Documentation and dissemination of results

Evaluating the contribution of stone tidal weirs in safeguarding biocultural diversity

Without doubt, stone tidal weirs contribute to marine biodiversity. In comparison with intertidal zoneswithout stone tidal weir, those with stone tidal weirs have host diverse marine species.

Once stone tidal weirs are abandoned, the less fish is caught. As the attention of local people shifts to destructive modern fishery, all aspects connected to cultural diversity would also be disappeared. In order to maintain coastal communities sustainable, they must not lose their biocultural diversity; stone tidal weirs could be served as an icon of such diversity as well. The UNESCO UNITWIN university network researches and studies how stone tidal weirs in safeguarding biocultural diversity.

The underwater cultural heritage of stone tidal weirs seems to have been an artificial womb for marine species and it is It one of the oldest fish catching methods for human beings. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis are necessary to research the role of stone tidal weirds as marine ecosystems. As for the latter, both archaeological and historical research is the most helpful.

When stone tidal weirs are studied, interdisciplinary collaboration between social science and natural science is really necessary. In the US, archaeology and anthropology are included in social science. Oceanographers or marine biologists provide natural scientific data upon biodiversity, while social scientists combine natural scientific data with social scientific one and use them for design and planning purposes.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Multi-national

Documenting the traditional ecological knowledge on fishing, ritual, or other communal activities connected to stone tidal weirs

The underwater cultural heritage of stone tidal weirs was originally born as a local fishing mechanism. The processes are based on a rich local traditional ecological knowledge, which brought on by members of local coastal communities. Traditionally, local communities used stone tidal weirs twice a month during the spring tide; a custom that has been preventing overfishing by locals. At high tide they sometimes functioned as fishponds.

The traditional ecological knowledge, for instance, on non-fishing periods, as well as that on fishery-related ritual activities such as beach opening ceremonies, is widely observed at coastal communities but it is rapidly disappearing before being recorded properly by anthropologists or archaeologists. As stone tidal weirs are easily broken by typhoons or high waves, frequent community-led repairing works based on traditional knowledge are absolutely needed. In case stone tidal weirs are abandoned, however, both communal spirit and traditional ecological knowledge would extinct.

The traditional ecological knowledge, which each coastal community owns, is not only the key for the conservation of stone tidal weirs but also for their wellbeing. Seafood from stone tidal weirs is sustainable and healthier than imported canned or processed food.

Through formal and informal partnerships between universities and coastal communities, educating younger generations with such knowledge is one of the important success factors in preserving traditional ecological knowledge.

Stone tidal weirs provide prosperity and sustainability for coastal communities, and documentation efforts support building local capacity and social capital for the long term.

Gathering data on them and their related traditional ecological knowledge is done both in the field and in archieves and libraries. As for the latter, such knowledge might have existed only in written archivel documentsas many communities have lost their traditions because of modernization and globalisation.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Multi-national

Creative science based education

People learn best through meaningful and fun experiences linked to evidence-based information that supports them to take action on plastic waste beach management.

Young people being the heart of sustainable development must be capacitated and supported to be the best version of themselves and make the change they want to see
Development of a mobile application to assist in beach clean-up to ensure that marine plastics have been removed from beaches in the cape of South Africa.
Pioneering the dirty dozen clean methodology to streamline monitoring and evaluation of marine plastic litter as well developing strategies in conducting beach clean-ups

Enhance the capacities of community members to be agents of change by empowering them with tools, knowledge, and resources to become change agents
A multidisciplinary approach must be employed when dealing with hardliners to ensure they are won over or facilitated to have a paradigm shift on the transition to a circular economy
Outreach and awareness are paramount to reach people with the right messages on streamlining circularity, upcycling on the development

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

Creating a glossary of terms

Project meeting at the ICOMOS Headquarters

ICOMOS

The multidisciplinary approach taken by Connecting Practice, with its use of representatives from both natural and cultural heritage organisations, as well as local and international partners, has highlighted the differences in interpretation and understanding of applicable terminology and concepts. In many situations, seemingly similar concepts have accumulated slightly different meanings depending on their context. The terminology and concepts used in one disciplinary realm have different meanings in others or, conversely, distinct terms or notions in one realm play a similar function in another. The application of multiple vocabularies can lead to confusion and misunderstanding that can hinder mutual use across disciplines.

Establishing a common ground for terminology was identified as being helpful for the integration of concepts and practices to ensure collective use and understanding. In order to address this need, the Commentary on Nature-Culture Keywords emerged as a result of the work done in Connecting Practice. It is a compilation of terms and concepts divided into three clusters (biocultural approaches, resilience and traditional knowledge), with the goal of creating common understanding and collective use to assist future project activities.

