Research
Supras is actively involved in research and writing. This work includes participation in conferences and workshops where papers are presented and discussed, and also in training and course work. The key research activities in this service area that Supras is managing or involved in are listed below.
Research typically takes place in a dialectic between activities in the core services areas of “Networking” and “Projects,” on the one hand, and presentations of papers at conferences and workshops, on the other hand. That is, research activities have long-term as well as short-term time horizons and outputs.
Research takes place in a number of overlapping categories, including: Commons and common property resource management, Culture and natural resource management, ICTs and development, Knowledge management, Language and communication, Networking, and Strategic communication. The categories of research are often connected with more than one of Supras’ core service areas and, conversely, research related to one of the core service areas may be located in one or more research categories.
Links to many of the implementing agencies, partners and projects that are involved in the research are available in section Links. Many documents – in the form of references and files for downloading – prepared in connection with this research, together with images, are available in section Library. For some research, knowledge – in the form of references, documents for downloading, websites, etc. – are available in section Knowledge.
Coastal zone management
Focus: environmental management, Institutional analysis, traditional knowledge.
- Comparative analysis of coastal zone management in Colombia and Ghana
- Focus: Paper prepared for the annual conference of the Norwegian Association for Development Research (NFU), Bergen, Norway 5-7 November 2007. Coauthored with Laura M. Alayón (Resource Economics Program, Univ. of Mass. Amherst, USA). The paper is titled “Institutions, organizations, and poverty: Challenges to coastal zone managaement in Colombia and Ghana.” [more]
[docs]
Commons and sustainable natural resource management
Focus: (to be added). [more]
- Commons and legal reform in Mauritania
- Focus: Paper prepared for the conference of the International Association for the Study of Common property (IASCP), Bali, June 2006. Coauthored with with P. Kirsch-Jung (GTZ, Mauritania). The paper is titled “Regulating the commons in Mauritania: Local agreements as a tool for sustainable natural resource management.” I presents an approach developed by GTZ to ensure local user rights and management authorities of local resources. Partners: GTZ and Supras. [more]
[docs] [images]
Communication and development
Focus: (to be added). [more]
- Communication and languages
- Focus: ?. Status: ongoing since early 90s.
Environmental trends analysis (ETA)
Focus: Tools for spatial and temporal monitoring and assessment of natural resources. [more]
- ETA Core Group
- Focus: A community of practice within the USAID project FRAME, managed by IRG. A ETA Core Group was set up in connection with the ETA workshop organized at the GSDI-9 conference in Santiago, Chile in November 2006. Lars T. Soeftestad is a founding member of the Core Group. Partners: USAID and International Resources Group. Status: estbl. in 2006, active. [more]
[ETA Networking] [FRAME, ETA Core Group]
[images] - ESRI conference paper
- Focus: ETA as a tool in environmental management, and ETA used towards poverty alleviation and reduction. Partners: International Resources Group and Supras. Status: Under preparation, to be submitted May 2007 and presented June 2007. [more]
ICTs and development cooperation
Focus: (to be added). [more]
- GIS and social GIS
- Focus: ?. Comment: This research area overlaps with three others, namely “Environmental trends analysis,” “Knowledge management” and “Networks and networking.” Status: ongoing since early 90s. [more]
Knowledge management
Focus: Concerns the management of knowledge, broadly understood, in connection with development cooperation. There is a focus on natural resource management, the local level in developing countries, networks and networking, and use of ICTs. Status: ongoing since early 90s. [more]
Networks and networking
- Networks for natural resource management
- Focus: ?. Comment: See also the research on “Knowledge management” and “ICTs and development cooperation.” Status: ongoing since early 90s. [more]