Ecosystem & Landscape Community Vision
Understanding biotic, abiotic and socio-economic and cultural factors shaping the territory is an essential element for any development intervention. The co-creation of a landscape vision, for different stakeholders to imagine possible futures, make agreements, and be transparent, is the foundation of Casa Congo’s Community-driven Landscape Restoration & Flood Prevention Plan.
It analyses historical, social, abiotic, and biotic elements of the landscape and their interaction to better understand socio-ecological processes that affect the community of El Astillero. Its part of a process to engage with the community of El Astillero and municipality to develop a community driven multifaceted approach to Flood mitigation which also addresses, deforestation, soil loss, ecosystem fragmentation and food sovereignty and cultural preservation.
Our Photo-Voice Project is an artistic exploration into the perception of people in El Astillero and their connection to Nature. We had ten disposable film cameras and gave 2 to: farmers, fishermen, and mothers, as well as 4 to youth. 9 were returned to be developed, in order to gain insights into their various points of view. The question we posed to those who participated in our participatory photography project in El Astillero looked to explore the relationship between humans and their natural environment.
"This photo captures the importance of fire for food because we have to cook. And there's nothing better than eating food from firewood, it's delicious”
Karen
Photo-Voice is a research methodology used to explore the stories of people who lack space in key debates, society and politics. The camera lets them capture their experiences and point of view to share it with others in a creative way. www.raicesdesoberania.com is where you can find out more about this Photo-Voice project, the audio recordings of the interviews with participants and much more!
We are currently working on a proposal for a more comprehensive approach to our Community Landscape Vision, with the creation of a farmers’ field school and the implementation of community consultation workshops to collect and articulate visions of a safe and socio-ecologically sound environmental management plan.
Our vision is to progressively increase productivity and income for farmers, whilst generating soil, reducing flood risk and weaving new relationships with the land.