Dear Sekondeko Ronnie Noga,

as one among many possible methodological approaches, I'd recommend investigations of so-called traditional environmental/ecological knowledge (TEK). It is also sometimes referred to as indigenous or local environmental/ecological knowledge (I/LEK - whichever way your prefer...). It can be investigated, for instance, by ethnographic techniques. In my view, it's crucial in understanding locally-informed conservation and natural resource management. If your analyses also pertain to deeper time/history (which I would definitely encourage you to take into consideration), concepts such as "cultural memory" and related research will be very useful as well.

Hope this helps a bit.

Best,

Julius

Julius: Thanks for your reply. I have framed my study within a dynamic context, so time and change are important concepts. I am interested in understanding how social memory of experiences and practices can contribute to adaptive governance of dynamic social-ecological systems. I initially intended to collect data through focus group discussions, but one reviewer seems to have a problem with such a methodology

Article DURAMAZ, um Sistema de Indicadores de Desenvolvimento Susten...

Daniela: the paper you shared is unhelpful to me because I dont understand the langauge its written in

Sorry, in english:

Assessing the impacts of sustainable development projects in the Amazon: The DURAMAZ experiment - March 2013 - Sustainability Science 8(2):199-212 -DOI: 10.1007/s11625-013-0200-1

Article Assessing the impacts of sustainable development projects in...

and

The DURAMAZ indicator system: A cross-disciplinary comparative tool for assessing ecological and social changes in the Amazon -June 2013

Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society B Biological Sciences 368(1619):20120475 - DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0475

Article The DURAMAZ indicator system: A cross-disciplinary comparati...

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

I think surveys are the best method

Dear Sekondeko Ronnie Noga

I think that a survey / questionnaire on this issue should be conducted. Ethnographic material (if any) would help to understand the history of the issue. You yourself could examine individual points and see how things are now.

Sergey Viktorovich Pushkin

Dear Sekondeko Ronnie Noga

The best method is direct interaction. Interaction should be done separately with people of different age and gender. If possible in seclusion to avoid overlapping. Availability and non-availability of a particular natural object can be accepted as a key factor of memory analysis

Thank you for sharing your knowledge

Can I use focus group discussion to elicit social memory data? Would it be an appropriate method for when you want to understand the community/people’s experiences and responses to changing natural resource conditions over time?

Focus group discussion may be done but you should include people of almost same age in a group. Different group should be made for different genders also. Otherwise overlapping of thought will distract the focus.

FGD will be best...

The pedagogical method known as experiential learning tries to develop the capacity of people to learn from their own experience, always within a concrete and well-developed conceptual and operational framework.

A publication by Acosta et al. (2016) addresses field work as a didactic strategy for learning zoology, where the techniques used to collect information were the survey and field anecdote, and the instrument a questionnaire; The results showed that concepts, principles, laws and theories were identified, referring to Zoology, they also developed skills such as observation, description, identification, comparison, classification of specimens that most of them knew only from the bibliography, biological samples or through of anatomical models.

At present, the scientific literacy of all citizens is convenient so that they develop conceptual, procedural and attitudinal competencies that allow them to analyze, synthesize and apply strategies with efficiency, efficacy and effectiveness necessary to function in the society where they live (Acosta and Puche, 2013 ).

CIFOR and the S.I. Fundation (Sandrin et al. 2016) based on an adaptive and participatory management ethic, they provided technical support and financial to facilitate decision-making spaces by multiple actors. The first phase of work aimed to understand the socio-ecological system of the hunting territory of Puerto Nariño. The second phase consisted of the development of activities that allow to improve the management of hunting and fauna, with an integrative approach in terms of gender and ages. In the framework of this work, sustainability is presented as an objective that takes taking into account various aspects from the ecological to the economic, passing through the respect of the traditional and cultural values.

Thanks to each and everyone of you who shared their insights on this question. Your answers have helped me a lot.

Lastly, may I request that you shared your papers or those of others you off on this subject for references. 🙏

I also think that there must be interaction with people of different ages so that we can get clear ideas and analyze their views and act

Our article offers a different approach and might help you.

Article When it comes to the impact of absorptive capacity on co-inn...

Regards,