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Research title Environmental Education, Local Knowledge, and Participation in Tanzania. Summary of research
Participation and Local Knowledge in Community Environmental Education.
This research project aims to evaluate and explore the nature of local knowledges and participation in environmental education development projects in Tanzania. The research investigates how local people’s environmental knowledges and practices are included in environmental education conducted by NGOs, and how these education projects may influence environmental practices. I analyse the ability of participatory development to deliver a degree of empowerment for individuals, particularly the most marginalised, whilst also assessing the role of the state and NGOs in the effective delivery of projects.
The objectives include:
• Exploring the nature of local environmental knowledges in the study areas, and how these interact with other knowledges that form part of environmental education programs. I also assess the appropriateness of local development interventions in the light of local knowledge.
• Researching participation in environmental education at the local level, and evaluating both costs and benefits to participants. I evaluate the effectiveness of participatory practices to deliver an element of community and individual empowerment.
• Assessing the role of NGOs and the state in local environmental education and development, and to gauge the impacts of power dynamics between local actors, NGOs, and the state.
My research is located in Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, and I also hope to look towards other inland locations in Tanzania, possibly around Iringa or Morogoro. My methods are based around qualitative interviewing and discussions, but also incorporate a degree of participation, including working closely with local NGOs and engaging with participatory methods.
Participatory Forest Management in Tanzania.
This was the title of my Masters research project. This project focused on the nature of participation, local knowledges, and the role of the state, NGOs, and local actors in participatory forest management projects. Here I worked with Tanzanian conservation NGOs and participants in projects in Ruvu South Forest Reserve and in the East Usambara Mountains in Tanzania.
This project found that often conservation and environment goals of NGOs and the state in Tanzania could be conflicting with livelihood goals of local people, and it is generally the poorest and most marginalised who loose out during such projects. Participatory projects often engender a series of complex power relations within communities, and knowledges and practices brought to communities through projects are further bound up with both existing and developing power relations. However, it was often also the case that local people could engage dynamically with these projects and utilise them for their own benefit.
Supervisors Professor John Briggs
Professor Joanne Sharp
Recent publications Smith, T. (in press) Local knowledge in development (geography), Geography Compass Smith, T (2008) Participatory Forest Management in Tanzania. , Unpublished MRes Thesis, The University of Glasgow. Recent research grants Smith, T. 2008 Participation and Local Knowledge in Community Environmental Education. £500 (Royal Scottish Geographical Society Research Grant) Teaching assistantship 2007-2008 - Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences |
