10. Possibilities and perceptions of a community micro-hydro project in West Kalimantan.

Minarchek, Matthew ; Indriatmoko, Yayan

Logging remains one of the largest threats to the forests of Danau Sentarum National Park (DSNP). National and international companies are not solely responsible; local communities also extract timber, whose sale often provides a better income than other options and is sometimes the only income-generating opportunity available for rural people. Conservation groups have collaborated with rural people to find alternative sources of income. In DSNP, organizations have partnered with many communities to manage the nearby forests and create other methods of income generation. The most recent attempt in DSNP included the construction of a micro-hydro dam (Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Mikro-Hidro) that could benefit all the stakeholders involved in the project, from NGOs and conservation groups to the local people.

This paper explores the micro-hydro electricity development project at Sungai Buntal, (1) focusing on the development process, the transfer and transmission of knowledge between the facilitating organizations and local community, and local perceptions of renewable electricity, development and conservation. The data upon which this preliminary study is based were gathered during fieldwork at Sungai Buntal in August 2008. People in each household were interviewed about micro-hydro development, electricity, and the environment. Additional data on the construction of the project were derived from both structured and unstructured interviews and communication with researchers and workers from two agencies that participated in the development, Yayasan Riak Bumi, a Pontianak-based NGO, and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor. Yayan Indriatmoko was present in the community throughout the process and helped facilitate the development project. His knowledge and contributions to this paper have been invaluable, and much of the information on the actual development process, the micro-hydro project and the Buntal longhouse comes from him.

Background

Danau Sentarum National Park lies within the district of Kapuas Hulu in West Kalimantan, nearly 700 km up the Kapuas River from Pontianak, the provincial capital. The region is distinguished by interconnected seasonal lakes and seasonally flooded tropical forests (Wadley 2007). The area was established in 1985 as the Danau Sentarum Wildlife Reserve (Giesen 1987), became lndonesia's second Ramsar site (a wetland of international importance) in 1994, and was upgraded to a national park in 1995 (Wadley 2006a). in 2001, Colfer and Wadley (2001) concluded that Danau Sentarum was a "paper park," whose only effective management was being carried out by local indigenous communities.

CIFOR has conducted research in DSNP since 2004, but some of CIFOR's researchers have worked in the park since 1993. The goal of CIFOR's projects in DSNP has been to assess the participation in sustainable resource management of various stakeholders, including local communities, the government, conservation organizations, timber companies, and others. These reports have highlighted the long-term commitment necessary to create management plans that work within the resource users' frameworks. In DSNP, the primary users of forest resources include the Malay, primarily fishing people who live on the edges of the lakes and rivers, and the Iban, who reside upstream in the hilly and mountainous regions (Colfer & Wadley 2001). Colfer, a principal scientist and anthropologist at CIFOR, noted that at this point there are the beginnings of collaborative management in the park (Colfer, personal communication).

Conservation efforts within and around the park were complicated by the Indonesian economic crisis in 1997 and the power vacuum left after the fall of Suharto's New Order regime in 1998 (Wadley 2006b). During this period illegal logging expanded dramatically in West Kalimantan, and most of the timber and revenues were taken across the Malaysian border into Sarawak, and eventually to markets in Hong Kong, China, Japan, and elsewhere. In the late 1990s, the main players in the Upper Kapuas borderlands were not the Indonesian concessionaries, as during the New Order, but local communities and Malaysian financers. The communities received money from the sales, but this money was usually less than one percent of the total revenues (Wadley 2006b).

After 2000, a shift in political power through formal regional autonomy enabled local communities to carry out most of the logging operations in the Upper Kapuas region through community cooperatives. The reform of forestry policies in Indonesia terminated many concessions for timber companies and allowed communities to form cooperatives and log their own lands. The goal of the cooperatives was to facilitate "joint development projects among the member communities," but Wadley (2006b: 119) noted that "the only activity that cooperatives have engaged in has been logging." Some cooperatives worked directly with Malaysian logging companies; others built their own sawmills and carried out their own operations. Logging in the region continued, but as time passed, many of the communities turned to oil palm development for income.

Various conservation groups and NGOs have begun collaborating with the local communities to find locally appropriate methods of forest management and develop alternative methods of generating income. Management planning is the undertaking of the Kapuas Hulu district government, but NGOs, research institutions and management agencies all have been involved in the effort. In late 2004, CIFOR and Yayasan Riak Bumi initiated a participatory action research project to assess management in the park. CIFOR states that the project in DSNP was based on two goals: (1) to improve local people's livelihoods through pro-conservation, income-generating activities; and (2) to foster collaboration among stakeholders in the park.

In 2007, as part of the ongoing participatory action research project, CIFOR and Yayasan Riak Bumi facilitated the development of a micro-hydro dam at the Sungai Buntal longhouse, which is located within the buffer zone of DSNP in the Kapuas Hulu district. Because of the remote location, the longhouse--like many communities in the region--had no access to electricity from the State Electricity Company (Perusahaan Listrik Negara, PLN) and the national grid. The Buntal micro-hydro dam was a pilot project in the Kapuas Hulu Regency of West Kalimantan, and staff from CIFOR and Yayasan Riak Bumi believed that if successful, micro-hydro could provide electricity for other rural communities as well.

The stakeholders in this project collaborated so that each would benefit in various ways. CIFOR identified six reasons why micro-hydro electricity production could succeed (Indriatmoko 2008). First, micro-hydro was an appropriate technology for the area, which has rivers suitable for electricity production. Second, access to electricity would improve the livelihoods of the people located in the rural areas of DSNP and provide alternative methods of generating income. Third, micro-hydro technology would be simple and easy for local people to repair and maintain. Fourth, renewable, clean energy from the dam would avoid the carbon emissions generated by diesel generators and save the community money otherwise spent on diesel fuel. Fifth, the local people would have an incentive to steward the water and forests because electricity production would depend on resource conservation. The Buntal community had been logging the nearby forests, but the production of electricity by hydro depends on sufficient water levels. Continued logging in the area around Sungai Buntal could cause the water table to drop, thereby reducing the amount of electricity produced. And finally, external donors would fund the project, and the continued operation of the system would be maintained by charging each family a small monthly charge for electricity. (2) This would leave the local community with two options: either continue to log the surrounding forest, lose the electricity, and have to revert to the more expensive diesel generators, or preserve the forest and watershed so that electricity can be maintained for all families at a minimal cost.

Many organizations around the world support the development of micro-hydro electricity in Indonesia. This project was partially funded by the German embassy in Indonesia; other micro-hydro projects in Indonesia have been developed with funding from Coca-Cola Indonesia, the Government of the Netherlands, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, the World Bank, and numerous agencies within the Indonesian government. The Kapuas Hulu district government also promotes micro-hydro developments and is planning projects for two other villages within DSNP.

The dam at Buntal is the first project to promote micro-hydro electricity for conservation purposes in DSNP. Since its completion, other communities have shown a desire to develop systems of their own or have contacted the regional government or various NGOs to discuss future projects. One community was so impressed by the micro-hydro system at Sungai Buntal that the villagers constructed one of their own, without outside assistance. Although it eventually stopped working because of technical flaws, this story demonstrates the desire for access to electricity in DSNP.

Study Site

This article is based on research carried out at the Sungai Buntal longhouse. The Buntal Iban share most cultural traits with the Iban groups described by Derek Freeman (1992) and others (Sandin 1976; Sutlive 1978; Wadley 2002). They live in longhouses, single structures in which families, often closely related, inhabit separate apartments (Freeman 1992). Each household has responsibility for its own economic production and consumption, but can rely on other households for aid in the event of labor shortages or harvest failure (Wadley 2002). During the study period, the Buntal longhouse was a nine-household community with 43 residents, seven of whom were working in Sarawak. The Sarawak workers included both men and women, and recently some entire families had begun traveling together for wage labor work.

The economy of the Iban in this region is based on a complex system of agroforestry and swidden plots. Hill rice is the main component of the swidden cultivation system, cut from long-fallowed forest within longhouse territory. During the three-month dry season, when fewer agricultural tasks are being performed, fishing provides an important source of protein for the Buntal community. Most fishing and agricultural activities take place within the boundaries of the national park. Agricultural tasks have evolved over the years, as men have left the longhouse for wage labor in urban centers to supplement income to pay for children's schooling or other needs (Wadley 2002). The villagers have smallholdings of rubber that contribute a large portion of their income. This and other agricultural products, such as pepper, are sold in regional markets. For additional income the residents produce textiles, mats and non-timber forest products, such as honey, often for trade or sale through collaboration with NGOs.

