Bridging the Gap the Mountain Mistra Programme as an arena for collaborative learning

Abstract

Society searches for new methods to manage the often complex and controversial issues surrounding natural resource management. The scientific community has a specific responsibility to increase our collective understanding of these issues. But what is perceived as desirable and feasible knowledge is open to debate. The Mountain Mistra Programme (MMP) is a multidisciplinary research programme with a clear objective to develop scientifically based strategies for a sustainable management of the resources of the Swedish mountain region. In order to succeed, the MMP needs to develop its outreach and communication activities. Collaboration in multi-stakeholder groups is one possible effort. This paper aims to analyse the collaborative potential created by MMP, when taking the initiative to develop and facilitate collaborative learning processes as part of the research. The paper shows how MMP has been applying a multitude of methods in creating better preconditions for interaction and learning among stakeholders, both between researchers from different disciplines, and between researchers and external stakeholders. Successful collaboration derives not only from facilitation and other pedagogic techniques, but also from complementary efforts in outreach and communication. Although starting from a point where the potential for multi-stakeholder collaboration was low, MMP's work has led to an increased capacity for future collaboration, partly due to the stronger relations and a shared understanding among stakeholders. Through the creation of new arenas and the facilitation of collaborative learning processes, MMP has added not only to our understanding of what is important for the sustainable management of mountain regions, but also how different stakeholders, including research institutes, might work together in order to make improvements. The paper concludes that there is a need to develop criteria to measure success in multi-stakeholder collaborations, including researchers. The need to combine different communicative arenas and efforts, as well as a variety of motives and needs among participants, makes evaluation problematic. Nevertheless, some general recommendations are given, such as the importance of facilitation and a communicative function within this kind of research programme, and the necessity for an initial focus on the process of collaborative learning, rather than on the specific issues at stake.