Urban wetlands improving the wellbeing of city dwellers

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There is growing evidence that urban wetlands play a role not only in protecting cities from hazards such as flooding and mitigating the effects of climate change, but that they also play a critical role in positive mental health impacts and overall human wellbeing. Nowhere is this most evident as in the metropolis of Colombo in Sri Lanka where the wetlands are fundamental to the wellbeing of the 2.3 million residents, particularly the urban poor, with 60% of households directly … Read More

Sharing Indigenous crafting knowledge and skills

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Throughout Guyana, Indigenous craft practices are on the decline. Research with Indigenous communities in Guyana has shown that following language, craft making has been identified by Indigenous communities as one of the most important indicators of Indigenous knowledge and heritage. As part of our National Geographic Society project on conserving nature and culture through Indigenous crafting in Guyana, we have been running week-long crafting workshops, bringing together Indigenous crafters and youth from across Guyana to share their knowledge, skills and … Read More

What is a Rights of Wetlands approach?

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The drive for economic growth, based on unbridled consumerism, continues to dominate wetland use and associated biodiversity loss, with existing strategies for wetland conservation failing. Up to 87% of global wetlands have been lost, contributing to an average decline of 84% in freshwater species populations and 36% decline in coastal/marine species populations since 1970. Biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation and climate destabilisation constitute connected global emergencies that worsen poverty, and now require transformative approaches, including ethical/legal paradigm shifts. Rights of Nature … Read More

Understanding Relational Values in Conservation Practices

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Dinda Prayunita is currently pursuing an MSc in Sustainable Development at KU Leuven. She has extensive experience in forestry and biodiversity conservation and has become increasingly interested in the social science domain to achieve better conservation outcomes. To pursue this interest, she recently organised a webinar on more holistic ways of doing conservation that featured Cobra Collective member Julia Jung. As her interests are highly aligned with the Cobra Collective approach, we invited Dinda to share some reflections on her … Read More

Learn more about Indigenous crafting in Guyana

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As part of our Indigenous crafting project in Guyana, we’re releasing today a short stop-motion video that gives a quick overview of the project aims. The focus of the project is craft associated with food, whether that is growing and catching food, harvesting and preparing food, cooking food and of course, eating food! What can you see in the video and how do you think it’s used? Keep tuned as we bring you updates about the project, and introduce you … Read More

Reflections on participatory video in Colombo

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On the 13th December 2022, together with the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), Colombo, we convened a workshop with the community researchers currently exploring the challenges and best practices in their wetlands sites. As part of the ‘Increasing the resilience of biodiversity and livelihoods in Colombo’s wetlands’ project, community researchers have been working in the Kolonnawa, Kottawa, Beddagana and Madiwela wetlands (jointly with site managers), understanding the history, context and current issues affecting the wetlands, from an ecological and social … Read More

Community food growing report

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The Cobra Collective is excited to launch its report on ‘Visual Storytelling about Community Food Growing‘ in collaboration with The Open University, Reading International Solidarity Centre, Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming. The report emerges from the ‘Grassroots Visual Storytelling about Community Food-Growing’ project which investigated the expansion of community food growing initiatives during the Covid-19 crisis. As part of the project, the Cobra Collective engaged community food growing participants and built their skills in digital visual storytelling … Read More

Radically hopeful cooperation in community food-growing

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In March-April 2022 the course on ‘Visual Storytelling about Community Food-Growing’ held its third and final instalment. Six participants of the cohort made engaging video stories; many more exchanged their experiences in the discussions.  This blog gives an overview of the insights gained, before introducing each story.  The spring 2022 video stories had resonances with many from the first two cohorts of the course, namely: During the Covid-19 pandemic, people were seeking ways to overcome social isolation in ways that … Read More

Remote working in participatory video – the UN Women experience

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The Covid-19 crisis has forced many people to stay at home and work remotely. But what are the pros and cons of remote working in participatory video projects where face-to-face communication is extremely important? Is it still possible to involve and train groups coming from disadvantaged backgrounds remotely? What strategies and methodologies can be put in place to make sure that the participatory process is still inclusive? A good learning experience came from the UN Women Second Chance project in … Read More

Evaluating the impact of community food growing initiatives

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Over the last two weeks, and as the digital storytelling about community food growing project comes to an end, we have been visiting case study initiatives to evaluate how community gardens’ activities influence wider collective and sustainable practices and how they could play a transformative role in peoples’ lives.     More specifically, we wanted to understand how these food growing initiatives overcame difficulties or obstacles of the Covid-19 pandemic, how participants developed forms of cooperation while getting to know … Read More

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