Local Knowledge Sources Research Articles

Polemics and Controversies as Catalyst for Science Communication and Source of Local Knowledge

Polemics and Controversies as Catalyst for Science Communication and Source of Local Knowledge

Connecting population functionality with distribution model predictions to support freshwater and marine management of diadromous fish species

Diadromous fish species have a complex life cycle during which they migrate between marine and freshwater habitats. They experience multiple human-induced pressures in both environments, likely exacerbated by climate change, leading to dramatic population declines across their distribution ranges. Currently Species Distribution Models (SDMs) have been applied separately in both their continental and marine habitats to improve our understanding of their lifecycles and help with species management. Integrating the freshwater-sea continuum into the decisions would now be a step further in improving their management. With this objective, we developed a decision tree that links marine and freshwater SDM outputs with current observations of population functionality and suggested management guidance options for the viability of these species. Potential effects of climate change were included through future SDM projections to guide integrative and long-term management. Several criteria were proposed to assess the SDM validity considering the main sources of SDM uncertainties and local expert knowledge on habitat and population status. The framework was applied to approximately one hundred catchments from southern Portugal to southern Scandinavia for four diadromous species. At the European level, management guidance options differed between the two anadromous and two catadromous species. Platichthys flesus and Chelon ramada European populations seemed in better state than those of Alosa alosa and A. fallax. Finally, with the help of national diadromous species experts, we focused on four catchments distributed along the European latitudinal gradient to test the proposed methodology and demonstrate local management challenges in terms of freshwater-sea continuity.

Diverse values of nature for sustainability

Twenty-five years since foundational publications on valuing ecosystem services for human well-being1,2, addressing the global biodiversity crisis3 still implies confronting barriers to incorporating nature’s diverse values into decision-making. These barriers include powerful interests supported by current norms and legal rules such as property rights, which determine whose values and which values of nature are acted on. A better understanding of how and why nature is (under)valued is more urgent than ever4. Notwithstanding agreements to incorporate nature’s values into actions, including the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF)5 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals6, predominant environmental and development policies still prioritize a subset of values, particularly those linked to markets, and ignore other ways people relate to and benefit from nature7. Arguably, a ‘values crisis’ underpins the intertwined crises of biodiversity loss and climate change8, pandemic emergence9 and socio-environmental injustices10. On the basis of more than 50,000 scientific publications, policy documents and Indigenous and local knowledge sources, the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) assessed knowledge on nature’s diverse values and valuation methods to gain insights into their role in policymaking and fuller integration into decisions7,11. Applying this evidence, combinations of values-centred approaches are proposed to improve valuation and address barriers to uptake, ultimately leveraging transformative changes towards more just (that is, fair treatment of people and nature, including inter- and intragenerational equity) and sustainable futures.

Development and Application of Local Coastal Knowledge: Insights from New Zealand Surfers

Through their accumulated experiences with coastal environments, surfers may be uniquely qualified as a source of local knowledge on surf breaks and wider coastal management topics. Despite popular associations between surfers and the environment, critical enquiries are needed to establish the scope and depth of surfers’ knowledge and the processes that may influence its development. In this study, we expected that relationships between surfers and the coastal environment would be highly variable and dependent upon several outside factors, including individual motivations and biases. This broad hypothesis was tested through an oral history study of 15 New Zealand surfers, which examined the development of coastal environment knowledge through surfing experiences and explored its applications to resource management in New Zealand. Surfers can develop a unique local knowledge of the coast that is often specific to their favourite locations but can also include regional insights obtained through site-scale comparisons. These may include relatively detailed observations that are typically difficult to detect or measure and that are primarily generated through sustained surfing experiences. Socio-cultural factors, including gender stereotypes, localism, equipment bias, and interaction with accessibility, were identified as key influences on individual motivations and knowledge generation contexts. This study argues that surfers’ perspectives are critical to informing management decisions in the coastal environment. Knowledge residing in the surfing community is dependent on individual associations with surf breaks, yet it can be harnessed across meaningful scales to inform coastal management. Moreover, the generation of local knowledge through surfing experiences adds to the societal benefits of protecting surf breaks.

