The ‘Knowledge Exchange Train’: a model for capacity building for participatory governance in the south-western Amazon

Abstract

National frontiers with ecosystems experiencing rapid changes pose difficult challenges for scientific contributions to democratic processes for environmental governance. We describe an innovative outreach model, the ‘Knowledge Exchange Train’, which combines educational outreach with capacity-building mechanisms to broaden public participation in planning for sustainable development. This involved an international team of scientists and practitioners from conservation and development organisations who travelled across a tri-national frontier area of the south-western Amazon to share recent findings with local leaders and stakeholder constituencies of several municipalities. The Knowledge Exchange Train quickly increased public awareness in many places and provided a means of broadening participation in planning and governance. This model supports planning for sustainable development and can be adapted to other geographic contexts and topics.

Keywords:

• Environment
• Governance and Public Policy
• Civil Society
• Methods
• Latin America and the Caribbean

Acknowledgments

For material and logistical support, we thank the MAP Initiative, as well as our home institutions. Additional support came from the Moore Foundation, USAID, and the National Science Foundation. We are grateful to the workshop participants for their patience and their many contributions. Errors herein are the responsibility of the authors: Elsa Mendoza, Stephen Perz, César Aguilar, Gabriel Alarcón, Foster Brown, Jacob Carballo, Andrea Chávez, Jaime Chávez, Georgina Cullman, Monica de los Ríos, Amy Duchelle, Hugo Dueñas, Christiane Ehringhaus, Jeff Luzar, Matt Marsik, Julio Mayna, Armando Muñante, Vera Reis, and Cora van Oosten.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Elsa Mendoza

Elsa Mendoza works for IPAM, a research and capacity-building NGO in the Brazilian Amazon.

Stephen Perz

Stephen G. Perz is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Florida.

et al.

Andrea Chávez is a PhD candidate in geography at the University of Florida. <[email protected]>

Georgina Cullman is a recent MA in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Florida. <[email protected]>

Amy Duchelle is a graduate student in the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Florida. <[email protected]>

Jeff Luzar is a recent PhD in Interdisciplinary Ecology from the University of Florida. <[email protected]>

Matt Marsik is a PhD candidate in geography at the University of Florida. <[email protected]>

Gabriel Alarcón is a professor of biology and extensionist at the Universidad Nacional Amazónica de Madre de Dios, <[email protected]>

Hugo Dueñas is also a professor of biology. <[email protected]>

I. Foster Brown is a senior researcher at the Woods Hole Research Center, working on climate change and capacity building in the MAP Initiative.

Jacob Carballo is a biology student at the Universidad Amazónica de Pando.

César Aguilar, Jaime Chávez, Monica de los Ríos, and Vera Reis work for Herencia, a conservation and sustainable development NGO. <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]> <[email protected]>

Christiane Ehringhaus works for the Center for International Forestry Research's Regional Office for Latin America.

Julio Mayna works on land-use planning for the regional government of Pando.

Armando Muñante is director of the Servicio Nacional de Sanidad Agraria of the Ministerio de Agricultura in Madre de Dios.

Cora van Oosten is on the Faculty of Geosciences at Utrecht University.