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Jérôme Gandin, a Ph.D. candidate in Geography at Laval University (Canada), shares his research on community development and adaptation to environmental changes in the Usumacinta river basin (Guatemala-Mexico). His research is the result of several field trips to the Usumacinta river basin, both in Mexico and Guatemala, to interview local peasants and collect data, in collaboration with the Fundacion Kukulkan.
Jérôme's research aims to provide a theoretical, practical and methodological framework, which can ensure that local development involves environmental sustainability, economic viability and social equity. His research focuses on the alianza comunitaria para el desarrollo sostenible de la cuenca del rio Usumacinta (ACOCUMRU), a community-based initiative in environmental protection and socioeconomic development in the Usumacinta river basin which seeks to ensure sustainability of livelihoods. Jérôme's research is based on the following question: To what extent can a community-based initiative implement efficient livelihood strategies, when for the last decade, national governments have failed?
Jérôme's research is grounded in a multidisciplinary research in Political Ecology and follows the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA). The perceptions of environmental changes and the expectations of local populations in terms of local development are analyzed through a set of mixed methods, including a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, field observation and document review.
Results demonstrate that this community-based initiative successfully gathered local populations around a common purpose and implemented benefit-shared projects, in spite of their cultural, social and economic differences as well as limited financial resources. As such, the ACOCUMRU enables local populations to move a step forward in the environmental protection and manage concrete and fruitful activities based on consensus and their own needs and expectations. As a matter of fact, the ACOCUMRU triggers a social, economic and political dynamism, which defines the shape of a local environmental governance.
About Jérôme Gandin
Jérôme Gandin holds a M.A. in international affairs and a M.Sc. in Geography. He is finishing his Ph.D. in Geography at Laval University (Canada). His research interests include natural resources management, poverty reduction, agriculture, environmental protection, local development and disaster risk reduction. Presently, Jérôme is a lecturer at the Université de Montréal where he is teaching “gender and international development” to undergraduate students.
In addition to his academic experience, Jérôme has worked for different international organizations, consulting firms and NGOs, based in Europe, Canada and Latin America. He has managed projects in Costa Rica, Brazil, Montenegro, Italy and recently in Mexico and Guatemala for UNESCO, the European Commission, the United Nations and local NGOs. Jérôme is also the founder and president of “Géographes Sans Frontières”, an organization which aims to promote geography, share knowledges and create networks among geographers and international development workers around the world.
Jérôme's research aims to provide a theoretical, practical and methodological framework, which can ensure that local development involves environmental sustainability, economic viability and social equity. His research focuses on the alianza comunitaria para el desarrollo sostenible de la cuenca del rio Usumacinta (ACOCUMRU), a community-based initiative in environmental protection and socioeconomic development in the Usumacinta river basin which seeks to ensure sustainability of livelihoods. Jérôme's research is based on the following question: To what extent can a community-based initiative implement efficient livelihood strategies, when for the last decade, national governments have failed?
Jérôme's research is grounded in a multidisciplinary research in Political Ecology and follows the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA). The perceptions of environmental changes and the expectations of local populations in terms of local development are analyzed through a set of mixed methods, including a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, focus groups, field observation and document review.
Results demonstrate that this community-based initiative successfully gathered local populations around a common purpose and implemented benefit-shared projects, in spite of their cultural, social and economic differences as well as limited financial resources. As such, the ACOCUMRU enables local populations to move a step forward in the environmental protection and manage concrete and fruitful activities based on consensus and their own needs and expectations. As a matter of fact, the ACOCUMRU triggers a social, economic and political dynamism, which defines the shape of a local environmental governance.
About Jérôme Gandin
Jérôme Gandin holds a M.A. in international affairs and a M.Sc. in Geography. He is finishing his Ph.D. in Geography at Laval University (Canada). His research interests include natural resources management, poverty reduction, agriculture, environmental protection, local development and disaster risk reduction. Presently, Jérôme is a lecturer at the Université de Montréal where he is teaching “gender and international development” to undergraduate students.
In addition to his academic experience, Jérôme has worked for different international organizations, consulting firms and NGOs, based in Europe, Canada and Latin America. He has managed projects in Costa Rica, Brazil, Montenegro, Italy and recently in Mexico and Guatemala for UNESCO, the European Commission, the United Nations and local NGOs. Jérôme is also the founder and president of “Géographes Sans Frontières”, an organization which aims to promote geography, share knowledges and create networks among geographers and international development workers around the world.