Knowing & Learning

(Research & Knowledge Exchange)

One central premise of our work is that we have a lot to learn about human-animal coexistence through cultural exchanges and dialogue. While we depart from a place of epistemic humility, we also firmly believe that the more we can produce and be guided by credible scientific evidence demonstrating the importance of safeguarding our interdependence, the more progress we will be able to make on these issues. To that end, we have a broad base of research-focused partners helping us bring innovative methodologies to bear upon our projects and interventions as a way to both evaluate their impacts and help us better understand complex issues of coexistence. We then invest significantly in knowledge exchange between North America, Africa, and the global community studying human-animal interactions to share these learnings and create mutually beneficial points of contact.

  • The Importance of Interdisciplinary Research & Innovative Methodologies

     Some argue that the more pressing and immediate human/ societal problems become, the less concern there is available for those issues affecting other animals and the environment. The challenge is to recognize the causal interlinkages among these global catastrophes and to understand and solve them in tandem, rather than isolating them neatly into boxes, with increasingly narrowing sets of intellectual and professional expertise given the impossible task of holding the complexity of the full picture.

    As researchers and practitioners seeking to understand and facilitate harmonious coexistence, one challenge we face is the need to loosen disciplinary boundaries whilst epistemically broadening what we understand as ‘data’ to include a wider range of qualitative, ethno, and quantitative research methodologies. This will be important in order to effectively design interventions that seek to understand human-animal-environment relationships and associated complexities. What counts as data? How can we develop innovative research methodologies to help us better capture and understand the challenges facing other animals? How can we encourage donors and grant-makers to prioritize the less immediate but crucially important work of research and data collection that is required to sufficiently evaluate the effectiveness of specific interventions? How can we ensure that research and evidence generation in non-profit and animal advocacy circles is seen as a worthwhile front-end investment to ensure effective interventions and best practices? What are the limitations of data and data-driven decision-making in capturing everything that is of value in these efforts? How can we embrace complexity and interdependence in research as we seek to produce knowledge and ways of understanding ecological challenges that will lead to robust and durable solutions? At AHAC we feel we are well positioned to help answer these questions and fill this gap by advancing innovative, interdisciplinary research able to methodologically grasp the nuances and inter-relational dynamics of the challenges facing animals and ecosystems, in Africa and beyond.

  • We currently partner with a wide range of individuals and institutions with the goal of better understanding complex issues involving human-animal coexistence. These partnerships also allow us to innovatively evaluate the effectiveness of specific interventions, by employing methodologies that bring a more rigorous and nuanced understanding of ‘impact’ to our Monitoring and Evaluation efforts. If you’re interested in partnering with us on research seeking to explore and better understand the human-animal-environment nexus please get in touch with us at katherine@humananimalcoexistence.org

  • We are always looking for opportunities to share knowledge and exchange perspectives on issues involving our coexistence with other animals. We are particularly keen to bring Indigenous and African perspectives on human relationships with other animals to the North American context, confident that there is much to be learned from this exchange. If you are interested in organizing an event (virtual or in-person) with the goal of exchanging perspectives or facilitating research collaborations that would deepen our understanding of these complex issues, please get in touch with us at katherine@humananimalcoexistence.org