Centering Indigenous Knowledge: Reimagining Research Methods, Pedagogies, and Sustainability With Niitsitapi Awaaáhsskataiksi (Blackfoot Elders)

My research sought to better engage with Indigenous ways of knowing and being (IWKB). Specifically, I collaborated with Blackfoot Elders (and Hawaiian Kupuna) to better understand 1) their perspectives towards land, 2) what factors instigate and perpetuate these perspectives, 3) how these perspectives play out in terms of identity; well being; daily life; education; environmental concern, behavior, and stewardship, and 4) ways that these perspectives towards land can inform and transform Western perspectives on land and perhaps lead to better and more equitable social-ecological outcomes. I approached this from three angles. First, I described a method for braiding Indigenous and Western scientific approaches to broaden the ways we might think about the human-environment relationship. Then I explored how IWKB (Blackfoot and Native Hawaiian) regarding nature are disrupted by recreation use, to the detriment of both Indigenous experience of their native lands and of the land itself. Finally, I described how K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educators may be able to effectively accommodate both Western and IWKB in their teaching and how this broader perspective could lead non-Indigenous persons to treat the land differently as well as create greater continuity for Indigenous learners

Creating common ground : The role of Indigenous Peoples’ sacred natural sites in conservation practice, management and policy

In this thesis, I hold a plea for the recognition and integration of Indigenous people’s realities in conservation practice, management and policy related to their sacred natural sites. Sacred natural sites can be mountains, rivers, forests, trees and rocks that have special spiritual significance to indigenous peoples. To Indigenous peoples these places are not just part of their environment, culture and spirituality but they also form their worldviews and ethnicities. Based on my research on sacred natural sites, I look at how Indigenous people’s realities can be integrated into conservation approaches and how they lead to the co-creation of new forms of nature conservation. In doing so I focus on how a common ground is being created by Indigenous peoples and development and conservation actors. I argue that this common ground has the capacity to transform conservation practice, management and policy if different worldviews, including those of Indigenous peoples, are equally considered. The structure of this thesis represents my personal learning curve. It starts off with my earlier work developed as a conservationist with a natural sciences background and with many years of working experience in the field of international nature conservation. The Chapters gradually take on a sociological and anthropological angle, applying ethnographic research to conservation issues. As a result, the thesis represents the experience of a social conservation scientist doing applied and socially engaged research. The first part of the thesis is built upon conservation literature and draws on a multitude of case studies and previously published work. It presents an overview of the overall importance that indigenous sacred natural sites have to the current field of nature conservation and the main challenges and opportunities that these sites pose to conservationists. The second part of the thesis builds on case studies and applied ethnographic field research undertaken on conservation projects in North East Arnhem Land in Australia, Santa Cruz del Quiché in Guatemala and the Upper North-West Region in Ghana. In these locations, I have built up working relationships with local indigenous groups and the organisations that support them; respectively these are Yolŋu (since 2007), Maya (since 2012) and Dagara (since 2011). The qualitative research methods used throughout my research are based on ethnography, participatory research, observational research, co-creation of research, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, freelisting but also the field of social policy analysis, discourse analysis and literature research. They are particularly useful in situations where the research process contributes to finding solutions for concrete conservation problems with all parties involved. The conceptual framework brings together empirical studies and critical analyses of Indigenous sacred natural sites in different geographical, ecological, cultural and spiritual contexts. As these contexts vary across different places I studied the development of different common grounds between indigenous and non-indigenous actors in the specific locations. Eventually, I brought these studies together in an effort to distil common elements for the construction of a generic common ground. In the conceptual framework, worldviews and spirituality meet with conceptual areas such as ontological pluralism, biocultural diversity and rights-based approaches across geographical scales and governance levels. I argue that