TY - JOUR

T1 - Engaging local knowledge in biodiversity research

T2 - Experiences from large inter- and transdisciplinary projects

AU - Görg, Christoph

AU - Spangenberg, Joachim H.

AU - Tekken, Vera

AU - Burkhard, Benjamin

AU - Truong, Dao Thanh

AU - Escalada, Monina

AU - Heong, Kong Luen

AU - Arida, Gertrudo

AU - Marquez, Leonardo V.

AU - Bustamante, Jesus Victor

AU - Chien, Ho Van

AU - Klotzbücher, Thimo

AU - Marxen, Anika

AU - Manh, Nguyen Hung

AU - Van Sinh, Nguyen

AU - Villareal, Sylvia Bong

AU - Settele, Josef

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining 2014. Copyright: Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2014/12/1

Y1 - 2014/12/1

N2 - The management of biodiversity represents a research topic that needs to involve not only several (sub-) disciplines from the natural sciences but, in particular, also the social sciences and humanities. Furthermore, over the last couple of years, the need for the integration of other kinds of knowledge (experience based or indigenous knowledge) is increasingly acknowledged. For instance, the incorporation of such knowledge is indispensable for placebased approaches to sustainable land management, which require that the specific ecological and social context is addressed. However, desirable as it may be, such an engagement of the holders of tacit knowledge is not easy to achieve. It demands reconciling well-established scientific procedural standards with the implicit or explicit criteria of relevance that apply in civil society — a process that typically causes severe tensions and comes up against both habitual as well as institutional constraints. The difficulty of managing such tensions is amplified particularly in large integrated projects and represents a major challenge to project management. At the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research — UFZ, several integrated research projects have been conducted over the past years in which experience has been gained with these specific challenges. This paper presents some of the lessons learned from large integrated projects, with an emphasis on project design and management structure. At the centre of the present contribution are experiences gained in the coordination and management of LEGATO (LEGATO stands for Land-use intensity and Ecological EnGineering — Assessment Tools for risks and Opportunities in irrigated rice based production systems, see www.legato-project.net), an ongoing, large-scale, inter- and transdisciplinary research project dealing with the management of irrigated rice landscapes in Southeast Asia. In this project, local expertise on traditional production systems is absolutely crucial but needs to be integrated with natural and social science research to identify future-proof land management systems.

AB - The management of biodiversity represents a research topic that needs to involve not only several (sub-) disciplines from the natural sciences but, in particular, also the social sciences and humanities. Furthermore, over the last couple of years, the need for the integration of other kinds of knowledge (experience based or indigenous knowledge) is increasingly acknowledged. For instance, the incorporation of such knowledge is indispensable for placebased approaches to sustainable land management, which require that the specific ecological and social context is addressed. However, desirable as it may be, such an engagement of the holders of tacit knowledge is not easy to achieve. It demands reconciling well-established scientific procedural standards with the implicit or explicit criteria of relevance that apply in civil society — a process that typically causes severe tensions and comes up against both habitual as well as institutional constraints. The difficulty of managing such tensions is amplified particularly in large integrated projects and represents a major challenge to project management. At the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research — UFZ, several integrated research projects have been conducted over the past years in which experience has been gained with these specific challenges. This paper presents some of the lessons learned from large integrated projects, with an emphasis on project design and management structure. At the centre of the present contribution are experiences gained in the coordination and management of LEGATO (LEGATO stands for Land-use intensity and Ecological EnGineering — Assessment Tools for risks and Opportunities in irrigated rice based production systems, see www.legato-project.net), an ongoing, large-scale, inter- and transdisciplinary research project dealing with the management of irrigated rice landscapes in Southeast Asia. In this project, local expertise on traditional production systems is absolutely crucial but needs to be integrated with natural and social science research to identify future-proof land management systems.

KW - Biodiversity and ecosystem services

KW - Inter- and transdisciplinarity

KW - Knowledge integration

KW - Project coordination

KW - Stakeholder participation

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84919427229&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1179/0308018814z.00000000095

DO - 10.1179/0308018814z.00000000095

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84919427229

VL - 39

SP - 323

EP - 341

JO - Interdisciplinary science reviews

JF - Interdisciplinary science reviews

SN - 0308-0188

IS - 4

ER -