Using Local Ecological Knowledge to Document Distribution and Temporal Patterns of Macrochelys temminckii in Texas

Long-term studies on long-lived species are rare, as is the case for the Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii). Here, we developed a database of historical accounts drawing spatial and temporal data from local ecological knowledge (LEK) and non-LEK sources. Across all sources, we compiled 215 spatial and 263 temporal records. To test applicability of LEK, we conducted field surveys at sites selected based on LEK accounts, non-LEK accounts, and habitat. Our surveys yielded occupancy rates of 66.7%, 68.8%, and 40%, respectively, while detectability models estimated proportion of occupied sites to be 58–77%. Catch per unit effort did not vary when compared to previous assessments in Texas. Turtles were most active from February to September. Incorporation of LEK when developing study designs will ultimately enhance communication between researchers and local experts.

Outdoor activities foster local plant knowledge in Karelia, NE Europe

Wild edible plants, particularly berries, are relevant nutritional elements in the Nordic countries. In contrast to decreasing global trends, approximately 60% of the Finnish population is actively involved in (berry) foraging. We conducted 67 interviews with Finns and Karelians living in Finnish Karelia to: (a) detect the use of wild edible plants, (b) compare those results with the published data about neighbouring Russian Karelians, and (c) document the sources of local plant knowledge. The results revealed three main findings. First, we observed a similarity in wild food plant knowledge among Karelians and Finns from Karelia. Second, we detected divergences in wild food plant knowledge among Karelians living on both sides of the Finnish–Russian border. Third, the sources of local plant knowledge include vertical transmission, acquisition through literary sources, acquisition from “green” nature shops promoting healthy lifestyles, childhood foraging activities performed during the famine period following WWII, and outdoor recreational activities. We argue that the last two types of activities in particular may have influenced knowledge and connectedness with the surrounding environment and its resources at a stage of life that is crucial for shaping adult environmental behaviours. Future research should address the role of outdoor activities in maintaining (and possibly enhancing) local ecological knowledge in the Nordic countries.

Creating innovation capabilities for improving global health: Inventing technology for neglected tropical diseases in Brazil

Previous research on innovation capabilities in emerging economies shows knowledge networks tied to Western multinationals and national governments focused on economic growth. Less understood is the innovation capability building of emerging economies to achieve ‘good health’, an important Sustainable Development Goal. Here, we present a longitudinal study of a public research organization in an emerging economy and examine how it builds innovation capabilities for creating vaccines, drugs, and diagnostics for diseases primarily affecting the poor. We study FIOCRUZ in Brazil using archival, patent, and interview data about invention of technologies for neglected tropical diseases. We contribute novel insights into the evolution of knowledge networks, as national policy integrates innovation and health goals. We found significant diversification of local and foreign knowledge sources, and substantial creation of networks with public, private, and non-governmental organizations enabling collective invention. These R&D networks attract many multinationals to collaborate on socially driven innovation projects previously non-existent in their portfolios. The public research organization leads collaborations with multinationals and diverse partners, harnessing distributed international knowledge. Our results indicate emerging economies’ capabilities depend on elevating policies to increase health access for the poor to drive innovation and promoting local R&D to generate solutions to improve health.

Pelatihan Pembuatan Pupuk Organik dengan Penggunaan Biostater pada Kelompok Tani Rukun Makaryo Desa Pereng Mojogedang Karanganyar

Local knowledge is the various works and initiatives of a certain community which are believed to be useful for fulfilling part of their daily needs. This local knowledge can take the form of a set of knowledge and skills in creating something that is believed to be very useful. The source or origin of local knowledge and skills is generally acquired from generation to generation or the result of paying attention to and practicing it yourself over and over again the result of the experiences of others arround it. The use of this local knowledge has been empirically believed and proven by local community from time to time. One of the works of the Rukun Makaryo Farmer Group, Pereng Mojogedang village, is the ude of cattle rumen and its contents as a biodecompuser in the process of fermentation of solid wate from castle to fermented solid organik fertilizer. The rationale is very simple, namely in the rumen of cows there are bacteria that can destroy various forages that are eaten by cows. Therefore, if the bacteria can be cultivated outside the cow’s stomach, it can be used to overcome the abundant solid wate of cattle in rural areas to become solid organik fertilizer needed by farmers.

Scope and Scale of Technology Challenge and MNE Knowledge Sourcing in Host Countries

Current research has emphasized the role that industry characteristics play in MNEs knowledge sourcing decisions. However, much remains to be understood regarding the specific circumstances uncertain which MNEs opt for internal, external, local or global sources of knowledge, especially within a single industry. Using a study of MNE knowledge sourcing and creation in the offshore oil industry in Newfoundland, Canada, we find that MNEs source knowledge in accordance with the geographic scope and complexity scale of the technology challenges being faced. MNEs tend to source knowledge through established partners – their headquarters or other MNE subsidiaries – for localized and small-scale challenges as well as for global and large-scale ones. In contrast, localized large-scale challenges and global small-scale ones result in greater rates of knowledge sourcing from host region suppliers or research institutions. This understanding helps clarify how MNEs choose their sources of knowledge and breaks with the existing dichotomy of traditional versus fast-paced industries.

