Human knowledge on the status and trends of natural resources, ecosystem services and species on earth is limited. Global environmental assessments synthesize this limited data, which is then used in decision-making. There is a serious risk that decisions are poorly targeted and not addressing critical needs.
Over the past 100 years, science has been the preserve of ‘experts’. It is increasingly recognized that local community members who may not qualify as experts in conventional terms can be very knowledgeable about local resources. Moreover, local community members have an important role in the sustainable use of natural resources. The remarkable rise of technology and, in particular, mobile devices and social media, which have penetrated across the world (now also in developing regions), opens up the possibility for hundreds of millions of people to participate in scientific processes, and to gather information and obtain results that are both locally and globally relevant and potentially transformational in scope.
Across a range of ecosystems and socio-political settings, dr. scient. Finn Danielsen has explored the basis for inclusive and citizen-based natural resource monitoring, and the implications for natural resource management and commitment towards conservation. In his DSc thesis, the numerous case studies are analysed and put into a collected perspective. Here, Finn Danielsen presents the key findings as part of his doctoral defence on May 20, 2016. The findings may be useful for researchers and practitioners interested in community-based ecosystem monitoring and management.
The DSc dissertation is available for download here:
plen.ku.dk/arrangementer/2016/finndanielsen/Danielsen.pdf
And the supporting information here:
plen.ku.dk/arrangementer/2016/finndanielsen/Danielsen_D.Sc._thesis_Expanding_the_Scientific_Basis___supporting_information.pdf
The official opponents were:
1. Prof. E.J. Milner-Gulland (Univ. Oxford), and
2. Prof. Selina M. Stead (Univ. Newcastle).
Prof. Andreas de Neergaard (Univ. Copenhagen) led the evaluation. The defence session was chaired by Prof. Svend Christensen (Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, Univ. Copenhagen).