Development Process

At the time of the study, summer 2008, there were four diesel generators in the longhouse, but their use had been restricted by rising fuel prices. Diesel fuel cost Rp. 11,000 (US$1.15) per liter in Danau Sentarum National Park. A generator burned two liters of diesel fuel every two hours, and on an average night up to ten liters were used. The residents who owned diesel generators were struggling to pay for the fuel, so they were interested in installing a micro-hydro system at the longhouse.

The head of the Buntal subvillage (kepala dusun), the leader responsible for the administrative affairs of the longhouse and any communication with regional government officials, was Sanang. A vibrant and charismatic individual interested in progress, he was one of the few locals who had studied the Indonesian language in school and spoke it

fluently. He had participated in forest management training sessions and shared learning experiences (3) focused on resource management and conservation involving CIFOR, the Indonesian Environment Information Center (Pusat Informasi Lingkungan Indonesia), and Yayasan Riak Bumi (Indriatmoko 2008). During the shared learning experience, Sanang met two men from West Java, Rasman and Rasiman, who had built a microhydro system in their village. In the early stages of the project, he flew to Bandung with staff from CIFOR and Yayasan Riak Bumi for a training session on the operation and design of the turbines for the hydro scheme, and he communicated directly with CIFOR and Yayasan Riak Bumi throughout the project design phase.

CIFOR's and Yayasan Riak Bumi's approach to resource management and development is based on adaptive collaborative management (ACM). The goal of ACM is to create open and sustained communication among the stakeholders of a particular project; they learn together about local resource management practices, assess the needs of the community and enhance the capacity of individuals to improve their lives. Stakeholders may include the local community, the regional government and conservation organizations. The different groups agree to "act together to plan, observe, and learn together from the implementation of their plans while recognizing that plans often fail to achieve their stated objectives" (Colfer 2005:4).

The ACM process begins with participatory action research, in which researchers collaborate with the community to plan improvements in local conditions, gain power and skills in dealing with others and enhance project sustainability by developing a self-monitoring system. This site-specific management technique involves an on-going process of observation, action, monitoring, reflection and new action (Colfer 2005). The ACM process also requires the transmission and transfer of knowledge from the facilitators of the development project to the members of the local community. Control over knowledge for operating and sustaining a development project shifts from the experts and scientists to the people whose lives are being affected, a shift referred to as "situating" knowledge (Campbell and Vainio-Mattila 2003).

To begin the development process at Buntal, CIFOR, Yayasan Riak Bumi and residents of the longhouse developed a proposal for funding that included the installation of the micro-hydro system and travel costs for the two villagers from West Java to instruct the participants about the technical and operational aspects of the project. The German Embassy provided the funding for the project, along with financial support from Yayasan Riak Bumi and CIFOR; the total project cost was around US$7,000 (Indriatmoko 2008). The local community did not have to reimburse the donors, but each household pays Rp. 20,000, or about US$2 per month into a fund for maintenance.

The community cooperated with facilitators from CIFOR, Yayasan Riak Bumi, and Rasman and Rasiman, the two men from West Java, in designing, constructing, and completing the small-scale hydro system. In return, the Buntal community taught the men from Java about the production of forest honey and other non-timber forest products. Since many Buntal men were working in Sarawak, primarily women and children of the community led the development process. They were assisted by facilitators from Yayasan Riak Bumi and CIFOR. Together they divided the tasks among the villagers and assessed environmental conditions around the proposed dam site. The technical and operational knowledge was transferred to the local community from the two men from West Java. Rasman and Rasiman had had previous experience in developing microhydro electricity from a project they had installed in their village. The Buntal community chose Sanang and Belimbis as the primary operators of the system, but all the men were trained in how to maintain and operate the system.

Knowledge Transmission

For NGOs and conservation organizations, social learning and the transformation and transmission of knowledge are social processes that emerge as a product of continual dialogue between actors with varying access to power and resources (Winarto 2004). The Sungai Buntal community had direct access to those who held the knowledge of microhydro electricity; social learning and the ACM approach transferred that knowledge from those locations of power to the Buntal community. The transmission of knowledge between the facilitating organizations and the local community was a main component of the ACM approach. CIFOR facilitators and Yayasan Riak Bumi provided knowledge of the technical and theoretical workings of the project. The technical knowledge involved the everyday maintenance and operation of micro-hydro generation, and the theoretical knowledge focused on the drawbacks of continued logging and the potential benefits of the project to the local community. Buntal community members shared their knowledge of the local climatic and ecological conditions and discussed their concerns about the project. CIFOR researchers had carried out research and held social learning activities at the Buntal longhouse before this project, and so they had a foundation for understanding why the community wanted access to electricity.