Hunting as a Source of Local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge among Campesinos in Nicaragua

Hunting as a Source of Local and Traditional Ecological Knowledge among Campesinos in Nicaragua

Glocal production of knowledge: exploring Vietnamese scholars’ perception of ‘good’ research

ABSTRACT Given the importance of local scholars’ understanding of research in their integration into global academia, this study explored the way scholars conceptualised and perceived the meaning of research and their identities as researchers. This article reports data from a qualitative case study using semi-structured interviews to explore the positioning and discursive identity of eight Vietnamese social science scholars. Findings revealed that researchers trained in Vietnam and the Soviet Union understood research as knowledge production, positioning themselves as creators of knowledge and critical thinkers. In contrast, researchers who studied in Western countries considered research a rigorous process, positioning themselves as producers and disseminators of research assessed against given standards in international peer-reviewed journals. This study suggests that in local contexts with a complicated history and unique culture like Vietnam, social science researchers should be encouraged to employ their various local methods to tap into the existing sources of local knowledge.

A comparative frame for a contextualised analysis of local natural risk management

Modern natural risk management presupposes that once natural risks are understood, the necessary measures will be taken by the locally competent bodies. Field observations however show that scientific knowledge encounters at local level other sources of environmental knowledge which can present resistance to risk management propositions. This special issue adopted a constructivist frame to analyse how natural risks (coastal floods and earthquakes) are locally understood, remembered, and avoided. The comparative fieldwork approach across national contexts (Italy, France and Morocco) in which different natural risks were considered revealed similar local psychosocial dynamics which may be summarised as follows: (1) Knowledge diversity; (2) Local history and trust; (3) Shifting risk rationalisations and (4) Risk objectification.

Short communication: Differences in local perceptions of Osteochilus spilurus (Cyprinidae: Labeoninae) from several islands in Indonesia

Abstract. Kurniawan A, Pramono DY, Indrayati A, Hermanto, Triswiyana I. 2020. Short communication: Differences in local perceptions of Osteochilus spilurus (Cyprinidae: Labeoninae) from several islands in Indonesia. Asian J Ethnobiol 3: 79-84. Osteochilus spilurus is native freshwater fish on the islands of Sundaland, Indonesia. No study has been reported on this fish utilization other than in the Belitung Islands, so another local perception of Indonesian island needs to be investigated. Local recreational fishing in Palangkaraya, Pontianak, and Pekanbaru and fishers in Palangkaraya, Eastern and western of Belitung, Southern and Central Bangka, and North Lampung were the sources of local knowledge. We obtained data using a Facebook app survey to see local recreational fishers' awareness, interviews with one fisherman in each region, and a literature review for Belitung public perception. There is a different awareness of people from East Belitung to other regions. In East Belitung, knowledge of O. spilurus has a link to the local culture. Fishermen have the most relevant fishing gear expertise for the catch of O. spilurus, based on environmental factors and fish behavior. Large-scale fishing, consuming, and trade of it only takes place in East Belitung. It has an impact on the use of non-environmentally sustainable mesh size nets that threaten their natural survival.

Developing sustainable business models: local knowledge acquisition and tourism lifestyle entrepreneurship

Tourism lifestyle entrepreneurs’ (TLEs) businesses are associated with sustainable business models (SBMs) due to a link to the place. This link is a source of essential local knowledge that provides differentiation, competitiveness, and sustainability. Given the importance of local knowledge to SBMs, this article explores knowledge management by examining how TLEs acquire and integrate knowledge as well as its effects on innovativeness and self-efficacy. We use a sequential mixed-methods approach in which we first conducted a qualitative study with four in-depth semi-structured interviews with TLEs, followed by a quantitative study through a survey of 115 TLEs, and third we conducted another qualitative study based on four semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that entrepreneurial communication has a significantly positive and direct effect on both the innovativeness and self-efficacy of TLEs. A community-centered strategy has a positive influence on innovativeness and self-efficacy but via the indirect effect of entrepreneurial communication. Local knowledge assimilation plays a mediating role between the acquisition of local knowledge and innovativeness and self-efficacy. These findings provide a general understanding and framework about how TLEs link the elements of an SBM to greater innovativeness and self-efficacy.

