Dr Andrea Berardi

In the last decade, innovation in drone technology has driven a rapid expansion in actual and potential applications as a result of reduced costs and increased operational capabilities. The U.S. Consumer Electronics Association predicts that the global market for drones will approach US$130 million in revenue in 2015, increasing by more than 50 percent from 2014. Drones are now also emerging as a cheap and environmentally friendly tool for communities to use in environmental monitoring: one can now buy a battery operated drone that can take high-quality aerial imagery for less than £1000. With increasing frequency of environmental disturbance and criminal activity (e.g. illegal waste tipping, destruction of protected habitats and trees, unregulated construction), the rapid and regular deployment of eco-drones will become an important tool for community members concerned with protecting their local environment. The aim of this project is to engage in participatory research with community organisations and statutory agencies in exploring the deployment of eco-drones for environmental management and governance. The lead academic on this project has established strong links with local community groups in a rural location of the UK, including the Neighbourhood Plan Delivery Group, the local Transition Town group, local wildlife associations, and the area’s statutory agencies, including the local Parish Council and the Tree Team within the local Borough Council (the only unit left within the Borough Council still engaged in environmental management). The methodological approach is to engage the various stakeholder groups in an initial period of consultation to scope eco-drone deployment (July 2015), with the aim of raising awareness of the issues, establishing a ‘protocol of engagement’ i.e. when and where would eco-drone deployment be acceptable/unacceptable, and how the data will be analysed, by which groups, and for which purposes. The second phase of research with be the execution of a community-led aerial image capture campaign (August 2015), with an evaluation of the emerging challenges. The final phase will involve participatory analysis of the imagery, the development of a generic modus operandi for community-based eco-drone deployment and dissemination of research results (September 2015). One of the key practical outcomes of this pilot research is the launch of a social enterprise for supporting the long-term deployment of eco-drone technology within the locality, and to promote this model as an exemplar of how sustainability can be enhanced within a digital economy.

Mosquito-borne diseases have a major impact on developing countries. In 2018, there were an estimated 228 million cases and 405,000 deaths from malaria alone. DETECT will integrate satellite, air-borne and ground-based sensing to detect where mosquitoes are most likely to breed. Through satellite communications, our system will then dispatch ‘sprayer drones’ to these high-risk areas to release biocontrol agents - killing mosquito larvae without affecting other species. The Discovery Phase will co-design a community-based service with the Indigenous community of Yupukari, Guyana, and engage stakeholders from within Guyana and beyond in planning for outscaling.

Agroecology-based Solidarity Economy in Bolivia and Brazil (AgroEcos) https://projetoagroecos.wixsite.com/meusite Funded by the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF), 2020-2021 Over the past decade, Latin America has had a greater convergence between solidarity economy (economia solidaria) and agroecology, here called EcoSol-agroecology as a short name. This convergence builds short food-supply chains (circuitos curtos) bringing agroecological producers closer to consumers, thus building solidaristic relationships. The various means include: public procurement for school meals, farmers’ markets and regular box schemes, sometimes organized as Community-Supported Agriculture. Research questions The project originally planned to investigate two main questions: • How do EcoSol-agroecology networks develop collective capacities for solidaristic circuitos curtos? • How can participatory action-research help to identify and strengthen those capacities? We had planned to investigate our research questions through in-person workshops using various cultural methods (e.g. narratives, art, social cartography, music, etc.). Given the Covid-19 pandemic and its hygiene restrictions, we had to postpone that plan. Moreover, EcoSol-agroecology networks faced new obstacles to their close relationships with consumers. So we added more research questions, for example: • How do these networks extend their previous practices and capacities? • How do they convert difficulties into opportunities? • How do they overcome obstacles, construct learning and conceive new strategies? To explore those questions, we have used online methods, especially webinars here. Partners and their case studies Open University, UK, coordinates the project. Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP), São Paulo, investigates two territories: • Baixada Santista, in partnership with the Fórum de Economia Solidária da Baixada Santista (FESBS). • Bocaina (Costa Verde), in partnership with the Observatório de Territórios Sustentáveis e Saudáveis da Bocaina (OTSS) and the Fórum de Comunidades Tradicionais (FCT). Comunidad de Estudio Jaina, Tarija, Bolivia, investigates the Valle Central in partnership with the Bioferia agroecological producers. English-language outputs Pandemic context AgroEcos Boletim no.1 (trilingual bulletin) December 2020 ‘Return to normal’ from the COVID-19 crisis? , May 2020 Participatory Action Research during the Covid-19 pandemic: methodological aspects (March 2021), Pre-pandemic context Agroecological innovation constructing socionatural order: Two case studies in Brazil, Tapuya: Latin American Science, Technology and Society 4(1): 1-29 Socio-environmental justice: traditional communities renewing musical cultures in the Bocaina, Brazil

In August 2018 a week long scoping exercise assessed the mental health training needs of multi-disciplinary health practitioners in Guyana. From this, we developed an innovative research strategy and commitment to develop a community-based mental health improvement programme capable of being adopted by Guyana and other Low- and Middle-Income Countries with similar socio-economic conditions. Our approach focuses on promoting community mental health resilience through participatory digital technologies that build on The Open University’s global leadership role in distance learning. The research and development phases will address embedded cultural attitudes and norms that frequently prevent healthcare practitioners implementing successful and sustainable interventions in such environments, while promoting existing positive practices. Our research will: 1. Establish a baseline of social, environmental and mental health status within three case study communities; 2. Co-design with community members, practitioners and agencies a capacity building programme for community-based mental health improvement in readiness for a period of engagement within the three case study communities focusing on improving mental health resilience through our ‘community owned solutions’ approach. 3. Support, through a process of action research, the practitioners as they apply and evaluate the resilience/‘community owned solutions’ approach within the case study communities, and monitor intervention impact with respect to baseline state. 4. Apply lessons learnt to strengthen the practitioner capacity building programme for major out scaling within Guyana (through the University of Guyana's BSc in Mental Health Nursing) and in other LMICs. By aiming to establish a BSc honours degree in Mental Health Nursing as an outcome the project, we have a clear exit strategy for our research which will enthuse and motivate engagement across Government, Public Health and Education sectors. It will build on and develop existing practices to create a pathway towards the aspiration that will excite both innovation and education amongst practitioners and policy formers.