Sustainable development of Philippine coastal resources: Subsidiarity in ethnoecology through inclusive participatory education

Abstract

The Philippines is an archipelago of more than 7,100 islands, with a population of over 100 million people dependent upon marine resources which are characterised by a decline in both biodiversity and abundance. The resultant large sector of fisherfolk is generally impoverished with limited education, which makes coastal adult education and lifelong learning a national priority. This article considers the Filipino fisherfolk community as a culture to identify potential input strategies regarding education development for marine science concepts. In a study piloting cultural consensus theory applications with a well-established fisherfolk organisation, the authors focus on the lack of dialogue engaging Philippine fisherfolk with standards of international marine science, bioregional resource partitioning and reflexive in-country education development. Cross-cultural strategies considered in this paper include exploring paraprofessional approaches to adult education, accommodating several dialects/languages and drawing on international science concepts. While earlier adult education initiatives aimed at fisherfolk may have had limited success in part due to a lack of cultural context, this pilot study is innovative in that it applies an existing Filipino form of social artistry to fisherfolk identity, expression and communication. Siningbayan [Sining = art, bayan = nation or town], or art whose canvas is society evolved through the Philippine history of organic networking and participation. Results confirm that a structured ethnoecological research design combined with Siningbayan appear effective for identifying education and curriculum specifics both for the fisherfolk sector of Filipino society and for professional marine science; their common goal being improved resource management. The authors place particular emphasis on subsidiarity, considering how best to transfer information to individual fisherfolk and their communities, as well as exploring their scaled-up role in leadership, organisational and professional development.