CIFOR chose the adaptive collaborative management approach because it allows the community flexibility in improving the project's design to meet changing local conditions during and following the construction phase. The workers learned together as they tried to solve the technical problems of the project, thus transforming and transferring knowledge throughout the process. Speaking about the development process, Li (2005) maintains that while improvement schemes are destructive in some ways, they also produce new forms of local knowledge and practice. After the project was completed, all the people involved had acquired an understanding of the technology, and had gained skills in operating it. The operators now work on their own to solve technical problems as they arise without instruction from the facilitators of the project. For instance, they have repaired leaks in the dam and found ways to improve the water flow during the dry season.

The knowledge obtained by the Buntal community was a form of power. Having acquired an understanding of micro-hydro development, they have become a regional resource for other communities that want their own micro-hydro electricity. Sanang has been asked by other village headmen to survey their lands for potential micro-hydro development sites, and two proposed micro-hydro projects in DSNP are based on the template provided by the Buntal project. Knowledge of alternative energy development has expanded outward from Sungai Buntal to other communities in the region. It is too soon to determine the larger implications of this development for the forests and the communities of DSNP.

The research for this paper, conducted in August 2009, explored how the Sungai Buntal community perceived the project and its benefit to their lives. It also revealed the paths of knowledge exchange between the facilitators of the project and the local community.

Local Perceptions of Micro-hydro Development

At the Buntal longhouse, light is not just a way to illuminate one's surroundings; it also has significance in the Buntal Iban social belief system. At each meal, Dutch-era oil lamps were lit, even when a light bulb was turned on. Every evening, as nighttime approached, kerosene lamps were lit in front of each household door, even if the apartment within was unoccupied, because the light from the burning lamp was believed to keep the bilek (living area) safe. The lamps burned throughout the evening until the last person on the ruai (veranda) went to bed. Inside each occupied bilek household, a lantern was lit until the following morning. Once the micro-hydro system was operating, light from the kerosene lanterns was replaced with the glow of light bulbs hanging from the rafters of the ruai in front of each bilek household. The lamp inside was also replaced with a light bulb, which remained lit until the following morning.

Light is also important for utilitarian reasons, to help residents of the longhouse produce handicrafts, rattan baskets, fabrics, and other items. Women are the main producers of crafts in the longhouse, and with the assistance of Yayasan Riak Bumi, they have begun selling textiles, woven mats, and non-timber forest products to buyers in Kalimantan, Java, and elsewhere. On a wooden loom, the women weave tunan or pua' kumbu', which are textiles used for clothing or in ceremonies, as well as numerous tikai (floor mats) woven from rattan or other forest materials. Kelenjun, Sanang's wife, wove during her free time, which was most often at nighttime under the glow of a kerosene lantern. Tying intricate designs into the cotton fabrics in the flickering light is an eye-straining task. Kelenjun and other women in the longhouse said that electric lighting made weaving, cooking, and other household chores safer because they could see clearly what they were doing. During August, Kelenjun was weaving two pua' kumbu' to sell to buyers in Java, friends of Riak Bumi and CIFOR staff members. She believed that her sales would increase in the future and hoped that the extra income would pay for the health care she needed at the hospitals in Pontianak and Lanjak.

Health was a common topic of conversation in the longhouse, and many residents hoped that access to electricity would offer a healthier living situation. Sanang was aware of the negative effects of using kerosene lamps inside, such as increases in lung disease and asthma (Koshal et al. 1999; Shepherd & Perez 2008). Toxins from kerosene and diesel fuel were not the only problem. The noxious pollutants in smoke from wood fires used for cooking in longhouse kitchens fill the interior space of the bilek. In the longhouse, rice is always cooked over a fire; a gas stove is generally used for frying fish or sauteing vegetables. Because women are responsible for cooking and have their small children with them as they prepare meals, both populations are vulnerable to the detrimental health effects of wood smoke (Smith 2008). Studies on micro-hydro development have observed no decrease in solid fuel use in communities with electricity, however, because people cannot afford the expense of electric cooking equipment, while wood is free from the nearby forest (Wamukonya and Davis 2001; Bhattacharyya 2006). A different reason for the continued use of wood fires in cooking was given by Kelenjun: "No, I will not cook with electricity. It would not taste good."