were they meet a common ground is created. I provide further analysis of the process of creating a common ground on the basis of the conceptual areas mentioned above, and draw conclusions that are relevant to furthering scientific debate in these areas as well to the field of conservation. Chapter 2 concludes that sacred natural sites are important to the conservation of nature and biodiversity because they form an informal network managed and governed by local Indigenous people. This network goes largely unrecognized by the international conservation community and local protected area managers and planners. The chapter presents ten challenges that sacred natural sites pose to the field of conservation and restoration of biological and cultural diversity. Chapter 3 takes examples of Indigenous worldviews and conservation practices from around the world to demonstrate that these form part of approaches that integrate biocultural values in nature conservation. I argue that in order to be effective and sustainable, nature conservation requires to be based on both science and culture, and combine scientific data on the natural world with experiential knowledge about nature of the social-cultural groups involved. The chapter concludes that, for management to be truly adaptive, it needs to respond to societal and cultural changes which can be achieved by enabling Indigenous people and local communities to guide conservation efforts. Chapter 4 addresses how the modern conservation movement can use biocultural conservation approaches to overcome disparities between the management and governance of nature and culture. In this discourse about biocultural conservation approaches, the spiritual and the sacred are essential to the conservation of an interconnected network of biocultural hotspots – sacred natural sites. Chapter 5 demonstrates the importance of Indigenous ontologies in cross-cultural coastal conservation management, particularly the development of locally relevant guidelines for fishers in North East Arnhem Land, Australia. I explore the ‘both ways’ approach adopted by the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation, and that guides collaboration between Yolŋu and non-Yolŋu. Disjunctures and synergies between the two ontologies are identified and I offer reflection on the role of the researcher in the cross-cultural co-production of guidelines for fishers and boaters. Chapter 6 analyses how spiritual leaders build common ground for community conservation of sacred natural sites in the face of neoliberalism in Ghana and Guatemala. The research demonstrates that, beyond rights-based approaches, a common ground is essential to developing feasible and acceptable solutions for the protection and conservation of sacred natural sites. I identify ‘ontological equity’ as an important principle for establishing this common ground. I then argue that neoliberal approaches to conservation and resource development are prejudiced because they ignore the principle of ontological equity and suppress lived realities of sacred natural sites and the existence of the wider spiritscape. Chapter 7 describes the emerging spaces in international policy and conservation practices as they manifest themselves in a series of conferences, the development of guidelines for protected area managers, and how these have worked to sensitize conservationists to sacred natural sites and their custodians. In connecting different conservation approaches from the local to the international level the chapter shows how a common ground is being created. The key findings of this thesis include several universal elements to the creation of a common ground: willingness to learn about other worldviews; application of participatory approaches and applied research; the use of cultural brokers; active processes of stakeholder engagement; agreement on governance arrangements and the adoption of ontological equity. I draw four conclusions derived from the main research results: 1) Biocultural conservation approaches can enable the creation of a common ground, but they may also constrain Indigenous ontologies; 2) Conservationists should learn from other worldviews and ontologies in order to improve the conservation of Indigenous sacred natural sites; 3) Non-human agency and spiritual governance are under-recognised in the conservation of spiritscapes and sacred natural sites; 4) Combining an ethnographic approach with an engaged and participatory research strategy is useful for considering multiple ontologies. The recommendations of this thesis could form part of a future research agenda for the development of a common ground between Indigenous people, conservationists, and development actors in relation to the conservation of Indigenous sacred natural sites. The main recommendation is that conservation and development actors should consider multiple ontologies when creating a common ground for the development of biocultural conservation approaches.</p

The camping experience in Western Australian national parks: Exploring the relationships between people and the natural environment

