Methods and approaches to support Indigenous water planning: An example from the Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory, Australia

Learning from collaborative research on sustainably managing fresh water: implications for ethical research–practice engagement

“…Four methods were codeveloped to achieve this: participatory mapping of Tiwi water places and objectives for use and management, community workshops to engage the broader Tiwi community in the Tiwi water planning process, a physical model of the hydrological cycle to demonstrate and share Tiwi and western scientific knowledge of water dynamics in the landscape, and "visits-to-country" that involved senior traditional owners (as Tiwi Water Delegates) hosting visits of the water planning team at important Tiwi water places to identify values and objectives for water management. The visits-to-country method ensured that protocols for Tiwi water governance were upheld (Hoverman and Ayre 2012).…”

“…Negotiating methods that enable Ecology and Society 23(1): 6 https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss1/art6/ the mutual translation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge, and recognition and respect for difference, can support participants to achieve ethical research-practice. These methods include, for example, protocols for interactions between team members and agreed-upon ways of working, including how knowledge is owned, integrated, and applied (see Jackson 2006, Hoverman and Ayre 2012, Jackson et al 2012. However, it is important to realize that creative tensions can arise in crosscultural research-practice related to whose knowledge counts and what is ethical practice (Verran 2002).…”

The value and limitations of Participatory Action Research methodology

“…Social learning can be structured or happen in many ways, but fundamentally requires a commitment to effective and authentic dialogue (Campel, 2000;Kilvington, 2007) including dispute resolution (Daniels and Walker, 1996) and safe spaces/arrangements where diverse stakeholders can interact and learn together (Buck et al, 2001) in a context open to critical analysis and examination unimpeded by power and knowledge differentials. Further there is some evidence that experiences of social learning build the adaptive capacities of participants to deal with change (Kuper et al, 2009). Considered in this way, adaptive management and social learning share many of the characteristics of Participatory Action Research (PAR), the informing methodology used for all of the research presented in this volume (Hoverman and Ayre, 2012;Tan et al, 2012). PAR is an applied research approach, in which participants -those with a stake in the outcomes of the research -take on an active co-researcher role.…”

Reframing Indigenous water rights in ‘modern’ Taiwan: reflecting on Tayal experience of colonized common property

“…For community members, there are clear priority water interests maintained by social norms. As in other customary law settings, common property resource governance is not about collective ownership of particular resources; it is about sharing the responsibility and custodianship collectively under customary law in a more-than human world rather than exercising anthropocentric utilitarianism over resources (see also Toussaint et al 2005;Hoverman and Ayre 2012;Jackson et al 2012;Ayre and Mackenzie 2013). In Tayal customary law settings, managing water commons is not solely about utilizing the resource.…”