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Collaborative Action Research for Biocultural Heritage Conservation

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Field Environmental Philosophy

Part of the book series: Ecology and Ethics ((ECET,volume 5))

Abstract

Given the rapid pace of environmental and cultural change all over the world, including Indigenous hotspots like the greater Amazon-Orinoco basin, innovative strategies are needed to meet the challenge of biocultural conservation. Collaborative Action Research (CAR) focused on the preservation and revitalization of traditional and local environmental knowledge (TEK/LEK) represents a promising approach in this regard. CAR entails cooperation, exchange, and complementary labor between different stakeholders—local communities, scientific researchers, and potentially others—for the purpose of studying and understanding issues of mutual concern and then taking informed measures to address those issues. In contrast to basic research, which is guided by academic questions and geared toward information extraction, CAR is focused on assessing and ameliorating community-defined problems. This chapter argues for the particular importance of CAR for the challenge of intergenerational TEK/LEK enculturation and maintenance in the face of rapid cultural and environmental change. The customary processes of such knowledge transmission and the contextual factors that alter or affect such processes are very site-specific. CAR offers a participatory and bioculturally appropriate strategy for bolstering traditional mechanisms of transmission and for developing new ones that actually incorporate ongoing changes. Examples of long-term CAR between local communities of the Jotï Amerindian group and researchers from the Venezuelan Institute for Scientific Research (IVIC) are described. The specific application of this approach in support of TEK/LEK transmission in this biocultural context is described in a companion chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratorio de Ecología Humana, Centro de Antropología, Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones CientÚficas (IVIC), Altos de Pipe, Miranda, Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

    Stanford Zent & Egleé Zent

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  1. Stanford Zent
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  2. Egleé Zent
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Program, Department of Philosophy and Religion and Department of Biological Sciences, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Ricardo Rozzi

  2. Omora Ethnobotanical Park, Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity, Puerto Williams, XII - Punta Arenas, Chile

    Alejandra Tauro

  3. LTSER-Europe, Dead Sea and Arava Science Center, Mitzpe Ramon, Israel

    Noa Avriel-Avni

  4. Philosophy and Religion, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    T. Wright

  5. Departamento Ecuménico de Investigaciones, San José, Costa Rica

    Roy H. May Jr.

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Zent, S., Zent, E. (2023). Collaborative Action Research for Biocultural Heritage Conservation. In: Rozzi, R., Tauro, A., Avriel-Avni, N., Wright, T., May Jr., R.H. (eds) Field Environmental Philosophy. Ecology and Ethics, vol 5. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-23368-5_14

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