General Conclusions - Integrated Assessment of Health and Sustainability of Agroecosystems - page 203

9 General Conclusions
1. This work demonstrates that a holistic approach to investigating agroeco-
system health (AESH) and beginning to implement sustainable processes
for AESH improvement is feasible even with complex field situations.
2. Communities were able to use the concept of health to discuss and model
approaches to improve their livelihoods. The approach provides a simple, yet
highly specialized language—understood by the communities, researchers,
extension agents, development agents, and policymakers—for discussing
issues relating to AESH and sustainability.
3. Although remarkably similar to traditional methods of integrated commu-
nity development, the AESH framework is based on the principles of sys-
tems theory and practice, participatory and action research methods, and
conventional research methods combined into a transdisciplinary frame-
work. The AESH framework as applied in this study is a metaphor to struc-
ture how people think about their actions—social or economic—and their
implication on the biophysical world to improve their own well-being and
to conserve the natural resource base on which their survival depends.
4. A unique feature in this process was that communities, researchers, and
development agents played complementary roles. While the communities'
role was crucial to understanding the system and in defining the criteria
for health, the role of the researchers as experts in methods and that of the
development and extension agent as subject experts was critical to the over-
all success of the project.
5. Cognitive maps, graph theory, and pulse process models were useful in
analyzing community perceptions of factors that influence AESH and sus-
tainability. That communities easily understood and applied cognitive maps
to depict their perceptions combined with the fact that the cognitive maps
were largely in agreement with findings from the participatory workshops
indicate the potential of this method. In an action research process, cogni-
tive maps can be reevaluated and updated in each action research cycle
as the local theory develops. In this way, they can serve as a record of the
developing local theory, an analytical tool, and a means for assessing new
goals and objectives.
6. Rich pictures were useful in helping communities to analyze the different
perspectives that existed on a problem situation and in guiding consensus
building, negotiation, and compromise.
7. Communities used the information derived using indicators to reevaluate their
action plans, objectives, and goals. This demonstrates the success of the AESH
approach in operationalizing the concepts of AESH and sustainability and in
incorporating them into the decision-making processes of the communities.
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