What we do
We engage with local institutions for long term co-learning experiences in landscapes. We use the concept of sentinel landscapes, which has been used in different ways by groups aiming to understand or reconcile conservation and development trade-offs (i.e. IUCN, CIFOR, ICRAF, WWF, FAO, UI, UBC, etc). We think it is imperative that our efforts strengthen pre-existing institutional capacities in ways that ensure inclusivity. That means our partners are determined by common-concern entry points and by a rigorous analysis of the pre-existing institutional arrangements.
Tanah Air Beta does not manage any landscapes. Our techniques are used to establish ties between the range of actors that affect landscapes. We strive to make the relationships in ways that better coordinate effort and commitment for working at a landscape level to achieve more equitable, inclusive development, and to conserve biodiversity. We use methods that suit the local context – which means using inductive methods before any deductive approaches are used.
TAB members come from diverse disciplinary, cultural, and career backgrounds, but work as a team using transdisciplinary, sustainability science. That means we partner with local societal institutions to conceive of and focus on solutions to shared problems. This requires heavy up-front, collaborative problem-framing and some methods for our work include: appreciative enquiry, historical trends analysis, actor network analysis, visualization methods, participatory rural appraisal techniques, systems analysis and modelling, and participatory theory of change techniques.
Our mission is to bring innovative, relevant scientific techniques to enable local populations, NGOs, local government and the private sector to achieve better outcomes at the scale of landscapes and seascapes. Therefore, we work in landscapes and seascapes that are in transition – where the pressures of development could bring benefits to local people but could also lead to environmental destruction and the capture of economic benefits by outside corporations. We aim to apply science in order to mediate these transitions and achieve better outcomes for people and nature. Tanah Air Beta works across several landscapes in Indonesia to share and exchange knowledge with practitioners interested in applying integrative techniques to help people achieve vibrant and biodiverse rural landscapes.
Activities by theme
- Vibrant Forest Landscapes: Institutional arrangements for successful small and medium forest enterprises
- Arts for Sustainable Landscapes & Participatory Mural Paintings
- Annual Landscapes Retreat
Where we do it
We focus our work in Indonesia, drawing from past experiences in parts of Southeast Asia and Africa. We engage and learn from different landscapes to build communities of commitment that install learning mechanisms for sustainability. We hope to contribute to global dialogues on closing gaps between people working on the ground and people advancing sustainability agendas at the international level.
SOUTHEAST ASIA
INDONESIA
Indonesia is our “Tanah Air”. It is a place where we have numerous connections across the archipelago, where Tanah Air Beta is headquartered, and where Intu, our director is from. A two minute video exploring what landscapes look like in Indonesia is found here.