Despite the natural environment being valued as an integral part of human life, there is an growing physical and emotional disconnection from nature manifested as increased health problems, lack of environmental awareness and social dysfunction. National parks are valued both for conservation of biological diversity as well as enabling people to get closer to nature, with camping a popular way of achieving this. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of campers in Western Australian national parks, with a particular focus on the meanings they attributed to these experiences. A total of 29 in-depth interviews were undertaken on-site with campers in two national parks. The camping experience was identified as diverse and of great importance to campers’ lives beyond a physical immersion in nature. Camping motivation and experiences on-site were connected with higher order meanings including re-creation, recreation, reconnection and reaffirmation. The increased knowledge of these experiences and meanings provided by this study contributes to redressing the imbalance of the people-natural environment relationship as well assisting in enriching peoples’ lives

Towards value pluralism, knowledge pluralism, and recognitional justice: improving integration of cultural benefits of ecosystem services in environmental decision-making

Includes bibliographical references.2022 Fall.This mainstreaming of the ecosystem services (ES) concept and approach is reflected in its adoption by governments and non-governmental organizations around the world, including in the United States: in 2015, a U.S. Federal Memorandum directed all Federal agencies to integrate ES information in their decision-making processes. In principle this momentum represents an opportunity for improved consideration of the cultural benefits of ES in decision-making, as part of the improved consideration of ES as a whole. However, there is concern that cultural benefits – and the plural values and multiple knowledge systems they reveal – are being left behind in processes of standardization in ES theory and practice. Cultural benefits challenge the emphasis on instrumental values common in the ES field. Further, in revealing the culturally contextual and situated character of all ES, cultural benefits challenge the universalizing and generalizing tendencies common in this field. More meaningful consideration of the cultural benefits of ES, as one strand of a larger movement toward value pluralism and knowledge pluralism, is a question of both equity and ecological outcomes. On-going conversations and critiques in the ES field around how to create space for multiple worldviews, including multiple human-nature relationships and well-beings, are critical to bringing environmental management into alignment with environmental justice, including distributional, procedural, and recognitional justice for current and future generations. In addition, ensuring a place for currently marginalized knowledge systems in ES theory and practice, including place-based and Indigenous ways of knowing, brings new solutions to the table and increases the adaptive capacity of managers and decision-makers at local and global scales as they face into growing global environmental challenges. To support movement toward knowledge pluralism in ES theory and practice, the three manuscripts presented in this dissertation offer: 1) a conceptual framework that reveals ES-knowledge as a system, seeking to support personal and collective reflexivity around the role of worldviews embedded in our institutions and the implications of this (Manuscript 1); 2) a theoretical model of learning opportunities for integration of a diverse forms of knowledge, and explores how some cultural-benefits-knowledge-forms are more likely to convey non-instrumental, relational value aspects or holistic value perspectives, and more likely to be effectively considered at particular stages of decision-making (Manuscript 2); and 3) an Opportunities Framework that can be used to systematically identify available forms of cultural-benefits-knowledge, and the opportunities that exist to integrate these knowledge forms in a particular decision context (Manuscript 3). This final manuscript both introduces the framework and illustrates its potential by applying it to a past decision process: Elwha River dam removal and restoration in Washington State, U.S.A. Next steps for research and application of a knowledge-pluralist ES approach are discussed in the dissertation's conclusion

Ecology-based planning. Italian and French experimentations

This paper examines some French and Italian experimentations of green infrastructures’ (GI) construction in relation to their techniques and methodologies. The construction of a multifunctional green infrastructure can lead to the generation of a number of relevant bene fi ts able to face the increasing challenges of climate change and resilience (for example, social, ecological and environmental through the recognition of the concept of ecosystem services) and could ease the achievement of a performance-based approach. This approach, differently from the traditional prescriptive one, helps to attain a better and more fl exible land-use integration. In both countries, GI play an important role in contrasting land take and, for their adaptive and cross-scale nature, they help to generate a res ilient approach to urban plans and projects. Due to their fl exible and site-based nature, GI can be adapted, even if through different methodologies and approaches, both to urban and extra-urban contexts. On one hand, France, through its strong national policy on ecological networks, recognizes them as one of the major planning strategies toward a more sustainable development of territories; on the other hand, Italy has no national policy and Regions still have a hard time integrating them in already existing planning tools. In this perspective, Italian experimentations on GI construction appear to be a simple and sporadic add-on of urban and regional plans

