







































Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal 1(2): 111–114, July 2018 

 
REPORT 
 

Engaging the Forests and Livelihoods Community: 
The 3rd Annual FLARE Network Meeting  
 

Arun Agrawal , Rebecca Rutt  and Cristy Watkins   

 
The Forests & Livelihoods: Assessment, Research, and Engagement 
(FLARE) network held its third annual meeting (FLARE 3) at Stockholm 
University in 2017 from 29 September to 2 October. The meeting was co-
organized by the University of Michigan; Stockholm University; the 
Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI); the Swedish International 
Agricultural Network Initiative (SIANI); the Forest, Climate, and 
Livelihood research network (Focali); and the Rights and Resources 
Initiative (RRI).  

About 180 scholars, practitioners, policy-makers, and donors from 29 
countries showcased their research and implementation activities in the 
forests and livelihoods domain. There were 133 presentations, eight 
posters, two special discussion sessions, and three thematic workshops, and 
also daily social networking events. Four areas of insight and future 
research emerged. 

Forests and forest products (still) matter to the livelihoods of the poor 

Presenters identified direct benefits from forests (e.g., nutrition from 
hunting, fishing, and foraging activities) and indirect benefits (e.g., income 

 
 Professor, University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability, 440 Church 
Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109 USA; arunagra@umich.edu 

 Assistant Professor, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource 
Economics, Rolighedsvej 25, 1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark. While writing this paper she 
was a Research Associate with School of International Development, University of East 

Anglia, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR47TJ, UK; rebeccalrutt@gmail.com 
 Research Manager, University of Michigan, School for Environment and Sustainability, 

440 Church Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109 USA; watkinsc@umich.edu  

Copyright © Agrawal, Rutt and Watkins 2018. Released under Creative Commons 
Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence (CC BY-NC 4.0) by the author.  

Published by Indian Society for Ecological Economics (INSEE), c/o Institute of Economic 
Growth, University Enclave, North Campus, Delhi 110007.  

ISSN: 2581-6152 (print); 2581-6101 (web). 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v1i2.47  

https://doi.org/10.37773/ees.v1i2.47


Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [112] 

from sale of products, ecosystem services such as flood control). Many 
presenters also called for better measurement tools and analytical 
approaches to assess the extent of forests' contributions to livelihoods.  

Two panel sessions discussed methods (empirical analyses, modelling 
efforts, and policy instruments) to gather representative household data on 
wood energy needs. Another session illustrated how small and medium-
sized forest enterprises can positively affect community development 
through strong institutions, local user rights, technical support, and 
organizational capacity.  

Several presenters explored payment-based interventions and argued that 
such programmes should incorporate existing stewardship practices that 
motivate good behaviour rather than punishing bad behaviour. Presenters 
debated whether and how comparative research can offer insights into 
improving policies for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest 
degradation (REDD+) and enhancing well-being. 

Challenges remain in understanding large-scale land tenure 
arrangements 

Evaluating the effects of large-scale land tenure arrangements or changes in 
such arrangements (e.g. land transactions and protected areas) remain a 
challenge. Patchy data and context dependence are two key concerns. 
Presenters examined new methods for assessing preconditions, correlating 
factors, and interacting processes. One session described new tools and data 
sets to facilitate transparency in forest commodity supply chains. Another 
session examined conflicts and other spillover effects of changes in tenure 
and land transactions. 

Effective forest management requires cross-scale coordination and 
attention to power dynamics 

Power dynamics was a ubiquitous theme, especially in sessions exploring 
community engagement in forest management. It is critical to have 
equitable representation of diverse voices (e.g. in relation to gender, culture, 
and wealth differences) and robust tools to measure impacts. Land titling to 
secure conservation and livelihoods was shown to be inadequate to 
meaningfully secure land rights and ensure sustainable forest management. 
Local and social interpretations of ecological values (e.g. primary forests 
versus planted trees) need to be considered in tenure design. A panel 
focused on the Amazon illustrated the importance of coordination among 
farmers, e.g. for fire management as well as for higher-level policy 
intervention decisions. 

