there was more awareness among the community members. He disclosed that they were better able to prioritize the issues that arose from those discussions and this process was used to design three workplans for their respective communities. He further explained that the involvement of elders, women and youth was essential for the success.

 

The next speaker was Dr. Kuang-Chung Lee who presented A Case Study of an Indigenous Rice Paddy Cultural Landscape in Taiwan where participatory evaluation using the Indicators of Resilience was done. He explained that the evaluation occurred in various stages which included planning and preparation, discussions, consensus building, and implementation and monitoring. He shared the results obtained that came out of the process employed which include a strategy with a number of tasks identified for possible implementation. He finalized his presentation by indicating the successful adaptation of the landscape approach to formulate the Cihalaay Cultural Landscape Management Principles/Plan through a multi-stakeholder participation process, and an indicator system of resilience for monitoring the local area.

 

Ms. Yi Liu, of UNDP shared how GEF SGP is supporting Indigenous and Conserved Community Areas (ICCAs). She highlighted that fact that SGP China has supported 21 ICCAs since 2009. She explained that these are divided into three priority SEPLS, namely, the Alpine Canyons in Three Parallel Rivers area; the Alpine grassland and wetland landscape in Sanjiangyuan region; and the Tropical Coastline seascape of the Beibu Gulf and mentioned the baseline assessment-selection criteria which was employed. For each of the SEPLS, she presented the geography, challenges, and the expected results and indicators of landscape management. She concluded with a plan to incorporate the Indicators of Resilience in the future for use in new project applications and by stakeholders including at the community level.

 

Mr. Jady Smith of Live and Learn Australia spoke on IPSI and Information Technology gave an overview of how IT can be used within the IPSI network.

 

Dr. Yoji Natori spoke on Global mapping of Priority SEPLS under the GEF-Satoyama Project. He explained that the exercise is premised on the definition of SEPLS as contained in the IPSI charter and presented various data sets and resources that are already available for conducting the exercise.

 

Copies of the Indicators of Resilience toolkit were made available to participants. The Indicators of Resilience in SEPLS is a tool developed by IPSI members that can be used to assess and strengthen the resilience of SEPLS in changing environmental and social conditions. Projects such as COMDEKS and GEF-Satoyama Project are using the Indicators to monitor the projects’ interventions and to improve community resilience.

 

Main Discussion Outcomes

# Workshops organized for using the Indicators of Resilience should have materials adequately translated and simplified for locals.

# Facilitators should all use the same definition of concepts, be trusted by the community and understand the local context.

# Proper record keeping should be done to ensure all discussion points and views are captured.

# A further revision of the Indicators of Resilience toolkit which takes into account the lessons learned is encouraged.

# Information technology within the IPSI network needs to be maximized in a structured way to normalize the way in which members are keeping records.

# IT resources need to chosen taking into consideration their accessibility and intellectual copyrights.

# As a precursor to developing the IT strategy a clear definition of SEPLS is needed; the process for collecting information/data from members need to be determined; a data life cycle and framework needs to be created.

 

 

 

Photos

 

 

 

 

A detailed report of discussions can be found here Satoyama Dialogue Report

 

A copy of the flyer can be found here Side Event at IPSI Regional WS Sabah Flyer.