Conflict Causes and Prevention Strategies at the Society-Science Nexus in Transdisciplinary Collaborative Research Settings: A Case Study of a Food Security Project in Tanzania

Collaboration between researchers and society is essential when addressing challenging 21st Century questions. Such collaboration often comprises international, inter- and trans-disciplinary teams, as well as temporal constraints, resulting in inherently complex research projects. Although practitioners increasingly appreciate the value of bottom-up approaches, operational details are often overlooked. Further knowledge is necessary, especially about what might endanger project success. Using a food security project, this paper analyzes conflict experiences and prevention strategies between project members and local stakeholders through personal interviews and focus group discussions. Data for this case study was collected in four Tanzanian villages. This paper identifies multiple conflict drivers, including missing information transfers; diverging expectations; overlaps of field activities with seasonal farming activities; and obscure participant selection. Identified conflict prevention strategies include developing trust, reducing language barriers, and involving locals. Research practitioners, institutes, and hegemonic actors are responsible for ensuring that projects will not worsen the entered situation and negatively affect the community, adhering to the “do no harm” principle; therefore, it is vital to be aware and seek to improve international and collaborative research projects that actively involve local stakeholders. This paper supports the understanding of interacting with local communities in a food security context to support the development of innovative collaboration approaches and methods. Through collaboration, it is possible to find sustainable solutions to pressing issues.

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Designing Collaborative Research: The Exploration of Common Purposes to Foster the Generation of Cross-Disciplinary Projects

Proceedings of the Design Society: International Conference on Engineering Design ◽

10.1017/dsi.2019.228 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 2219-2228

Author(s):

Juliette Brun ◽

Chloé Salembier ◽

Benjamin Loubet ◽

Alexandra Jullien

Keyword(s):

Design Process ◽

Collaborative Research ◽

Research Projects ◽

Innovative Design ◽

Organizational Issues ◽

New Knowledge ◽

Increasing Demand ◽

New Research ◽

Innovation Processes

AbstractDespite the increasing demand to develop cross-disciplinary research projects, designing collaborative research still prove to be difficult due to both scientific specialization and organizational issues. In this paper, we explore how innovative design dynamics can be developed between researchers to collectively build research projects that could become common purposes for collaboration. This work relies on a case study led with the newly formed Eco&Phy research team, who applied an innovative design process to initiate collaboration and design its scientific agenda for the next 5 years. This process was built based on both KCP and matching-building methodologies: it included an initialization phase, during which the team strategically chose topics to be explored, and exploration phases, during which researchers collectively developed new knowledge and concepts to build cross-disciplinary projects. At the end of the design process, the team had developed two new research lines that were integrated in its official agenda. In conclusion, the article discusses the relevance of design approaches to develop original collaborative research through dedicated innovation processes.

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Collaborative research projects in doctoral programs: a case study in Portugal

Studies in Higher Education ◽

10.1080/03075079.2019.1607282 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 45 (11) ◽

pp. 2311-2323

Author(s):

Maria Teresa Patricio ◽

Patricia Santos

Keyword(s):

Collaborative Research ◽

Doctoral Programs ◽

Research Projects

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Food Security and the Futures of Farmers in Decentralisation Era: a Case Study From Sigi District Central Sulawesi

KOMUNITAS INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INDONESIAN SOCIETY AND CULTURE ◽

10.15294/komunitas.v7i1.3620 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 118-132

Author(s):

Muhammad Nur Alamsyah ◽

Sultan Sultan ◽

Sayuti Sayuti

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Information Dissemination ◽

Local Policy ◽

Top Down ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Regional Food ◽

South Sulawesi ◽

Standard Information

Decentralization is a form of democratization used to push development at district level. The formation of new autonomous regions results into more land conversion and politicization of society, rather than the strengthening of food security and the wellbing of farmers. This study examines the effectivity of local policy of Sigi District South Sulawesi to strengthen food security and elevate the prosperity of farmers. Through qualitative methods to bring together stakeholders (farmers, local authorities) through focus group discussions and in-depth interviews, the study found that the district policy still is formalistic. There is no standard information dissemination,no better attitude and commitment to the policy, limited resources, and there is no work standard. The role of regional food security council is not optimal, a lot of institutional barriers, there is no involvement of the community in accessing the programmes and also high politicization of this top down policy. Key Word: Policy, Local Goverment, food security, DecentralizationDesentralisasi merupakan wujud demokratisasi daerah untuk pembangunan. Pembentukan daerah otonom baru (DOB) melahirkan terjadinya alih fungsi lahan dan politisasi masyarakat seperti petani daripada penguatan ketahanan pangan dan penguatan petani. Penelitian ini bertujuan meneliti kebijakan Kabupaten Sigi dalam hal penguatan ketahanan pangan dan petani. Melalui metode kualitatif dengan mempertemukan pemangku kepentingan (petani, pejabat daerah) melalui diskusi kelompok terfokus dan wawancara mendalam, diketahui bahwa kebijakan masih bersifat formalistik. Tidak ada sosialisasi informasi secara baik, sikap dan komitmen terhadap kebijakan kurang, keterbatasan sumber daya, tidak ada standar kerja. Dewan ketahanan pangan daerah belum optimal, hambatan struktur dan kelembagaan, tidak ada keterlibatan masyarakat dalam mengakses penyusunan program serta tingginya politisasi pada bidang pertanian yang semuanya dikelola secara top down di daerah.