The forest produced both firewood for fuel and plant materials for weaving household items, and many community members hoped that using natural resources to produce electricity would also sustain their savings. Sanang explained that because the micro-hydro electricity was virtually free, people could save money or use it for other things. Unggat agreed, adding, "Fuel is expensive and this saves us money." Longhouse residents complained that the costs of fuel, clothing, and food kept increasing while the prices villagers received at markets for their own goods remained the same. They appeared to blame the government for this. Unggat angrily protested, "Corruption! Corruption! Corruption! Gasoline is expensive, rice is expensive, because of corruption." Unggat argued that the government should step in and ensure that the price local farmers received for their goods, such as rubber, increased as well. He acknowledged, however, that electricity was good because people could work at night on crafts to produce more and increase their income, and the children could study without the noise of a diesel generator. Moreover, residents believed that increased productivity in the evening would allow the community additional time during the days for agricultural tasks and fishing, which might also increase their income. According to Li (1999:24), the Buntal community was using micro-hydro electricity as a "creative strategy to defend their livelihoods and advance their own agendas, attempting to turn state and 'green' discourse into their own ends."

Residents in the Buntal longhouse complained that even if they could afford it, diesel fuel was often not available. Transportation options are limited in this remote location, and boats are the only mode of transport possible for much of the year. The cost of running motorboats long distances has caused the villagers to travel less often and time their trips carefully. Many residents of Buntal have children who attend school a few hours away in Lanjak or live in other parts of Borneo, and essential tasks such as going to a doctor or to markets also may require long journeys.

Travel throughout Borneo, Indonesia, and even mainland Malaysia has been a feature of the Buntal Iban culture. Historically, Iban men have practiced bejalai, a tradition in which a man leaves his home in search of wealth and adventure (Freeman 1992). Most often, the men work as unskilled wage laborers in Sarawak and Brunei, sometimes without Malaysian identity cards, thus risking encounters with police (Horstmann and Wadley 2006). Bejalai is still a common practice at the Sungai Buntal longhouse, but now some families travel together, sometimes for up to 10 months at a time. Some community members expressed the hope that the additional income from activities made possible by electricity would allow the men to stay in Buntal.

Other residents hoped that modern technologies would allow them access to regional, national and global information without having to leave the longhouse. Unggat anticipated increased access to modern technologies and communication sources, such as television and cell phones. He hoped that information obtained from television or from speaking with relatives living in Malaysia would allow the community to determine the national and international prices for their goods. Unggat believed that if they knew the latest prices of rubber on the world market, they would have more power in bargaining with middlemen at regional markets. The Buntal Iban also produce honey that is prized in Pontianak and throughout Indonesia for its high quality and medicinal properties. Their honey is often sold through collaboration with NGOs in Pontianak. Residents wanted to get more income from the sale of their honey and believed that access to communication technologies would provide the catalyst for this change.

Some residents were interested in access to communication sources just for the simple pleasure of watching the evening news or movies. The younger residents in the longhouse enjoyed watching soccer games and Indonesian sitcoms on television. When electricity was turned on, television became the most prominent form of entertainment. However, television may have inadvertent consequences. Rao (2008) argues that increased access to television in India has prompted a drastic increase in consumption because rural viewers' lives are shaped by life on the screen. In particular, this research finds, children watch television shows and sporting events and develop a desire for the goods advertised. Western items displayed on television during shows or commercials are especially appealing to the younger generation, even though they are unavailable.

Environmental conservation was the last topic that the Buntal villagers touched on in our conversations about electricity and the development project. The facilitators of the project informed them that the electricity output of the micro-hydro system would depend on the amount of water in the river. More electricity can be produced and the system sustained for a longer period of time with more water running in the river. Together with the local community, the facilitators designed forest management plans regulating the cutting of trees in the forests near the river. People are not allowed to remove trees from these areas, and strict measures were put in place to discourage logging in forests in the watershed above the Buntal River.

