Participatory Identification Research Articles

Participatory identification of the causes of antimicrobial use and how they may vary according to differences in sector structure: The case of the Flemish pork and veal sectors

The increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to human health has prompted many countries to adopt national action plans to reduce antimicrobial use (AMU) in farm animals. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of the factors driving AMU in farm animals. While previous research has focused on gaining a better understanding of AMU from the perspective of farmers and veterinarians, less emphasis has been placed on examining the systemic and contextual factors that influence AMU from multiple viewpoints within the food supply chain. To this end, this paper describes a participatory approach involving multiple stakeholders from two distinct livestock sectors to identify the underlying drivers of AMU and explore their case-specificity. For each sector, we identified causes of AMU during four online focus groups, by co-creating a “problem tree”, which resulted in the identification of over 50 technical, economic, regulatory, and sociocultural causes per sector and exploration of causal links. Following this, we analysed the focus group discussion through a content analysis and clustered causes of AMU that were related into 17 categories (i.e. main drivers of AMU), that we then classified as drivers of AMU at sector level or drivers of AMU at farm level. Finally, we compared the two sectors by assessing whether the generated categories (i.e. main drivers for AMU) had been discussed for both sectors and, if so, whether they involved the same causes and had the same implications. Through our analysis, we gained a better understanding of several main drivers of AMU at sector level, that result from systemic and/or contextual causes. As these cannot always be addressed by farmers and/or their veterinarian, we suggest that interventions should also target other actors related to these causes or consider them to help implement certain strategies. Furthermore, based on the results of our comparative analysis, we suggest that systemic structural differences, such as size and level of supply chain integration/fragmentation, may lead to differences in how animal health management is approached. This in turn may influence AMU's decision-making and the effectiveness of interventions, if they are generic and not tailored to the specificities of the sector.

Alternative systems and strategies to improve future sustainability and resilience of farming systems across Europe: from adaptation to transformation

According to stakeholders, many European farming systems are close to critical thresholds regarding the challenges they face (e.g., droughts, price declines), functions they deliver (e.g., economic viability, biodiversity and habitat) and attributes required for resilience (e.g., social self-organization). To accelerate a transition process towards sustainable and resilient agriculture, this study aimed to identify actor-supported alternative systems across 10 European farming systems, and to identify associated future strategies that contribute to strengthening resilience attributes, using a backcasting approach. This paper synthesizes 1) the participatory identification of desired alternative systems and their expected performance on sustainability and resilience, 2) the participatory identification of strategies to realize those alternative systems, 3) the contribution of identified past and future strategies to 22 resilience attributes, and 4) the compatibility of the status quo and alternative systems with different future scenarios, the Eur-Agri-SSPs. Many identified alternative systems emphasized technology, diversification and organic and/or nature friendly farming, while in some farming systems also a focus on intensification, specialization, better product valorization, collaboration, or creating an attractive countryside could increase sustainability and resilience. Low economic viability limited farming system actors to pay attention to environmental and social functions. Further, most alternative systems were adaptations rather than transformations. Many stakeholders had difficulty to envisage systems without the main products (e.g., starch potato in NL-Arable, sheep in ES-Sheep and hazelnut in IT-Hazelnut), but in few cases transformative systems were designed (e.g. local organic farming in PL-Horticulture and RO-Mixed). Sustainability and resilience can be enhanced when alternative systems and strategies are combined, thereby improving multiple functions and attributes at once. In particular, production and legislation need to be coupled to local and natural capital. Identified alternative systems seem only compatible with Eur-Agri-SSP1 ‘agriculture on sustainable paths’. This requires policies at EU-level that stimulate macro-level social, institutional, economic, and technological developments that strengthen this scenario. We conclude that to get stakeholders along, incremental adaptation rather than radical transformation should be sought. The identification of alternative systems is only a start for the transition process. Their analysis, along with the strategies identified, need to trigger the involvement of farmers and other ‘enabling actors’ inside and outside the farming systems to make a change, and where needed, systems can evolve into more transformative systems.

