Although participatory research can be an improvement over conventional research, there is a lack of self-critique and self-reflection by scholars. The aim of this paper was to develop a method of ...participatory research in human geography based on a case study of the local community. We evaluated the positive and negative aspects of carrying out participatory research in community development from the local community and academic points of view. The participatory method was used in a rural local community in Slovenia, where cultural values were identified as an alternative developmental source. The method was presented in detail in three steps: 1) knowledge acquisition, 2) knowledge synthesis, 3) knowledge implementation and evaluation. The results yielded important social impacts, some economic and cultural impacts, and no significant ecological impacts. The paper discusses the impacts of conducting such research on the local community. It recognizes that, if the community is actively engaged in research, outcomes are likely to be matched to its needs and expectations. We discussed scholars’ bias towards economic aspects of community development and the fact that ignoring local knowledge may result in the failure of developmental initiatives. There is a need for more accurate and unbiased critical assessment of long-term impacts of carrying outparticipatory research. We believe we avoided two common traps of participatory research: regarding the positivist critique, this method offers sufficient scientific vigour and could be reproduced in similar communities; regarding the post-structural critique, personally committing stakeholders towards implementation and legitimising all social groups to overcome intrinsic power relations within the community. We concluded that participatory methods are important for obtaining local knowledge that complements traditional academic research.
•We identified, described and analyzed the interaction between two lines of inquiry.•We mapped motivations for researchers to bring together insights from CPR and ES.•General trends observed in the ...literature are discussed.•We found evidence that insight is brought together for practical reasons and also for conceptual reasons.
Interdisciplinary research is understood to be the preferred way for scientific research to deepen understanding about environmental issues and challenges for sustainability. Two well-defined interdisciplinairy research fields, Ecosystems services (ES) and Common-pool resources (CPR), have taken different approaches that integrate the natural and social sciences to address environmental conundrums collaboratively. Several recent studies bring together insight from each, yet little is known about the breadth or directions, of the interdisciplinary conversation between the two fields of research. Moreover, the potential of this interaction to advance theory and practice relevant for sustainability is underexplored. The purpose of this study is to fill this gap by addressing three questions: 1) What are the motives for the interaction between CPR and ES fields?, 2) How are these two fields of research interacting?, and 3) How does the interaction of CPR and ES contribute to research on sustainability? We conducted a systematic map to identify, select, describe and analyse research of our interest. We mapped out motivations for researchers to bring together insights from these two lines of inquiry and examined how they are doing so.
This article aims to study and clearly define the terms public good, common-pool resources, and the commons. Using path dependency analysis, interviews, and workshops among the general public and ...experts, we highlight the perception of public goods and the commons in Slovenia as a transitional society. The analysis reveals that the general public’s understanding of these terms is still strongly influenced by communist socialist-era emphasis on social justice, equality, and access to goods for everyone, which can be at odds with the right to private property. Inadequate governance of goods that are considered public goods, but are in fact common-pool resources, can lead to conflicts and degradation of common-pool resources, which results in the loss of advantages providing wellbeing. Because people’s lives depend on subtractable natural resources, it is necessary to raise awareness about them among the general public and professional community, emphasize their vulnerability, and explain that they cannot be accessible to anyone in unlimited quantities. Furthermore, in an international context, using the Slovenian case, we seek to improve the understanding of human behaviour and expectations concerning public goods and common-pool resources in post-communist transitional societies.