The operators of the micro-hydro mentioned forest conservation as a major benefit of the micro-hydro project. The discourse used by the community in describing the benefits and drawbacks of the micro-hydro development project often mirrored that of the facilitators, and it was difficult to distinguish in which direction knowledge was being transferred. The operators of the system often spoke of environmental conservation and the benefit of having a clean energy source, and the facilitators would mention that the system would reduce carbon emissions and improve forest conditions. However, most residents were primarily concerned with how the project would directly improve their incomes, their children's education, and their access to lighting and television.

Conclusions

Conservation groups and NGOs are using the development of micro-hydro electricity in DSNP as a means to collaborate with local communities in hopes of accomplishing numerous goals. Income-generating activities such as oil palm plantation development and logging continue to pose threats to the health of the park's forests. One hope is that a cheap and renewable energy source will provide rural communities, such as the Buntal Iban, with social and economic incentives to maintain their forests. The expectation is that alternative methods of producing revenue will grow with access to electricity, creating an economic incentive to stop logging. Developers and local people also believe that there is a direct correlation between access to a clean energy source and better rural livelihoods. For instance, micro-hydro electricity is replacing many diesel generators and kerosene lamps, thereby lowering the levels of indoor air pollutants.

For the facilitators to determine how the micro-hydro project would enhance the livelihoods of the local community, they had to understand the perceptions of the local people. Having previously established a relationship with the Sungai Buntal community through social learning activities and other events at the longhouse, the facilitators believed the project was locally viable. The positive perceptions of the local people were vital to the success of the development project and its continued maintenance. If the community believed that the micro-hydro electricity system would benefit their lives in the long term, and not require major changes in their daily lives (Kottak 1990), they would be motivated to maintain the system and also be deterred from logging the area. Therefore, the relationship between the facilitating organizations and the local community prior to the development was crucial.

The social interactions between the researchers and the local people transferred and shaped perceptions, creating new knowledge for all involved. Residents of the longhouse learned that preserving their forests had benefits not only locally, but globally as well. During interviews, the responses of certain community members touched on global issues of how clean energy would reduce carbon emissions and global warming--issues that one informant said he learned through interactions with researchers. The social learning experiences and the development project helped create new relationships between the local community and their environment.

An understanding of local people's perceptions shaped the facilitators' views on how rural electrification could benefit other local communities in the park. Discourse is augmented, created and refined during interactions between developers and the local community. This knowledge and discourse are crucial to future projects. Development agencies can use the perceptions of rural communities of the benefits of rural electrification to promote micro-hydro projects to donor agencies, governments, and other funders.

At this writing, at least two more micro-hydro projects are underway in DSNP, and more are scheduled for the near future. It will be interesting to observe how regional and national governments respond to the ever-increasing ability of rural communities to generate their own electricity. Many communities, such as the Buntal Iban, produce just enough electricity for themselves; other systems in Indonesia are producing extra electricity to sell to neighboring communities or to the state-owned electric company. The political implications of energy sovereignty will be a test for national and regional governments. Dove (1996:51) points out that "when forest dwellers develop a resource for market, and when and if this market attains any importance, central economic and political interests assume control." Could the same be true for energy production in rural communities? Will the project make the Buntal more susceptible to outside control, or will it give them increased autonomy and better opportunities?

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Matthew Minarchek

Fulbright Research Fellow

Sagalaherang

Subang, West Java

Indonesia

minarchek@gmail.com

Yayan Indriatmoko

Research Assistant at Forest and Governance Programme

Center for International Forestry Research

Sindang Barang

Bogor, West Java

Indonesia

y.indriatmoko@cgiar.org

(1) In this paper, village names and the names of community members are pseudonyms.

(2) The cost was estimated at Rp. 20,000 to 30,000 per month.

(3) CIFOR's past research at the Sungai Buntal longhouse was based upon "shared learning experiences" in which researchers and the local people learned from one another about land use, forest management, conservation and sustainability. The main component of the shared learning experience is the use of the theories of social learning (see Roling and Jiggins 1998; Wollenberg et al. 2001a, 2001b). Social learning in resource management has been described as a continuous dialogue among scientists, planners, managers and users to explore problems and their solutions (Maarleveld and Dangbegnon 1999). One goal of the shared learning experiences and also social learning is to create an equal platform from which all stakeholders involved may negotiate.