 



[113] Arun Agrawal, Rebecca Rutt and Cristy Watkins 

113 
 

Collaboration is central to conservation and development 

Presenters argued that forest ecosystems can support agricultural resilience 
but competition for land is fierce. Diverse expertise is required to 
understand, respond to, and reframe the goals and impacts of conservation 
and development initiatives. Presenters called for both public and private 
sector representation, the meaningful inclusion of local and cultural 
knowledge, and an understanding of how expectations influence outcomes. 

Special discussion sessions 

The Future of Forest Work working group of the FLARE network 
explored the prospects for meaningful work for young people in forest 
communities. The group shared efforts to engage youth in 'visioning 
workshops' and discussed preliminary findings and opportunities for future 
engagement. The discussion on RRI's tenure tracking methodologies1 
presented their methods and data sets pertaining to tenure and explored 
how these can be used in policy, advocacy, and research settings. 

Tool-based workshops 

FLARE 3 also offered opportunities to engage with workshop-based 
problem-solving tools related to forest–livelihoods relationships. 

Forests, farms, and livelihoods: Scale, scope, and rights matter: This workshop 
introduced the work of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on 
estimating aggregate value of contributions from forest and farm small 
producers at national and global levels. Participants learned about the data 
collection tool, Collect Mobile,2 and discussed strategies for using existing 
evidence to influence decision-makers on policies and investments to 
improve conditions for small-scale producers. 

Design and methods of research with community participation: Integrating local ecological 
knowledge, practices, and worldviews in resource use and management planning: This 
one introduced participatory research as a method to assess and incorporate 
local knowledge, practices, and worldviews ('k-p-w assemblage') into 
project/policy implementation. Participants produced hypothetical research 
designs and simulated participatory methods. 

FLARE's LivWell and CommFor tools: It introduced FLARE's web-based 
tools for collecting data on livelihoods and well-being (LivWell),3 and 

 
1 https://rightsandresources.org/en/work-impact/tenure-data-
tool/#.Wp2MLmrwb0M  
2 http://www.openforis.org/tools/collect-mobile.html  
3 http://www.forestlivelihoods.org/resources/livwell  

https://rightsandresources.org/en/work-impact/tenure-data-tool/#.Wp2MLmrwb0M
https://rightsandresources.org/en/work-impact/tenure-data-tool/#.Wp2MLmrwb0M
http://www.openforis.org/tools/collect-mobile.html
http://www.forestlivelihoods.org/resources/livwell


Ecology, Economy and Society–the INSEE Journal [114] 

community forestry (CommFor).4. Participants browsed the web-based 
tools, explored the questions that constitute each tool, drafted a work plan 
for implementing the tools in their own data collection settings, and 
provided feedback on how to improve the tools for wider use. 

Fostering continued engagement 

The annual FLARE meetings have emerged as a unique and much needed 
space for productive dialogue among an increasingly close-knit community 
of researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers. Participants praised the 
quality of presentations and moderator facilitation, and appreciated 
organizers' efforts to support new forms of engagement, collaboration, and 
exchange. Calls were also made for more collective sharing and learning 
from failures; diverse ways of communicating (e.g. artistic expressions and 
new media); non-English-language presenters and content; bridges with 
other sectors; and regionally or locally focused work toward concrete, 
context-specific policy suggestions. This feedback will inform FLARE 4 in 
Copenhagen in October 2018. 

Conclusion 

Researchers, practitioners, and policy-makers are advancing our collective 
understanding of interactions between forests and livelihoods and how 
people and forests influence each other. As befits a gathering of researchers 
and practitioners, key emphasis areas concerned the need for better low-
cost tools to collect information on forests and livelihoods, especially to 
assess forest dependence in different contexts. Another question that 
garnered attention was how to best use emerging datasets and techniques to 
estimate the effects of different forest and livelihood interventions. More 
rigorous assessments require more than sophisticated quantitative analyses; 
they also demand a deeper knowledge of the interventions themselves, 
including why they are implemented in selected regions and for particular 
peoples and households. As new tools are designed and new data collected, 
the FLARE community continues to invest in cross-sector collaboration 
and the development of rigorous, cost-efficient, and easy-to-use tools with 
which to collect data and assess impacts of social and ecological 
interventions and phenomena. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

We thank FLARE meeting participants for their feedback and meeting 
session moderators who contributed valuable session summary points.  

 
4 http://www.forestlivelihoods.org/resources/commfor-tool  

http://www.forestlivelihoods.org/resources/commfor-tool