This building block required the identification and limitation of keywords to a few distinct terms for research which were then grouped into thematic ‘clusters’. This provided an effective way of highlighting connections and overlaps. Investigation of the concepts’ origins and meanings, and their use in different areas of study, assisted in a better understanding of their complexities. As a ‘work in progress’, the Commentary provides flexibility and openness to modification, supplementation and expansion, which is important to its success.

The Commentary was compiled with the goal of creating a usable glossary of commonly understood terms and concepts for future work. The challenge of creating this was twofold: while these terms are multidisciplinary, evolving and involve complex processes for heritage globally, the document must dissect layers of meanings and terms sufficiently to assist professionals in conceptual aspects of heritage work. The Commentary identifies the many facets of the analysed terms, and potential consequences arising from uninformed use in the heritage field. By developing a preliminary basis on the meaning and origins of these terms, the Commentary aims to create a clearer exchange across disciplines and professionals. As an ‘open’ and ‘intermediate’ document, it will be enriched by additional references and terminologies, and expanded as new words and concepts are explored.

Connecting Practice acknowledges there are limitations, particularly regarding language, as only sources in English were consulted, limiting the range of terms and meanings that other languages may provide.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Global

Surfonomics

Surfonomics Guarda do Embau

Save The Waves

Pichilemu Surfonomics

Save The Waves

Sunrise over Punta Conejo

Save The Waves

“Surfonomics” aims to document surfing’s economic contributions to local and regional economies. Through Surfonomics research, we determine the economic value of a wave and surfing to local communities to help decision makers make better choices to protect their coastal resources and waves.

Using a beach survey of surfers in San Miguel, Ensenada, we were able to quantify that an average tourist spends approximately $111 US dollars a day. As the average surfer spends 10 days per year in the area, it is calculated that a visiting surfer spends $1,151 US dollars a year in Ensenada.

These figures show that surfing helps drive the local economy of Ensenada and that decision-makers must take into account the importance of the surf zone in terms of coastal management.

Volunteers to carry out the survey instrument
Partnerships with academic institutions
A broad coalition of stakeholders is needed to carry out a rigorous academic study like Surfonomics. Relationships and trust must be built with local hotels and rental agencies, business owners, tourism agencies, surf shops and businesses, and most importantly, the surf community itself. All of these stakeholders must share information and participate in the study in order to get an accurate picture of the economy of surf tourism in a given area.

Key lessons include:

Understanding the economic contribution of surfing is key to getting stakeholders to agree on conservation initiatives.
Running a surfonomics study can help practitioners understand the attitudes and perspectives of visitors to the area.
Surfers spend a significant amount of time and money traveling and bring big economic contributions to local communities.

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Surfonomics Study

Bahia de Todos Santos World Surfing Reserves Surfonomics Report

BBC Article about Surfonomics

Development of a participatory management plan

The parties of the Laponia Process envisioned to create a new management plan for the property using the values within three areas: the natural environment and its high values; the living Sámi culture and reindeer industry; and the historical heritage arising from previous usage of the land. This participatory management plan is based on a shared understanding of the World Heritage property by all stakeholders involved in the process and the implementation of the plan. Besides the governing institutions (municipalities, county, governmental agencies in charge of heritage conservation), important stakeholders to be considered and integrated in this participatory process are the Sámi villages which are organizations responsible for the reindeer husbandry within a specific area. It is a legal entity and they are organized through village meetings.

The platform for dialogue created with the Laponia Process.
Reindeer Husbandry Act (member of a Sámi village organization).
The constitution provides special protection to Sámi people and their rights.
The Sámi are the Indigenous people of Sweden (determined by the Parliament) which gives them a special legal status in Swedish law.
The Right of Public Access.
Willingness from the authority to try something new, new working methods for management.

Management plans where different stakeholders have to compromise all the time might be too unspecific. There can be themes in the management plan that the organization have no prerequisites to implement and then people will be disappointed if the organization is not working with them. For instance, in our management plan, there are sentences that state how we should be working with the Sámi language, and therefore, we are doing it to some extent. But language is not our main focus and then sometimes people may be disappointed with the results.