A framework for pre-processing of social media feeds based on integrated local knowledge base

Most of the previous studies on the semantic analysis of social media feeds have not considered the issue of ambiguity that is associated with slangs, abbreviations, and acronyms that are embedded in social media posts. These noisy terms have implicit meanings and form part of the rich semantic context that must be analysed to gain complete insights from social media feeds. This paper proposes an improved framework for pre-processing of social media feeds for better performance. To do this, the use of an integrated knowledge base (ikb) which comprises a local knowledge source (Naijalingo), urban dictionary and internet slang was combined with the adapted Lesk algorithm to facilitate semantic analysis of social media feeds. Experimental results showed that the proposed approach performed better than existing methods when it was tested on three machine learning models, which are support vector machines, multilayer perceptron, and convolutional neural networks. The framework had an accuracy of 94.07% on a standardized dataset, and 99.78% on localised dataset when used to extract sentiments from tweets. The improved performance on the localised dataset reveals the advantage of integrating the use of local knowledge sources into the process of analysing social media feeds particularly in interpreting slangs/acronyms/abbreviations that have contextually rooted meanings.

Localizing landscapes: a call for respectful design in Indigenous counter mapping

ABSTRACT The increasing use of digital platforms (for example geo referencing, Indigenous counter mapping) to capture Australian Indigenous culture risks adopting tools ontologically based in settler colonial cartographies and thus, unwittingly, can recreate a universal view of empire. Platforms are never neutral spaces and globalized narratives continue to diminish local ontologies. Respectful design of future counter mapping could be based inside local ontologies and epistemologies of differing cultural groups. Respect is shown in engaging with local communities and privileging Indigenous mapping processes. Such engagement would aim to develop counter mapping practices incorporating the principles guarded by the Elders and the protocols by which knowledge itself may be communicated. This paper seeks to demonstrate the different methods by which such respect may be practiced and an approach which emphasizes collaboration and deep listening. Such methods and approach allow for emerging digital landscapes (counter maps) that respect, value, and protect the local epistemological and ontological sources of Indigenous Knowledge.

How practice in plant collection influences interactions with illustrations and written texts on local plants? A case study from Daghestan, North Caucasus

BackgroundIt is only recently that written sources of local knowledge on plants are not being ignored by scholars as not belonging to “traditional” knowledge. Ethnobotanical texts, however, if they at all focus on knowledge from written sources, hardly ever pay any attention to the actual processes of interaction with written texts and illustrations. During our research, we examined people’s interactions with texts, illustrations, and herbarium specimens of plants they collect or are familiar with. We focused on a small community of Shiri people in the mountainous village and in the lowland settlements in the Republic of Daghestan, Russia. In the paper, we address the following questions: how do Shiri people interact with illustrations, written text, and herbaria specimens? How is this interaction influenced by the practice of plant collection? What are the methodological implications of the ways people interact with illustrations, texts, and herbaria specimens?MethodsOur research was based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork: co-designing of a booklet showing edible plants people collect in Shiri, semi-structured interviews, and video-recordings, and observing interactions between people and text/illustrations/voucher specimens.ResultsWe identified three kinds of interactions between individuals and text/illustrations: “text-wayfaring”—predominantly a bodily interaction between an individual and illustrations and text; “fact/spelling checking”—predominantly discursive and information focused; “between wayfaring and fact-checking”—the mix of the two. Using the idea of textual poaching, as well as the knowledge-making approach, we show that the mode of interaction with text/illustrations influences what is acquired, and how. This process influences readers’ LEK. The mere presence of an information in the text available to people does not imply that they will acquire it, make use of it, and change their LEK. Photographs and pressed specimens of locally known plants are often not (or only partly) recognized by the interlocutors. Video-recording is essential for analyzing the above mentioned interactions.ConclusionsIn ethnobotanical research, it is important to pay more attention to people’s interaction with their sources of knowledge, including text and illustrations. The discursive part of LEK is more easily influenced by written sources. The practice of plant collection is not as easily influenced. Ethnobotanists function in a particular context and are embedded in discourses oriented towards conservation of bio-cultural diversity that value heritage as such, so it is important to be aware of one’s positionality. A methodology that relies on showing pressed specimens or photographs to interlocutors may be a very misleading way of collecting ethnobotanical data.

