Vientiane and Na Por village, 15-19 February 2016
Participants: Research teams and partners from Tanjungpura University (UNTAN)-Indonesia, National University of Lao (NUOL), and Vietnamese Academy of Forest Science (VAFS)
This one week training was the second methods training in preparation for the ASFCC phase II field work. The first training was held in Bogor in October 2015 (https://www2.cifor.org/asfcc/methods-training-1-focus-group-discussion-on-drivers-of-land-use-change-and-migration/). This second training was conducted in partnership with the National University of Laos (NUOL). The specific objectives of this methods training activity are to:
- Build common understanding of the objectives and methodological framework that will be used in the ASFCC Phase 2 research across research teams from Lao, Vietnam and Indonesia.
- Familiarize the research teams with the theory and application of survey methods (social network analysis, household survey and focus group discussion) that will be used in the data collection.
- Test and revise the social network analysis and household survey instrument based on field test and feedback from research teams.
- Build synergy and foster communication and team work within each country and across countries’ research teams.
- Plan for students’ individual research proposals and field work at each site.
The training consisted of two main parts, class room seminars and field testing:
- Classroom seminars on the survey instruments
In this part, an overview of the project was presented to remind participants of the objectives. The first instrument, the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was reviewed and the new instruments: the Household Survey and the Social Network Analysis were introduced. Lectures on the basic theory of the instruments were given and key reading material were provided. The draft questionnaire was reviewed and improved for translation. - Field testing
The field test was conducted at the forest research site of the Faculty of Forestry (FoF) of NUOL at Sangthong district, Na Por village. After an introductory meeting with the village leaders and NUOL management team at Camp I, we moved to Camp II to overnight. The next morning, we first held a FGD with the local villagers and then split the research team into 3 groups for a round of interviews. The results were discussed and based on the insights gained, revisions to the questionnaire were introduced to improve clarity behind the questions. A second round of interviews was held on Thursday (18 February 2016) in the morning. Results were again reviewed and more improvements to the questionnaire were made. - Final revision of instruments and discussion of research plans
Back in Vientiane, the teams met again for a final discussion on the instruments, presentation and discussion of the ASFCC student research proposals and drafting plans for the filed work.
1. Meeting with village representatives prior methods testing (Photo by Indah WB, February 2016, Laos)
2. Testing FGD on drivers of land use change and migration with villagers from Na Por village (Photo by Indah WB, February 2016, Laos)
3. Participants observing the FGD (Photo by Indah WB, February 2016, Laos)
4. Debriefing after methods testing (Photo by Indah WB, February 2016, Laos)
5. Bamboo, one of the main sources of livelihood in Na Por village (Photo by Indah WB, February 2016, Laos)
6. Multiple uses and products of bamboo (Photo by Indah WB, February 2016, Laos)
