Community Owned Solutions

Andrea Berardi The Open University, UK

Indigenous communities are frequently portraid as ‘undeveloped’

and in need of external assistance in health, education,

employment, agriculture. Or, at the other extreme, to be left

isolated.

Perception of indigenous communities

The Deficit Model proposes that communities lack appropriate

knowledge for managing their problems, and need to be

informed and educated by professional experts.

Models of Development: Deficit

Indigenous communities have the expertise and local knowledge to resolve problems.

Models of Development: Lay Expertise

What is a ‘community owned solution’?

• Local demand.• Locally executed.• Local beneficiaries. • Limited external assistance.• Positive long-term impact on the socio-ecological environment.

Dengue control

“Explore, record and share

‘community-owned

solutions’ for

environmental and social

challenges using

Information and

Communication

Technologies’

Project COBRA

Guiana Shield

Project COBRA communities

Project COBRA approach

Systematic Systemic

Onto-epistemology

Reductionist, positivist, mechanistic

Holistic, constructivist, ecological

Environment perceived to be...

Stable, predictable, controllable,

Complex, dynamic, unpredictable

Decision-making control

Top-down, international conventions

Participative, local

Organizational principles

Hierarchical,competitive

Consensual,cooperative

Communication

Written, numerical Oral, visual

Solutions Technocentric, ‘quick-fix’

Behavioural,experimental and adaptive

System Viability

Process

1. History

2. Challenges

3. Solutions

4. Indicators

5. Thresholds

6. Best practices

7. Share

History

Challenges

Solutions

indicators

Thresholds

Best practices

Share

A visual approach to communication

• Visual immagery promotes more relaxed and active participation.

• Visual imagery is more accessible than the written and spoken word.

‘Rich Pictures’

Storyboarding

Photostories

Participatory Video

Sharing Community Owned

Solutions

Some results

Community owned solutions of the North Rupununi, Guyana

Transmission of culture to youth

Farming techniques

Local CSO and partnerships

Community self-help

Sustainable fishing

New communication technologies

Policy

Social Enterprise

‘A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community, rather than being driven by the need to maximise profit for shareholders and owners' (Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2011)

Social Enterprise

Social Enterprise and Universities

"As this area of enterprise continues to grow it offers an opportunity for universities to strengthen community ties, support businesses, develop graduate skills and open up alternative career paths."

(Universities UK, 2012, Universities enabling social enterprise : Delivering benefits for all. p.3)

Community Interest Company

• Set up in July 2005 to give SEs a ‘branded’ business structure, and encourage external investment.

• Cost £35 – apply to CIC Regulator.• Needs a community interest statement and

pass the community interest test.• Asset lock - assets will only be used for

social/ecological objectives• Accounts, and community interest report, each

year.

Cobra Collective CIC

“Community: we enable communities to identify their own solutions;

Technology: we use technologies to record, evaluate and share best practices;

Environment: we bridge traditional knowledge and environmental science.”

Business model

• Training: 1, 2 and 5-day courses;

• Implementation: support clients in identifying and

sharing community owned solutions;

• Research: impact; effectiveness; policies; ICTs.

Impact research

(Source: Hansen et al. 2013. “Hansen/UMD/Google/USGS/NASA Tree Cover Loss and Gain Area.” University of Maryland, Google, USGS, and NASA. Accessed through Global Forest Watch on [16/01/15]. www.globalforestwatch.org)

10 km

Rupertee, Guyana Apoteri, Guyana Fairview, Guyana Kwamalasamutu, Suriname

Kavanayén, Venezuela

Laguna Colorada, Colombia

Antecuma Pata, French Guiana

Katoonarib, Guyana

Maturuca, Brazil Missão Tiriyo, Brazil

COBRA Project: www.projectcobra.orgCobra Collective: www.cobracollective.org

It’s more than just ‘fishing’….

Need to incorporate sustainable resource management practicesfor promoting ecosystem integrity and food security

Need to promotemodels where local CSOs are supported

to take a leadership role in the developmentof their own communities

Need to guarantee crop and farm

diversity to ensure forest conservation

and food sovereignty

Need greater focus

on maintaining youth inclusion insocial-ecological

community activities to

ensure stewardship in

the future

Need to incorporate ‘social capital’

to reinforce sustainable natural

resource management

Need to provide representation and

voice to communities, using new

communication tools, for social-ecological sustainability, and

input into public decision-making

Some results