Respecting the oral and literate in co-management communication

Abstract

Natural resources planners—especially those involved in forest management—are increasingly being challenged in their ability to “think on their feet” and speak interactively in cross-cultural co-management teams addressing issues of natural resources management. Team learning occurs in the discovery of the best conversations to initiate that will have the potential to discover the relevant questions to ask. Continuous identification and systematic resolution of strategic issues is best done by carefully respecting both oral and written means of communication. This paper reviews historic and recent trends in the re-discovery of a team learning process that honours spoken words and respectfully facilitates dialogue. Balancing orality and literacy in the context of adaptive co-management with communities will enable natural resource stakeholders to continually improve the relevance of their policy, research and management. Key words: oral tradition, natural resources management, adaptive co-management, problem-based learning