title: Participatory research towards co-management: lessons from artisanal fisheries in coastal Uruguay.
abstract: Participatory research has become increasingly common in natural resources management. Even though participatory research is considered a strategy to facilitate co-management, there is little empirical evidence supporting this. The objective of the present paper is to analyze the contributions of participatory research to help encourage the emergence of co-management, based on a case study in Piriápolis artisanal fishery in coastal Uruguay (where management has been top-down). We argue that participatory research involving artisanal fishers, government, and other stakeholders (university scientists and NGOs) can be a key stimulus towards co-management. We build this argument by considering "seven faces" by which co-management can be analyzed: (1) as power sharing; (2) as institution building; (3) as trust building; (4) as process; (5) as learning and knowledge co-production; (6) as problem solving; and (7) as governance. Our findings show that participatory research had an impact on these various faces: (1) power was shared when making research decisions; (2) a multi-stakeholder group (POPA), with a common vision and goals, was created; (3) trust among participants increased; (4) the process of group formation was valued by participants; (5) stakeholders learned skills for participation; (6) two problem-solving exercises were conducted; and (7) a diversity of stakeholders of the initial problem identified by fishers (sea lions' impact on long-line fishery) participated in the process. The case shows that participatory research functions as a platform which enhances learning and knowledge co-production among stakeholders, paving the way towards future co-management.
authors.affiliation: Natural Resources Institute, 303-70 Dysart Road, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, R3T 2N2 Manitoba, Canada. mica.trimble@gmail.com
authors.forename: Micaela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trimble
authors.forename: Fikret
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Berkes
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D005398:Fisheries; D006801:Humans; D019359:Knowledge; D012106:Research / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012107:Research Design; D035502:Trust; D014583:Uruguay; D000078329:Workforce
keywords: Artisanal fisheries; Co-management; Governance; Participatory research; Small-scale fisheries; Uruguay