Strengthening place identity through cultural mapping, Case study: Madura Pendalungan Kampong in Baran-Buring, Malang

The place identity needs to be resurfaced visual-architecturally through place-making and community engagement. From participatory identification of tangible and intangible cultural assets, cultural mapping can increase awareness of cultural assets and a sense of belonging, facilitate network development and collaboration, and prepare village development programs according to local potential. This study aims to compile the potential and resources of Kampung Baran in a participatory manner, and then present it as significant cultural character data in shaping the identity of the place. The research was conducted qualitatively through asset mapping and community identity mapping. Asset mapping is related to the physical resources, while community identity mapping identifies intangible resources. Physical data recording is done through field observation. The on-site data mapping is triangulated through focus group discussions and in-community conversation to identify the intangible resources. Furthermore, the data were categorised, and the relations were analysed to compile the cultural mapping. The results showed that the unity between architectural elements (recontextualization of Omah Gejug), communal space according to the taneyan pattern of Kampung Baran, typical plants, local culinary, traditional arts and language, as well as socio-cultural systems and structures can be visualized to support the revitalization of place identity.

Multicriteria analysis of critical areas for restoration in a semiarid landscape: A comparison between stakeholder groups

In landscape-scale ecological restoration, there is an urgent need to develop participatory systematic planning strategies and prioritization schemes that are operational under current technical and legal constraints. Different stakeholder groups may differ in their choice of criteria to define critical areas for restoration. Analyzing the correspondence between stakeholder characteristics and their expressed preferences is key to understand their values and facilitate consensus among the different groups. We analyzed the participatory identification of critical areas for restoration in a Mediterranean semiarid landscape of southeastern Spain by means of two Spatial Multicriteria Analyses. The first one included 33 ecological and socioeconomic prioritization criteria. The second included 24 ecosystem services. Prioritization criteria and services and their weights were based on the preferences of 46 stakeholders. We distinguished three stakeholder groups, according to their approach to ecological restoration. Stakeholders showed similarities regarding the most important criteria and services assessed. Yet, we found contrasted opinions between the group labeled as Biodiversity, who showed preference for Regulating Services and Ecosystem Functions, and the two groups labeled as Environment, and Agriculture & other occupations who assigned the highest importance to Provisioning and Cultural Services, along with highly Anthropized Environments. Maps integrating criteria and services weighted by the different groups of stakeholders were largely coincident, because of their overall agreement and the high number of criteria and services included in the analysis. Our approach allowed the identification of consensual critical areas for restoration, which were mainly covered by shrublands and rainfed crops, and mostly characterized by low to medium supply of ecosystem services. Our study emphasizes the need to recognize and integrate different social perspectives when identifying critical areas for restoration and highlights the importance of using complementary approaches as decision-making support tools to define these areas.

Participatory Identification of Breeding Objectives and Selection Criteria for Begaria Cattle Breed

The objectives of this study were to identify the breeding objectives of Begaria cattle keepers. A semi-structured questionnaire, live animal ranking, and focus group discussions were employed to identify the breeding objectives of the farmers. The study was conducted on a total of 75 conveniently sampled households. Among the total cattle population of the sampled households, 506 heads of cattle (252 male and 254 female animals) were ranked as first best, second best, third best, and/or the worst animals. Owners were asked to choose the first best, second best, third best, and worst animals from their herd for both sexes. Reasons for ranking, important morphometric measurements, and (re)production performance of the ranked animal were taken. The R Commander package version 2.6-0 was used to analyze qualitative data and analysis of variance in R software was used to analyze quantitative data. Reasons for ranking of cows in the study area were milk yield (39.14%), calving interval (15.14), temperament (12), and body size (10.86), whereas for bulls, reasons were body size (30.39%), growth (30.66), body condition score (16.85), and color (15.19). Survival rate (Sur), calving interval (CI), milk yield (MY), and lactation milk yield (LMY) for the cows and body condition score (BCS), weaning age (WA), yearling weight (YW), and weaning weight (WW) for the bulls were significantly different (p < 0.05) mainly between the first- and last-ranked animals. Farmers were willing to pay up to Ethiopian birr (ETB) 11,500, 10,700, 10,400, and 9500 on average for first-, second-, and third-ranked breeding females and up to ETB 6300, 5800, 5200, and 4500 for breeding males. Lactation milk yield, calving interval, mothering ability, growth rate, and age at first calving were determined as breeding objective traits of the community. with suggested selection criteria of lactation milk yield, calving interval, survival rate, yearling weight, and age at first calving, respectively.