Implementation

Monitoring

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

Establishment of an inclusive dialogue process: the Laponia Process

The Laponia Process was an approach to dialogue created and developed by a diversity of stakeholders in the Laponian Area World Heritage property. Since Laponia is a large area which consists of several protected areas, to establish a coordinated management system as a whole has been very challenging since its inscription in the World Heritage List. The County Administrative Board of Norbotten and the Sámi communities and municipalities of Jokkmokk and Gällivare started originally to prepare their conservation programs independently. The Laponia Process started by the initiative of the Governor of Norrbotten in 2005 including all stakeholders in a process of dialogue based on a set of common values, which would lead the parties to agree in crucial issues and the terms in which the Laponian Area should be managed. All decisions were determined to be taken by consensus, and new regulations for the national parks and nature reserves were requested. In 2006, the parties signed a common agreement which they sent to the Government, which contained:

A set of common basic values
Common intentions for a number of efforts
The establishment of a temporary Laponia delegation
Preparations for the start of a World Heritage management group with a Sámi majority on the committee.

The political will of the Governor of Norbotten, the Sámi village organizations through the association Midjá Ednam, the interest of the municipalities of Jokkmokk and Gällivare, and the endorsement of the SEPA were essential conditions for starting the process. The initiative originates in the acceptance of the different realities of the parties involved and the strong will to co-create a new management for the Laponian Area. Moreover, there was enough financing for the project and each group participated with the same economical prerequisites.

To be able to establish an organization based on consensus and develop a new way of management, one needs to listen to people and try to learn why they are thinking and doing like they are (it is norms and values that forms their ideas and practise) but also openly explain why one is thinking and doing in the way one is, because that also depends on the norms and values one has in life. This process takes time, and it is about learning new knowledge from each other and accept it. This is also a process one cannot do in the office, one needs to go out and meet people in their ordinary life regularly. It cannot be rushed or think it can be a quick fix. The Laponia Process took six years until all stakeholders involved could agree upon a common organization and management plan.

To do a process like the Laponia Process – you need to have time, financing, and the “right” people involved. Listen to each other. Time to take home tricky questions and discuss them with other representatives for the stakeholders, before decisions are made.

Documentation and dissemination of results

Local

Subnational

Creating a shared vision of land management through water

In order to promote an operational connectivity between the diverse upriver and downriver sub-basins (zones) of a river basin, including both ecosystems and productive activities, water was chosen as the conductive element; the element to bring the zones and stakeholders together. Modelling of the surface water supply and sediment retention in different zones permitted the identification of provider-recipient-accumulation relationships. Through this, the dynamics between demand for hydrological services (e.g. populations, tourist zones) and those that produce them (mountainous zones with forest cover) could be identified and connected. Based hereon, the different stakeholders were brought together to learn about and exchange on key information on zonal levels of production and services available. This in turn led to the identification of what should be done where and by whom.

A network of NGOs with sufficient experience to mentor producers and other stakeholders;
Availability of quality teaching materials and methods usable by and with communities;
Commitment and interest from different stakeholders and government insitutions towards the whole project

The intrinsic connectivity of the PAMIC methodology has proven to be the aspect that attracts interest from the government entities and from land use stakeholders. The tool helps to identify who they can work with regarding productive activities (i.e. coffee, sugar production). This aspect has enabled local actors as a group to understand the dynamics between micro watershed units.

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Subnational

Inter-institutional governance at different levels

To create and develop PAMIC, diverse government entities belonging to the environment sector joined forces to design a cutting edge and innovative project: the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC) coordinated the construction of the PAMIC plans; The National Comission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) consolidated the management and operation of the project within the Protected Natural Areas (ANP); and the National Forestry Comission (CONAFOR) implemented Payments for Environmental Services schemes from the biodiversity fund. The Mexican Nature Conservation Fund (FMSN) contributed its experience in the management of financing schemes. All in all, this created two further funds to stimulate activities and impacts. Moreover, the inter-institutional coordination included i) a Technical Project Committee that supervised and directed the operation of C6; ii) a Unit Project Coordinator and iii) two Regional Project Units, which were responsible for the daily coordination of technical and logistical issues. Such a design has been an essential aspect that generated major advances in land use planning for collective benefits.

Very good coordination between the institutions, all of which share a clear vision of the use of different financial and management instruments;
Sufficient financial and institutional resources;
Experience and interest of the institutions involved;
Experience in the implementation of existing programs, e.g. social assistance programs, subsidies, Payments for Environmental Services, etc.

Coordination efforts benefit from forms of polycentric governance between levels and stakeholders. This scheme of governance is backed by formal agreements between institutions that establish the rules of the game for all the other organizations and stakeholders involved in the project in a transparent manner.
Formal institutional agreements can produce a planning instrument which is dynamic and can strengthen decision-making, helping each stakeholder to make the most of different planning elements for land use management.
There has been a visible increase in confidence on the part of key institutions in local scale land use planning processes. This can be seen in improved decision making and use of programme funds.

Implementation

Documentation and dissemination of results

Subnational

Follow-up with Graduates