Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
Adaptive collaborative management of community forests in Asia ...
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30 • Ravi Prabhu, Cynthia McDougall and Robert Fisher<br />
outcomes which we expected anyway at the outset.. The corollary <strong>of</strong> this is<br />
that most possible outcomes are not covered by conventional monitor<strong>in</strong>g<br />
systems because they are not expected. Furthermore, the understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong><br />
processes and forces underly<strong>in</strong>g the outcomes is not necessarily <strong>in</strong>creased.<br />
In contrast, the purpose <strong>of</strong> monitor<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> an ACM approach is to cont<strong>in</strong>uously<br />
generate a better understand<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> system behaviour and to facilitate<br />
learn<strong>in</strong>g about how to manage it better. The ACM model hypothesises<br />
that a <strong>collaborative</strong> monitor<strong>in</strong>g approach, which uses iteratively and<br />
jo<strong>in</strong>tly developed and tested local <strong>in</strong>dicators, will be more effective <strong>in</strong><br />
address<strong>in</strong>g this challenge than conventional approaches to monitor<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong><br />
many contexts. Not only do such types <strong>of</strong> monitor<strong>in</strong>g systems <strong>in</strong>corporate<br />
diverse mental models, but they also focus on critical processes as well as<br />
the outcomes or impacts <strong>of</strong> these processes, as understood and def<strong>in</strong>ed by<br />
the local stakeholders (Box 2-4).<br />
Box 2-4. Collaborative monitor<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Collaborative monitor<strong>in</strong>g is a process that groups use to improve the<br />
effectiveness <strong>of</strong> decision mak<strong>in</strong>g about their resources and to accommodate<br />
their views. They do this by develop<strong>in</strong>g a common framework for observ<strong>in</strong>g<br />
the effectiveness <strong>of</strong> their plans and unexpected outcomes. They negotiate their<br />
vision or aims, agree to collect <strong>in</strong>formation, share it, reflect on and analyse the<br />
<strong>in</strong>formation and apply the result<strong>in</strong>g learn<strong>in</strong>g as the basis for their on-go<strong>in</strong>g<br />
plann<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
In her thorough analysis <strong>of</strong> <strong>collaborative</strong> monitor<strong>in</strong>g, Guijt (2007:10)<br />
makes the follow<strong>in</strong>g po<strong>in</strong>ts:<br />
Monitor<strong>in</strong>g that <strong>in</strong>volves critical reflection on <strong>in</strong>formation - and not<br />
just data collection - is pivotal. Cont<strong>in</strong>ual <strong>in</strong>formation <strong>in</strong>put - about<br />
the state <strong>of</strong> the resources, about how they are be<strong>in</strong>g used, about how to<br />
work together <strong>in</strong> mak<strong>in</strong>g decisions, and so much more - is crucial. But<br />
if collective action is to ensure, then collective sense mak<strong>in</strong>g through<br />
critical analysis <strong>of</strong> <strong>in</strong>formation is essential.<br />
If we consider monitor<strong>in</strong>g from a systems perspective, there are two central<br />
components <strong>of</strong> control: feedback and ‘feedforward’. Feedback deals with<br />
th<strong>in</strong>gs after they have happened and seeks to correct the situation so that<br />
the undesirable outcome is changed. In feedforward, attention is directed