Explanation of the Relationship between Social, Cultural & Economic Literacies and Strategic Development of Tourism Marketing (Case Study: Incoming Tourists to Kashan, Iran)

Today, tourism is most diverse industry in the world. And it is the third most dynamic economic and developing phenomena after petroleum and the car industry. According to growth of industry, it is essential to pay attention to consumers' needs of this industry and understand the basic strategies in order to attract more tourists. Marketing management is one of the capable science in understanding and paying attention to the needs of consumers. The active organizations in the tourism industry will be able to rely on these efficient tool to achieve their goals. The success factor to help the tourism development, is social, cultural &amp; economic literacies for tourism activists. Therefore, in this study, the Explanation of the relationship between this 3 literacies and Strategic development of tourism marketing, is examined.This study follows a descriptive-correlation approach and applied objective, in terms of variable is qualitative and in terms of time is sectional. The population of the study are tourism activists and tourists who have come Kashan and its surrounding villages. According to the population which size is unlimited, 384 questionnaires were distributed and completed. First the exploratory factor analysis is used in SPSS software to test the hypothesis to determine the relationship between variables and the confirmatory factor analysis and the techniques of structural equation are used in Lisrel software for analyzing the data. The results also showed that there is a significant relationship between this 3 literacies; social, cultural and economic with strategic development of tourism marketing. Keywords: tourism, marketing, strategic development, literac

Landscape planning and ecological networks: part A: a rural system in Nuoro, Sardinia

Urban-rural landscape planning research is nowadays focusing on strategies and tools that support practitioners in designing integrated spaces starting from the analysis of local areas, where human and natural pressures interfere. A prominent framework is provided by the ecological networks, whose design regards the combination of a set of green areas or patches (the nodes) interconnected through environmental corridors (the edges). Ecological networks are useful for biodiversity protection and enhancement, as they are able to counteract fragmentation, and to create or strengthen relations and exchanges among otherwise isolated elements. Biodiversity evolution, indeed, depends on the quantity and quality of spatial cohesion of natural areas. In this paper, we aim at designing an ecological network for the periurban area on the town of Nuoro in central Sardinia. The narrative unfolds in two parts. Part A is presented in this paper and includes its methodological premises, i.e. biodiversity conservation and ecological network analysis and design, and the introductory elements of a spatial analysis on a pilot ecological network of one hundred patches. We locate patches by focusing on the ecosystems supported by the target vegetal species holm oak (Quercus ilex) and cultivated or wild olive (Olea europaea var. sativa, O. europaea var. sylverstis). These are very common plants species in the municipality and some animal species are active as seed dispersal. The reminder, i.e. Part B, of the essay is presented in an homonymous paper that focuses on the illustration of the network analysis conceived as a monitoring system and, in future perspective, as a planning support system

Illuminating Perceptions of Social-Ecological Complexity for More Holistic Management of Parks and Protected Areas

This dissertation focuses on illuminating human perceptions in a social-ecological system (SES) through three studies: (1) revealing human perceptions of the influence of social network structure on social dynamics in an SES; (2) understanding human perceptions of biophysical and social change related to a SES, and (3) exploring how key stakeholder groups might perceive social-ecological reciprocities in an SES. To achieve these endeavors, this dissertation advances analytical tools that have yet to be widely used in natural resource management to understand stakeholders’ perceptions of social-ecological complexity: social network models, perceptions of change, and fuzzy logic cognitive mapping. These tools represent a combination of objective social analysis, inquiry into subjective perceptions, and subjective mental modeling, all of which may be useful for natural resource managers who need or desire to engage in SES thinking. The three studies herein thus apply these tools to the complex social-ecological system known as the Bonneville Salt Flats (BSF) in western Utah (USA)