Participatory Project Cycle Management and Performance of Donor Funded Projects in Mandera County, Kenya

The performance of donor funded projects in the global arena has been linked by previous studies to participatory project cycle management. According to report by senate county public accounts and investment committee report of 2019, 60% donor funded projects in Mandera County did not perform as expected and did not achieve their objectives. The study's particular goals were to evaluate the impact of participatory identification of the project, planning, implementation and monitoring and assessment on performance of projects in Mandera County supported by donations. The research was directed by community action planning theory, Freire’s theory, Arnstein’s Ladder of citizen participation and theory of change.The research was done using a descriptive research approach.. The study's intended audience was 84 donor funded projects in Mandera County. The size of the sample for the study was 16 donor funded projects representing 20% of the total sample size. The selection process used stratified random sampling. 16 project coordinators from the sampled donor funded projects and 344 household heads the households benefiting based on the chosen donor-funded programs in Mandera County. Questionnaires for household heads and interview schedules for the project coordinators were used as the primary data collection instruments. The acquired data was cleaned, coded, and put into the SPSS version 21 statistical package for social sciences. The study discovered that participation of key stakeholders in project identification, planning, implementation and monitoring and evaluation have a significant influence on performance of donor funded projects in Mandera County. The study recommends that organizations executing projects in Mandera County should encourage participation of the community Due to their major impact on the success of initiatives sponsored by donors, they are taken into account in project planning, monitoring, and assessment.. Further studies should be conducted to assess the determinants of low community participation in planning and monitoring and evaluation. The current study only sampled household heads and ignored other stakeholders. Therefore future studies should replicate the current study but widen the scope of the sampled respondents to include other stakeholders. Keywords: Participatory Project, Cycle Management, Donor Funded Projects, Projects Performance, Project Monitoring.

Selecting Evidence-Based Content for Inclusion in Self-Management Apps for Pressure Injuries in Individuals With Spinal Cord Injury: Participatory Design Study.

BackgroundTechnological solutions, particularly mobile health (mHealth), have been shown to be potentially viable approaches for sustaining individuals’ self-management of chronic health conditions. Theory-based interventions are more successful, as evidence-based information is an essential prerequisite for appropriate self-management. However, several reviews have shown that many existing mobile apps fail to be either theoretically grounded or based on evidence. Although some authors have attempted to address these two issues by focusing on the design and development processes of apps, concrete efforts to systematically select evidence-based content are scant.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to present a procedure for the participatory identification of evidence-based content to ground the development of a self-management app.MethodsTo illustrate the procedure, we focused on the prevention and management of pressure injuries (PIs) in individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). The procedure involves the following three steps: (1) identification of existing evidence through review and synthesis of existing recommendations on the prevention and self-management of PIs in SCI; (2) a consensus meeting with experts from the field of SCI and individuals with SCI to select the recommendations that are relevant and applicable to community-dwelling individuals in their daily lives; and (3) consolidation of the results of the study.ResultsIn this case study, at the end of the three-step procedure, the content for an mHealth intervention was selected in the form of 98 recommendations.ConclusionsThis study describes a procedure for the participatory identification and selection of disease-specific evidence and professional best practices to inform self-management interventions. This procedure might be especially useful in cases of complex chronic health conditions, as every recommendation in these cases needs to be evaluated and considered in light of all other self-management requirements. Hence, the agreement of experts and affected individuals is essential to ensure the selection of evidence-based content that is considered to be relevant and applicable.

