Wageningen (NL): The first three MSc students to participate in EarthCollective’s PRESENCE initiative successfully completed their South African fieldwork in December 2007. The Wageningen University trio, back in the Europe and amidst the write-up of their theses, took some time this week to reflect upon their unique experiences.

Looking back Dutch student Kim Janssen says, “[I knew] it would be my biggest challenge to work on a project in a group as I had never experienced working together so closely with a group before.” However, despite the concerns, the students showed a tremendous ability to adapt under the circumstances to ensure that their experience was positive.

“I really enjoyed working in group with people I could connect with. However, it is not always easy” noted Emmanuelle Noirtin (France) who undertook a stakeholder analysis of the case study area in the western Baviaanskloof. “As we had to work together, we had to take into account the needs of everybody for their own research and then make compromises and select what is the most important, without always being able to go into the details.”

Kim agrees and adds, “It is important to learn about how to take into account everyone’s interests during the research process even though this can sometimes lead to frustrations. But one thing that definitely was good during the research was the overall group dynamic; the group consisted of people who are very enjoyable to be with.”

Ignacio de la Flor (Spain) supports his colleagues’ views and adds that, “The most important thing is to really, really think about the preparation of the [research] questionnaires; which data do you want and how to obtain it. For that, it is essential to read a lot about similar case studies that can orientate you. For me, this is the most important and most difficult thing: to have a clear view of your objectives and how to get that data.”

But the WUR Environmental Science Masters students’ time in the field was more than just working in a group and obtaining data about the diverse values of key ecosystem services in the Baviaanskloof. They were interested in understanding stakeholders’ willingness to restore their lands. And to do that, one needs to also be able to build good relationships with farmers, communities and Government. PRESENCE Project Manager Dieter Van den Broeck says, “The students should be very proud of the way in which they conducted their research and built strong interpersonal relationships with those they met”. Ignacio shares this observation, “it was really nice how we connected with everybody we interviewed.” Emmanuelle feels that their international background helped them along a little adding, “Being a group from different countries probably helped us to have a connection with the farmers and others – each one of us was able to share our traditions and culture.”
Kim speaks for the group when she says, “I have learned a lot about myself as a person in a group…and I know now what qualities I have for working in a group as well as the aspects I still need to work on to make myself function better within a group.” Emma happily reflects, “The life at Kouga Dam Research House with all the different nationalities and habits made these three months really special. It pushed people to make efforts to reach a balance that was really good for the group.”
All this effort would be challenging enough in our normal daily lives already. But take such a situation to Africa and everything is, of course, amplified. “Every day there is a possibility something will happen that makes you have to change your plans and requires you to be flexible” concludes Kim. “Living in South Africa definitely showed me how it is like to live by the day and to be ready to change plans any time of the day. Things happen, like floods and flat tyres…or rhinos on the run…”
The three WUR Environmental Science students participated in a PRESENCE pilot case study in the western Baviaanskloof known as EASTCARE: Ecosystem Approach for Subtropical Thicket Conservation And Restoration, Eastern Cape. Their research results feed into the PRESENCE research programme and supports collaborating projects such as the Subtropical Thicket Restoration Programme (STRP) and Working for Woodlands.