Documenting the Welfare and Role of Working Equids in Rural Communities of Portugal and Spain.

Simple SummaryUnderstanding the social and cultural context of the role that working animals fulfil is crucial to improving their welfare. This study aimed to provide insight into the welfare status and traditional use of working equids in rural Western European communities using a new protocol for assessing working equid welfare, designed to provide a broad, holistic view of the welfare of working equids and the context in which they are found. Other questions on the topics of equid management practices, social transmission of expertise, environmental stressors, and traditions, alongside physical and behavioural welfare assessments were also included to explore the impact of these wide-ranging factors on an understudied population of working equids. A total of 60 working equid owners from rural communities in Portugal and Spain participated. Many owners stated that the help donkeys provided was invaluable, and donkeys were considered to be important for both farming and daily life. However, participants also recognised that the traditional agricultural way of life was dying out. Questions investigating the social transfer of information within the villages were effective in finding local sources of equid knowledge. Overall, welfare was deemed fair, and the protocol enabled the identification of the most prevalent welfare problems within the communities studied. The findings suggest that the new protocol is feasible, providing insights into the traditional practices, community structure, and beliefs of equid owners. Increasing understanding of the cultural context, social structure, and attitudes within a community may, in the future, help to make equid welfare initiatives more effective.Recently, the need for a more holistic approach to welfare assessment has been highlighted. This is particularly pertinent in the case of working equids who provide vital support for human livelihoods, often in low- to middle-income countries, yet suffer from globally low standards of welfare. This study aimed to provide insight into the welfare status and traditional use of working equids in rural Western European communities using the new EARS welfare tool, designed to provide a broad view of the welfare of working equids and the context in which they are found. Other questions on the topics of equid management practices, social transmission of expertise, environmental stressors, and traditions, alongside physical and behavioural welfare assessments were also included to explore the impact of these wide-ranging factors on an understudied population of working equids. The protocol was trialled on 60 working equid owners from communities in Portugal and Spain where, despite the decline in traditional agricultural practices and livestock keeping, donkeys and mules remain working animals. Many owners stated that the help donkeys provided was invaluable, and donkeys were considered to be important for both farming and daily life. However, participants also recognised that the traditional agricultural way of life was dying out, providing insights into the traditional practices, community structure, and beliefs of equid owners. Questions investigating the social networks and social transfer of information within the villages were effective in finding local sources of equid knowledge. Overall, welfare was deemed fair, and the protocol enabled the identification of the most prevalent welfare problems within the communities studied, in this case obesity and the use of harmful practices. The findings suggest that the new protocol was feasible and detail how contextual factors may influence equid welfare. Increasing understanding of the cultural context, social structure, and attitudes within a community, alongside more traditional investigations of working practices and animal management, may, in the future, help to make equid welfare initiatives more effective.

Local vs non-local sources of knowledge for the low-tech firms’ product innovation: evidence from the food-processing industry in Thailand

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effect on firms’ new product development (NPD) and significant product modification of knowledge interaction with local and non-local knowledge actors.Design/methodology/approachThis study draws insights from the literature on external knowledge sources. The negative binomial regression is used to analyse the data of 245 sample food-processing establishments in Thailand.FindingsLocal knowledge actors play only limited roles in enhancing food-processing establishments’ product innovations. Only knowledge interaction with local universities and public research organisations helps enhance establishments’ ability to modify their products. For the NPD, significant sources of knowledge are non-local industrial actors.Originality/valueThis study adds new empirical evidence on knowledge sources for innovation of low-tech firms in less developed countries. It contributes new findings to an on-going debate on the importance of local vs non-local knowledge sources on firms’ innovativeness. It also contributes some implications for the Thai Government’s cluster-based innovation strategy.

Types of agglomeration effects and location choices of international hotels in an emerging market

When international chain hotels are seeking new locations in which to establish new properties, local knowledge of those locations is essential for success. By incorporating agglomeration and internationalization research, this study investigates how international hotels can acquire that local knowledge from the existing hotels. The study presents two different kinds of hotel agglomerations (same-country-of-origin and higher-differentiation agglomerations) as sources of local knowledge and shows how international hotels might select their locations based on types of agglomerations and their entry strategies. The study employs conditional logistic regression, using a sample of international hotels in China. Results indicate that international hotels, especially those with franchising, are more likely to choose a location where the hotels from the same country of origin are highly located. Because they share the same culture and business practices, new hotel entrants may more easily assimilate the local knowledge that compatriot hotels have accumulated.