Participatory identification of breeding objective traits and selection criteria for indigenous goat of the pastoral communities in Ethiopia.

A structured questionnaire, own-flock ranking experiment, and group discussions were undertaken to assess goat breeding practices and to identify traits of interest for genetic improvement of indigenous goats. Four pastoral villages in Ethiopia, namely, Jarso, Mesoya, Eleweya, and Dharito were selected based on their goat production potential, accessibility, and suitability to implement community-based breeding programs. A survey and flock ranking experiment involving 70 households and 199 goats were used. In flock ranking experiment, goat owners were asked to choose the first three superior and the worst doe within their own flock. They were also asked to provide their reason for ranking the animals. In addition, data on size traits, kid growth, kid survival, reproduction traits, and milk yield were recorded for each doe. Data obtained from questionnaire, flock ranking, and measurements were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analysis. Large variation was observed between top and last ranked does in most of the traits and price, for example, in body weight (33.6 ± 0.88 vs. 25.2 ± 0.93kg), doe's kid survival (92.1 ± 4.01 vs. 59.6 ± 4.48%) and doe's price (1367 ± 46.5 vs. 833 ± 46.9 (US$1 = 28.4 Ethiopian Birr) Ethiopian Birr). Mobility is practiced with a defined and known pattern; therefore, recruitment of mobile enumerators for data recording would assist in implementation of breeding programs. Breeding objective should emphasize mothering ability (kid growth and survival), milk yield of does, and coat color in all areas. Due to its good correlation with other traits like kid growth and pre-weaning kid survival, considering milk yield alone as selection criteria or giving more weight for milk yield in the breeding program could generate better genetic benefit. Setting-up breeding program should be based on full participation and context of pastoralists.

Participatory Identification of Major Natural Resource Constraints and Potentials Under Koka-Lewate Watershed, Tembaro Woreda, Kambata Tambaro Zone of Southern Ethiopia

Koka-Lewate watershed is located in the Tambaro district of Southern Ethiopia and it is about 328 km and 185 km far from Addis Ababa and Hawassa respectively. It was selected by a virtual team (team of researchers from a natural resource, crop science, livestock, and socioeconomic departments) organized from Areka Agricultural Research Center, Southern Agricultural Research Institute (SARI). It was selected for its high level of degradation, minimal intervention and high amount of sediment load contribution on the Gibe III hydroelectric power dam. This study aimed to identify and prioritize natural resource constraints of the watershed and to document reports as baseline information for comparison after project implementation. Data for this study were collected from primary and secondary sources. The study catchment is characterized by intensive. The study revealed, soil erosion is severe and caused damage to house, inputs, and farmland fragmentation. Human and livestock damaged by a flood during the heavy storm were also reported. Intensive rainfall in combination with steep slope cultivation, lack of fallowing and deforestation were the prime causes of soil erosion. Soil fertility degradation is the major crop production constraint of the catchment which accounts for 97.9%. Mainly it is devastated by soil erosion, lack of fallowing, and intensive cultivation. The result shows that topography, skill gap, and inaccessibility of technology limited irrigation practice in the watershed. Furthermore, forest resources are deteriorating at an alarming rate owing to rapid population growth and agricultural land expansion.