Namen prispevka je proučiti in jasno opredeliti pojme javno dobro, skupni viri in skupno. V članku smo na podlagi prostorsko-časovne analize, intervjujev in delavnic med splošno in strokovno ...javnostjo osvetlili dojemanje javnega dobra in skupnega v Sloveniji kot tranzicijski družbi. Analiza je pokazala, da na razumevanje teh pojmov med splošno javnostjo še vedno močno vpliva poudarjanje socialne pravičnosti, enakosti in dostopnosti dobrin za vse iz obdobja socializma, kar je lahko v nasprotju s pravico do zasebne lastnine. Neustrezno upravljanje dobrin, ki so dojete kot javno dobro, v resnici pa so skupni viri, lahko vodi v konflikte in razvrednotenje skupnih virov, s čimer bomo izgubili prednosti, ki nam omogočajo kakovostnejše življenje. Ker smo od omejenih naravnih virov življenjsko odvisni, je treba o njih nujno ozavestiti splošno in strokovno javnost, izpostaviti ranljivost teh virov in pojasniti, dane morejo biti dostopni vsem v neomejenih količinah. V mednarodnem okolju želimo s predstavljenim slovenskim primerom prispevati k boljšemu razumevanju človeškega vedenja in pričakovanj do javnega dobra in skupnih virov v postsocialističnih tranzicijskih družbah.
Traditional agricultural landscapes give a distinct character to the European Alps and are considered part of their heritage due to their distinctive natural and sociocultural features. At a workshop ...jointly organized by the Swiss Interacademic Commission for Alpine Studies (ICAS), the International Scientific Committee on Research in the Alps (ISCAR), and the Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (ZRC SAZU), Ljubljana, experts from different European countries discussed current trends in traditional Alpine agricultural landscapes in September 2017 in Tolmin, Slovenia. The objective of the workshop was to develop options for proposing these landscapes as Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (www.fao.org/giahs/en).
Cultivated terraces distinctively mark the landscape and are a result of human adaptation to steep areas. Terraces were studied with regard to their morphometric qualities, ownership structure, and ...land use at eight pilot sites in various landscape types in Slovenia. Twenty-six detailed interviews were carried out with local residents and experts. In current agricultural practice, terraces mostly represent obstacles, and for owners they create a loss rather than profit; however, they represented an advantage in the past, when they were cultivated manually. Land use is intensifying on economically profitable terraces. Among those examined, the Jeruzalem terraces stand out because these are the youngest ones (created in socialist Yugoslavia around 1965). Because of their aesthetic value, they are the best known among the public. Profitability in particular will be an important driving force for the future maintenance of terraces.
Heritage has different developmental potentials that might contribute to the sustainable development of a given area. In terms of sustainable development these potentials are not necessarily ...economic, but also include social, environmental or cultural aspects. However, heritage by itself rarely holds tangible benefits if it is not properly managed. The key challenge for attaining sustainability is to focus management on a participatory approach, which ensures public participation in the process. The paper argues that a successful and effective management of heritage depends on the people, who must be able to 1) identify the appropriate heritage, 2) link it with key stakeholders and other topics, 3) design it into a proper service, and finally 4) sell the new service to users.
Udin Boršt is an isolated conglomerate terrace in Gorenjska region, Slovenia. A number of surface karst features and caves developed here due to the predominance of carbonate gravel. It is one of the ...last contiguous areas of lowland forest in Gorenjska region, and a popular recreation location for the people living nearby. Due to its karst surface and the forest it offered shelter to the locals in turbulent times. Its role during the period when bandits (rokovnjači) was common and during the Second World War is still preserved in folk memory. Due to its natural and cultural heritage, the area was protected as a Memorial park in 1985, but the legislation has become outdated and needs to be amended and updated. This article presents new findings on the geomorphological and intangible cultural heritage that need to be incorporated in the amended legislation.
Green areas and especially their distribution and composition are the key factor that makes urban people’s lives more comfortable and healthier. Even though Ljubljana residents also have many other ...green areas at their disposal in their immediate vicinity, the area of Rožnik Hill and Tivoli Park as an urban forest with dispersed park features continues to be the most popular recreational destination, with roughly 1,750,000 visits per year. In 1984 it was designated a protected landscape area through an ordinance. In the past decades, a number of conflicts have arisen in this area between various stakeholders, such as landowners, park users, and specialist services, which is why these types of areas require careful and prudent management.
PDF
