Ms Caroline Dunn
PhD
student
Topic: Making sense of
social research in forestry
University of Melbourne
Email: cajdunn@yahoo.com.au
This project is part of the Communities
Project in the Trees in the
Landscape research programme. I explore how Communities project
researchers work together with CRC Forestry partners with the aim
of understanding how the Communities projects can make a
contribution to forest management; helping with the social side of
forestry. My research has been layered ‘over’ the other
Communities projects (although I am based at the University of
Melbourne and have been involved in conducting the study of
community attitudes towards plantation forestry).
Over two and
half years, I worked with the partners of the Communities project
to:
·
Develop a basic understanding of
how social research is already making a difference for people in
the forestry industry
·
Help build the skills and capacity
of 1. researchers to deliver industry relevant research and 2.
industry partners to find practical uses for the
research
·
Develop a framework for thinking
about how social research can and might make a difference in
Australian forestry, and in other areas where researchers are
working with industry in areas of changing land use
My research method was partially action
research and also took a reflexive approach to practicing research
where the (unavoidably subjective) role of the researcher is
utilized in a positive way to better understand the dynamics of
doing social research in forestry. The relationships that I
developed with the partners of the Communities project provided me
with the opportunity to do the research, and I used a narrative
ethnographic approach to record and analyze these interactions.
This involved narrating the research results in an authentic and
open way.
I began this project in July 2006 after
qualifying for a
Master of Environment at The University of Melbourne. The
interdisciplinary Master degree consisted of part coursework and
part research and followed transition from my previous life as an
accountant. I studied a range of academic disciplines; from
biophysical sciences to anthropology and sociology. My research
included social research based in Thailand around community
forestry. From this work, I am convinced that solutions for
sustainable land management lie in bringing together different ways
of knowing.
My other association includes employment as
an accountant for Earthwatch Insittute
Australia.