Linking the Gross National Happiness Concept to Smallholder Farm Level: An Empirical Application

This study aims to refine the gross national happiness (GNH) development concept of Bhutan at the farm level and to show the major temporal and spatial trends in the development of rural areas with differing agroecological conditions and adoption of cattle crossbreeding. The study areas (four localities) are described as extensive, semi-intensive, intensive, and intensive peri-urban. Technical, social, economic, and environmental data from 183 households in the study areas were collected in 2000, 2004, and 2015. Participatory methods were used to select from the collected data the most relevant issues and their corresponding indicators at the farm level. The issues identified during the field workshops conducted in the study areas could be grouped as social, economic, and environmental. Next, the indicators were aggregated into economic, social, and environmental indices. In 2000 and 2004, the intensive peri-urban area showed the highest performance in the economic and social indicators. Livestock farming, despite its potential for dairying, was prohibited in one of the localities in 2010 when the territorial coverage of the capital Thimpu expanded. On the other hand, the dynamics of the indicators in the other three localities indicated that the social and economic indices were highest in the intensive area, followed by the semi-intensive area, and lastly, by the extensive area. This could be because different crossbreeding techniques were implemented in these areas. In the period 2004–2015, the reference values of the social indices declined, which could be attributed to increased rural-urban migration and intensified farm labor shortages in the study areas. The environmental indices did not change much during the monitoring periods. In summary, this study presents a methodological approach for examining the GNH in Bhutan based on participatory identification of social, economic, and environmental issues and indicators along with the reference values for the selected indicators. Likewise, this study showed that an integral assessment can complement the implementation of the GNH philosophy in the rural areas of Bhutan.

Stakeholders prioritization of climate-smart agriculture interventions: Evaluation of a framework

This paper presents a framework to prioritize locally suitable climate-smart agricultural (CSA) interventions and implementation suitability assessments with key stakeholders: state and district agriculture departments, extension offices, agriculture research institutions, NGOs and donor agencies, private sector and farmers. Prioritization of appropriate interventions for given contexts is needed to assist relevant stakeholders to make strategic decisions and improve adaptability and efficiency of agriculture production system in the face of climate change and variability. First step includes participatory identification and evaluation of location specific CSA interventions suitable for different crop and cropping system with potential to reduce climatic risks in agriculture. All CSA interventions were evaluated based on their contribution to increase farm productivity and income, building resilience to changing climate and reduction of agricultural emissions. Second step includes evaluation of overall implementation feasibility of selected CSA interventions based on their technical feasibility, cost of implementation, inclusivity and synergy with current government programs. In the third step, potential barriers of CSA technology adoption were assessed linking with availability of resources, farmers' knowledge and acceptability, access to agriculture extensions service, market and government support. In the fourth step, incentive mechanisms to promote CSA interventions such as government subsidy, market linkage, provision of loan and capacity building were evaluated with farmers and key stakeholders. Finally, this prioritization framework assessed the role of different organizations such as the government, private sector, non-government organizations, custom hiring centers and community based organizations in promoting CSA interventions at the local level. Results show that this framework provides ample space for local stakeholders to integrate their knowledge and experience on CSA interventions in prioritization and investment planning. Stakeholders prioritized mainly water and nutrient management technologies, agriculture insurance against climatic risks and ICT based weather and agro-advisory services. This framework provides a decision support tool for policy-making in adaptation and mitigation activities in agriculture sector at the local level. This framework can be used by governments, development organizations and the private sector for investment decision-making.

Effect of Participatory Rating on Choice of Vitamin A Fortified Maize Varieties

Participatory identification and selection of vitamin A biofortified maize (VAM) was conducted in Northern Zambia with a goal of allowing farmers to rate the varieties using their own criteria. To do this, focus group discussions (FGDs) were held before the start of the agricultural season and a list of the physiological attributes that farmers consider important for maize production was drawn and scored using a participatory approach. Farmers were followed pre- and post-harvest for personal interviews. Results show that there are no differences in the score for attributes between gender. Statistical tests indicate that it is the overall rating for attributes that determines choice and not any individual attribute on itself while overall rating is in turn determined by only observed good attributes and not bad attributes. Crop breeders will need to design ‘bundles’ of attributes to attract farmers to choose certain varieties while seed marketers will need to focus on positive attributes in their promotional strategies.

