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Dryad

Data from: Understanding constraints to adaptation using a community-centered toolkit

Data files

Sep 17, 2023 version files 1.86 MB
Sep 17, 2023 version files 1.86 MB

Abstract

These data are part of a data portal that accompanies the special issue ‘Climate change adaptation needs a science of culture,’ published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B in 2023. To access the data portal, please visit 10.5061/dryad.bnzs7h4h4.

We worked with community leaders and local researchers in Andavadoaka, Madagascar, to develop the two focus group discussion guides and the survey that form this toolkit. Each is rooted in the central question, "What do you wish that conservationists and scientists asked you before suggesting changes for your community as you confront climate change and biodiversity loss?". This toolkit is designed to guide interviewers through assessing either 1) a community-produced project idea or 2) an external-generated prospective project idea or ongoing project (to assess if and how community and collaborator goals for this project could align). In our case, community leaders involved with the development of this toolkit used it to solicit problems and solutions from the community and explore a novel, community-selected project idea, rather than to collect feedback on an ongoing intervention. We then piloted the toolkit implementation process and present here the results alongside suggestions for the future use of these materials. The Agency Toolkit module is designed to be self-contained and assist the collaborator through each step of the process within a two-week period. We detail a suggested schedule in Supplementary Materials 5.

Before the project, authors met with community leaders to introduce the project and ask for their input in creating a tool to guide conversations on conservation and climate change adaptation initiatives. We explained both our desire for and ability to incorporate their feedback directly into the tool itself, as well as the desire to pilot the tool in the community. After gaining initial feedback and approval, we introduced these same study aims to all members of the focus group, who acted to disseminate this information to the broader community. Tools were translated into the local Vezo dialect of Malagasy, and back-translated to ensure correct meanings and cultural relevance of all questions.

For focus groups, G.M. and R.S. extended invitations to men and women in the community by visiting every household in Andavadoaka. Upon invitation, we informed participants that attendance was fully voluntary and that declining engagement in the study would not affect their relationship with the Morombe Archaeological Project or any of its affiliates. Every person who was willing to participate was selected for the focus groups. At the start of each focus group, we obtained informed oral consent and communicated to participants that they could withdraw at any point during the study, leave a discussion or interview early, or skip any questions they did not feel comfortable answering without affecting the compensation for their time or their relationship with the researchers. We received consent to audio-record focus groups. Members were provided with refreshments and compensation equivalent to USD 7 (based on a local average wage of 30,000 Ariary per day, yielding approximately $1 per hour of engagement with this project).

Similarly, we documented oral consent for all participants who agreed to individual interviews. Participants did not receive compensation for participating in individual interviews. To ensure the survey respondents’ anonymity, we removed names and identifying information from data made accessible for open-source access. The Columbia University Internal Review Board reviewed and deemed this research exempt from approval (Columbia IRB #AAAU3639; PSU IRB #00021067). We conducted this research with the requisite permits and approval from the Centre de Documentation et de Recherche sur l’Art et les Traditions Orales à Madagascar and l’Université de Toliara.