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Determinants and barriers of PV self-consumption in Spain from the perception of the installers for the promotion of distributed energy systems

ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT ◽

10.3280/efe2020-001007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 153-169

Author(s):

José Ángel Gimeno ◽

Eva Llera Sastresa ◽

Sabina Scarpellini

Keyword(s):

European Union ◽

Energy Transition ◽

Legal Framework ◽

Low Carbon ◽

The European Union ◽

Distributed Energy ◽

Sustainable Solutions ◽

Highly Sensitive ◽

Transition Scenario

Currently, self-consumption and distributed energy facilities are considered as viable and sustainable solutions in the energy transition scenario within the European Union. In a low carbon society, the exploitation of renewables for self-consumption is closely tied to the energy market at the territorial level, in search of a compromise between competitiveness and the sustainable exploitation of resources. Investments in these facilities are highly sensitive to the existence of favourable conditions at the territorial level, and the energy policies adopted in the European Union have contributed positively to the distributed renewables development and the reduction of their costs in the last decade. However, the number of the installed facilities is uneven in the European Countries and those factors that are more determinant for the investments in self-consumption are still under investigation. In this scenario, this paper presents the main results obtained through the analysis of the determinants in self-consumption investments from a case study in Spain, where the penetration of this type of facilities is being less relevant than in other countries. As a novelty of this study, the main influential drivers and barriers in self-consumption are classified and analysed from the installers' perspective. On the basis of the information obtained from the installers involved in the installation of these facilities, incentives and barriers are analysed within the existing legal framework and the potential specific lines of the promotion for the effective deployment of self-consumption in an energy transition scenario.

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When Culturally Significant Songs are Decontextualised: The Initiation Song Somagwaza, A Case Study

Southern African Journal for Folklore Studies ◽

10.25159/1016-8427/3919 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

Author(s):

T Dowling ◽

Somikazi Deyi ◽

Anele Gobodwana

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Comparative Method ◽

Popular Song ◽

Focus Group Discussions ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Ritual Music ◽

Constant Comparative Method ◽

Small Focus ◽

Over Time

While there have been a number of studies on the decontextualisation and secularisation of traditional ritual music in America, Taiwan and other parts of the globe, very little has been written on the processes and transformations that South Africa’s indigenous ceremonial songs go through over time. This study was prompted by the authors’ interest in, and engagement with the Xhosa initiation song Somagwaza, which has been re-imagined as a popular song, but has also purportedly found its way into other religious spaces. In this article, we attempted to investigate the extent to which the song Somagwaza is still associated with the Xhosa initiation ritual and to analyse evidence of it being decontextualised and secularised in contemporary South Africa. Our methodology included an examination of the various academic treatments of the song, an analysis of the lyrics of a popular song, bearing the same name, holding small focus group discussions, and distributing questionnaires to speakers of isiXhosa on the topic of the song. The data gathered were analysed using the constant comparative method of analysing qualitative research.

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GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AMONGST WOMEN WITH DISABILITIES: A CASE STUDY OF MWENEZI DISTRICT, ZIMBABWE

Gender Questions ◽

10.25159/2412-8457/822 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 97-113 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tafadzwa Rugoho ◽

France Maphosa

Keyword(s):

Violence Against Women ◽

Community Perceptions ◽

Gender Based Violence ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Women With Disabilities ◽

Qualitative Research Design ◽

Disabled Women ◽

Gender Based ◽

The Impact

This article is based on a study of gender-based violence against women with disabilities. The study sought to examine the factors that make such women vulnerable, to investigate the communityâ€™s responses to gender-based violence against women with disabilities, and to determine the impact of gender-based violence on the wellbeing and health of women with disabilities. The study adopted a qualitative research design so as to arrive at an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon under study. The study sample consisted of 48 disabled women living in marital or common law unions, selected using purposive sampling. Of the 48 women in the sample, 16 were visually impaired while the remaining 32 had other physical disabilities. Focus group discussions were used for data collection. The data were analysed using the thematic approach. The finding was that women with disabilities also experience gender-based violence. The study makes recommendations whose thrust is to change community perceptions on disability as the only guarantee towards eradicating gender-based violence against women with disabilities.

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The utility of non-formal education in addressing the school dropout phenomenon : a case study of Asifundeni Secondary School in Makonde District Zimbabwe

Journal of African Education ◽

10.31920/2633-2930/2020/s1n3a3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 41-69

Author(s):

Francis Muchenje ◽

◽

Pedzisai Goronga

Keyword(s):

Secondary School ◽

Formal Education ◽

Sampling Technique ◽

School Dropout ◽

School Level ◽

Research Approach ◽

Community Members ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Secondary School Level

The study sought to explore students' views on the utility of non-formal education in addressing the school dropout phenomenon at secondary school level. Qualitative research approach was adopted and a case study design was utilised. The population consisted of all the students in the non-formal programme at the school from which a sample of 11 students (2 male and 9 female) was selected through purposive stratified sampling technique. Data were gathered through structured in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Non-formal education was seen to address the school dropout phenomenon by providing school drop outs with an opportunity to continue their education and hence becomes a form of empowerment. A number of challenges such as lack of adequate tuition in some subjects, lack of conducive learning environment as well as negative perception of non-formal education held by pupils in the formal stream and community members were identified. The study recommends that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should review the staffing situation in schools to ensure the availability of teachers in the various subjects in the non-formal stream. Schools should make an effort to provide appropriate learning facilities for students in the nonformal stream. Furthermore, schools should conscientise their communities on the importance of non-formal education.

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