Defining the risk to water and natural capital in cities with risk component analysis tool (DAPSET): Case study Łódź

Management of water resources poses a particular challenge in cities, due to the extensive degradation of the urban ecosystem and its limited self-regulatory capacity as compared to natural systems. Effective management requires an in-depth understanding of the sources (drivers) giving rise to such risk. This paper reports on a participatory identification of such factors driving the risk to urban water resources in the city of Łódź, Poland, carried out with the aim of testing a simple risk analysis tool (DAPSET - Drivers and Pressures - Strength Evaluation Tool), intended to yield the kind of complex data able to help assist city managers in decision-making processes. In the first part of the study, a number of selected public officials, students, researchers and NGO representatives were asked to rank the key socioeconomic drivers of water resources in the city. The four drivers identified as key (a low degree of environmental awareness among citizens, low law-enforcement efficiency, the city's low economic potential and land use changes) were then scrutinized in the second part of the study, which included a self-administered questionnaire designed to create a risk profile of drivers based on the DAPSET. Each of the four key drivers were analyzed with reference to eleven features. DAPSET revealed that all the key drivers share certain common features: they affect a large spatial scale, the damage they cause is persistent, and they involve either medium-high damage potential or probability of damage. The major differences between them stem from the dynamic features of the risk: societal attraction, invisibility, and availability of information. Analysis of the risk profiles so created against risk types pointed to the desirable directions of management and a need to go beyond standard actions.

TINJAUAN SOSIAL EKONOMI DESA TUMBANG PAYANG DI SEKITAR HUTAN PT. SARPATIM, KALIMANTAN TENGAH

Tumbang Payang Village community in fulfilling the needs of his life is still very dependent on the natural resources of the surrounding forest. Most subsistence and community income come from forest products such as timber and non timber. The livelihood of the community is almost 75% as a farmer and the remaining 25% as employees, traders, crafts and laborers. Other livelihoods of different communities, the results of participatory identification are known about 25 types of economic activities of the community. Variety of economic activities in general is a combination of activities in agriculture with activities outside agriculture such as trade, labor, livestock, fishing, timber and nontimber forest products, gaharu, rubber collectors, rice milling services, and others. The form of widespread land use is the garden covering about 10.76% of the total area. The plantation land is mostly rubber plantation and the rest are rattan garden, coconut, fruit, and mixed crops.

Participatory identification and selection of ecosystem services: building on field experiences

Participatory identification and selection of ecosystem services: building on field experiences

Production system and participatory identification of breeding objective traits for indigenous goat breeds of Uganda

The success of breeding programs in improving indigenous livestock breeds in Uganda has hitherto been limited due to lack of involvement of the key stakeholders. Thus, participatory approaches are being promoted for designing community based improvement programs. The aim of this study was to characterize the indigenous goat production systems and assess in a participatory manner farmer preferred traits for establishing breeding objectives for indigenous goat breeds in Uganda. 217 farm households representing three goat production systems (combinations of breed and region) were individually interviewed to assess the socio-economic characteristics of the regions and the preferences of the farmers for indigenous goat breeds. The three breed/region combinations were 78 households with the Small East African breed in Arua, 81 with the Mubende breed in Mubende and 58 with the Kigezi breed in Kabale. An index based approach was used to rank farmers’ choices of traits considered important for their production systems. Descriptive statistics show that overall the production systems were not significantly different in terms of the nature of the farms and the trait preferences of the farmers. The sale of live animals was considered a primary objective for keeping goats by farmers across all the production systems studied. Adaptation traits (disease resistance, heat tolerance and survival) were considered critical in the farmers’ preferred breed. Production traits (better prolificacy and faster growth rate) and marketing ease were other characteristics considered by the farmers. The results from the study are useful for designing farmer-participatory breeding programs for goats in the different production systems in Uganda.

