Mageuzi ya Maarifa – Transformative Knowledge for People, Forests and Climate in Tanzania

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Mageuzi ya Maarifa – Transformative Knowledge for People, Forests and Climate in Tanzania

This interdisciplinary project investigates how and to what extent digital citizen science can empower citizens and local knowledge systems, and what the implications are for policy and practice in ongoing forest carbon and resilience initiatives in Tanzania.

Protection and restoration of forests ecosystems has potential to store carbon and support human resilience. However, forest management in the Global South often relies on post-colonial knowledge systems, while ignoring the key role of local communities and Indigenous People in successful, sustainable, and just climate action.

Digital citizen science technologies such as smartphones have been proposed to enhance local involvement in knowledge production. But does it bring about actual transformative change in forest-climate initiatives or are they overhyped techno-fixes? Can they contribute to decolonize climate knowledge production?

This project will for the first time critically examine whether the emergence of digital citizen science in climate-related forest conservation contribute to transforming environmental knowledge systems and outcomes for people and forest policies in Tanzania.

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (KU)

Professor Ida Theilade

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (UDOM)

Dr. Mathew Bukhi Mabele

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR (UDSM)

Dr. Victoria Makulilo

FUNDING

Period: April 01, 2024 – March 31, 2028

Financing source: Danida

Amount: 10,000,000 DKK
Specifically, the project will examine four knowledge gaps:
  1. RQ1. The extent to which digital citizen science projects in the Global South incorporate Indigenous and local knowledge systems (Tengö et al. 2021) and local communities’ aspirations in data collection, interpretation, and associated decision-making.
  2. RQ2. The adoption of digital citizen science tools within communities, including by marginalised groups. That is, what socio-economic groups, genders, and generations engage in citizen science projects, with what motivations, and how and for what purposes is citizen-generated data applied in communities’ forest management.
  3. RQ3. The use of citizen-generated data in public decision-making; i.e., to what extent and for what purposes do government agencies recognize and apply citizen-generated data, and how do different actors' perceptions in climate-related forest conservation affect the use of citizen science knowledge.
  4. RQ4. The outcomes for citizens in the Global South, i.e., the extent to which digital citizen science empowers citizens in knowledge production and decision-making in practice; how digital citizen science can further transform knowledge systems; and the implications for national policies and institutional frameworks on climate action.

Secondary Partners

  • INTERNAL:
    • Professor Ida Theilade (PI)
    • Associate Professor Iben Nathan
  • EXTERNAL:
    • Professor Neil Burgess, UNEP-WCMC
    • Dr. Mikkel Funder, DIIS
    • Dr. scient. Finn Danielsen, Nordeco
    • Dr. Mathew Bukhi Mabele, UDOM
    • Dr. Victoria Makulilo, UDSM
    • Dr. Hilda Mwangakala, UDOM
    • Dr. Frederick Chali, UDOM
    • Dr. Frederich Ishengoma, UDOM
    • Dr. Hector Mongi, UDOM
    • Dr. Deo Shao, UDOM
    • Dr. Suma Fahamu Kibonde, UDSM
    • Assistant Lecturer Cesilia Mambile, UDOM