There is increasing recognition of the need to actively involve different stakeholders and communities in the process of making decisions about natural resource management (NRM). Almost every NRM professional is asked to ‘consult' or ‘involve' the community when drawing up management plans for resources such as national parks, native forest and plantation areas, fisheries or mining activities, amongst many others. In some cases, communities actively co-manage natural resources together with NRM professionals.

This course provides a critical review of participatory resource management (PRM) approaches, exploring when and why different PRM processes succeed and fail to resolve conflicts between stakeholders. Students learn both the theories underpinning different PRM approaches, and practical skills such as group facilitation, stakeholder analysis and how to design and manage participatory processes. A series of guest speakers discuss recently implemented Australian and international participatory processes, and the class evaluates the factors that affected the success or otherwise of these processes. Recent research is reviewed to identify how theory and practice is shifting in the rapidly evolving field of PRM. The course assessment is designed to ensure students apply the facilitation skills being taught, and that students can explore topics of particular interest to them in the field of PRM.

The course is runa as a block from 13-22 July. 

Note: Graduate students attend joint classes with undergraduates but are assessed separately

On satisfying the requirements of this course, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. critically appraise the different approaches commonly used in participatory resource management and conflict resolution, and the advantages and disadvantages of these different approaches
2. explain the theories underpinning different approaches to participatory resource management and conflict resolution
3. (a) facilitate group facilitation and explain group behaviour, (b) design participatory processes for different situations and (c) monitor and evaluate the success of participatory processes and conflict resolution processes
4. critically review literature and ‘real life' examples of participatory processes and conflict resolution in NRM

Assessment will be based on a student-negotiated weighting across the following:

• Research essay on a given topic or a topic of their own choosing, drawing on PRM theory (40-50%; LO 1, 2, 3, 4)
• Tutorial papers answering a variety of pre-set analytical questions that draw on both lectures and readings (20-30%; LO 1, 2, 3)
• Tutorial facilitation, requiring design and facilitation of one tutorial based on pre-set questions (20-30%; LO 3a)
• Group presentation on PRM approaches/methods and tools (5-10%; LO 1)

Sixty-five hours contact, comprising an 8-day block taught course taught 13-22 July.

Bachelor degree

Parkins, J.R. and Mitchell, R.E. 2005. Public participation as public debate: a deliberative turn in natural resource management. Society and Natural Resources 18(6): 529-540