Contributing to the cultural ecosystem services and human wellbeing debate: a case study application on indicators and linkages

Inadequacies in the indication of cultural ecosystem services (CES) are a hindrance in assessing their comprehensive impacts on human wellbeing. Similarly, uncertainties about the quantity and quality of CES, in real time and space, have hampered the ability of resource managers to precisely take responsive management actions. The aim of the study is to demonstrate, how CES indicators can be identified and qualified in order to link CES to human wellbeing, and to integrate them into the ‘ecosystem services cascade’ and the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) models. A case study methodology is applied at the Nairobi-Kiambu (Kenya) peri-urban area. Primary data on CES was collected in the case study through survey, field observations and matrix tables. Secondary data originates from literature analysis. Results show that the participatory identification of CES and human wellbeing indicators could improve their transparencyand comprehensibility. The environmental policy formulation and implementation processes have been demonstrated. The tripartite framework of CES-human wellbeing-DPSIR has demonstrated more linkages and feedbacks than initially indicated in the cascade model. For policy formulation and implementation, appropriate communication of results is mandatory. This is illustrated by a terminology that enables the transfer of scientific messages to stakeholders, especially for the local people. The conclusion indicates the importance of consistency in qualifying CES and human wellbeing indicators even at this time of urgency to bridge the gaps existing in CES and human wellbeing research.

Methods for Improvement of the Ecosystem Services of Soil by Sustainable Land Management in the Myjava River Basin

AbstractThe main aim of this study is the development of methods for the assessment of the ecosystem services (ESS) of soils within the RECARE project and the participatory identification of measures to combat soil threats caused by floods in the Myjava River basin. The Myjava Hills highlands are known for their rapid runoff response and related muddy floods, which are determined by both the natural and socio-economic conditions. Within the frame of the mentioned project, the ESS framework with detailed relationships between the ecology, societal response, driving forces and also human well-being was identified. Next, to assess the SLM practices in the pilot basin, the stakeholders, who showed an interest in solving the flood protection problems in their areas, took an active part in the process of evaluating, scoring and selecting the best sustainable land management practices (SLM) for the flood protection of soil. From the results which were proposed, the technology of vegetative strips was top rated within the total results among all the SLM measures in all the categories, followed by water-retaining ditches and small wooden dams. Building a polder least meets the proposed SLM criteria.

A Collaborative Approach for Scoping Ecosystem Services with Stakeholders: The Case of Arrábida Natural Park.

This paper presents an innovative approach for conducting collaborative scoping processes aiming to elicit multiple values of ecosystem services. The proposed methodology rests on three steps combining different participatory tools that promote a comprehensive examination of the perceptions hold by relevant stakeholder groups. The first step consists of an institutional and stakeholder analysis developed in the study area. The second includes a participatory workshop, where a sequence of scoping exercises is conducted with the active collaboration of the invited stakeholders. The final step aims to validate scoping results and develop dependency networks between organizations and the identified ecosystem services. The approach was tested in the Arrábida Natural Park, a marine and coastal protected area in Portugal. Invited participants were able to identify an extensive list of ecosystem services in the natural area, establish linkages between those services and human wellbeing, identify drivers of change and perform a preliminary screening of the associated ecological, social, and economic values. The case study evaluation provided positive feedback on the usefulness of the approach, which advances the existing set of methods for participatory identification of ecosystem services and sets the scene for involvement of stakeholder groups in assessment and management processes.

Participatory Criteria Selection: Finding Conflictive Positions in Environmental Postassessment of Land Management and Restoration Actions

Stakeholder participation in environmental assessment of past land management and restoration actions in drylands is important to improve knowledge and management of these ecosystems. Participatory identification and prioritization of monitoring and assessment criteria, while increasingly incorporated into assessment, is still perceived as challenging due to conflicting values and perspectives among stakeholders. As this research demonstrates, a two-step participatory (n = 33) process consisting of a semistructured interview followed by the revised Simos procedure for the identification and prioritization of criteria to assess five actions in the San Simon watershed (Arizona), proved useful to (1) identify and prioritize criteria and (2) expose the source of individual priorities. This flexible but structured process provides a first pass at identifying participant assessment criteria and reducing conflict associated with differing values and perspectives of those with a direct stake in both past and future management and planning of land management and restoration actions.