The aim of this paper is to present a personal reflection on a variety of experiences involving action research and adaptive collaborative management dating back to the 1980s and to highlight some of the challenges involved in practicing action research. Although the experiences were sometimes labelled action research or participatory action research (PAR) and other times adaptive collaborative management (or variations on these), the common link was a concern with learning for action and learning from action. The collaborative or participatory element was much more variable, ranging from fairly elaborate arrangements to enable participation by a wide range of stakeholders to more limited participation by a small group in the actual research activity. I argue that there are a variety of different ways that stakeholders can be engaged in participatory or collaborative activities and that there is a variety of ways of structuring participation.
Relation
Can Learning Based Approaches Take Root in Natural Resource Management? Reflections from the world of practice / Ojha, H R, Hall, A, Sulaiman, R (eds): pp.86-96