Realizing Community Futures: A Practical Guide to Harnessing Natural Resources

What is the power of a collectively imagined future? Women in rural Zimbabwe imagine a future of prosperity and education for their children and then they take collective action to care for the wild grasses that guarantees their livelihood as broom-makers, and their children’s futures. In India, "The Rivermaker" helps his village neighbors to picture and then build a future of agricultural wealth and prosperity through direct management of their river basin. This is the power of a collective imagination focused on real, tangible outcomes.

Through an easy-to-read narrative style and using real examples from Africa and Asia, this revolutionary book--part argument for the limitless power of human imagination and part practical manual for turning visions into reality--explains how to use a process of "participatory modelling" to structure people’s learning and understanding of the natural systems they depend upon and how this can lead to better social and environmental outcomes. The book is for communities and professional natural resources managers who want to use this powerful tool to help people share visions and take appropriate, immediate action. It introduces both the theory and practice of participatory modelling using everyday language and a variety of accessible and successful examples. The result is a challenging yet instantly accessible and applicable guide for practicing real, successful community based natural resource management anywhere, in any circumstances.

Fergus Sinclair is Director of Resarch at the School of the Environment and Natural Resources, University of Wales, Bangor and Visiting Professor at the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center in Costa Rica, and Editor-in-Chief of Agroforestry Systems.

Jerry Vanclay is Professor of Sustainable Forestry, Southern Cross University, Australia and Leader, Participatory Modeling Program, Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Forest Landscapes.

Ravi Prabhu is Senior Scientist, Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Zimbabwe.