ABSTRACT
One thing that stands out in the case studies in this book is the quality of the relationships between the community members and professional researchers in each of them. Participation, community, community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), the environment and the economy are all moving targets. Relationships are thus central in shaping the outcomes of engaging with each. While participation is often presented as the key to community capacity-building, it may be that participation has been overemphasized in recent years. Perhaps a more pertinent question to ask is who decides? In every participatory research project, choices need to be made about how the community is defined; who participates in the research, how and when; what should be the focus of observation; what variables should be measured; what methods of data collection and analysis are appropriate; what actions, if any, for social change should be taken; and many other aspects of the project. Ideally, community members and professional researchers treat each other as equal partners in making these decisions together. Doing this successfully rests on establishing trust, reciprocity and credibility – in other words, establishing good relationships.
