The Live & Learn Model

Live & Learn strives to develop Community Development and Education models that have the capacity to reduce poverty and promote environmental sustainability. Our models are practically designed to strengthen participation and learning, use community resources and knowledge, promote innovation and simplicity, and benefit marginalised people. Most importantly the models are easy to replicate and take to scale.

One model that is commonly used to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development is the MAIA Model for Action and Learning . MAIA will first and foremost aim to manage natural resources based conflict and promote eco-system-based dialogue and community sustainability. MAIA is a four-stage conservation and conflict management model that focuses on: (i) Mobilization, (ii) Anticipation, (iii) Innovation and (iv) Action.

The overall denominator in the MAIA model is the focus on the mobilization of communities to enter Sustainable Use Agreements, promote sustainable management, local economic revitalization and peaceful conduct. MAIA approach focuses on building the capacity of local communities to identify and analyze information about the constraints conflict impose to the reduction of poverty and sustainable development and how to proceed in managing/dissolving these constraints through practical resources management arrangements.

Recognizing that sustainable development starts with forging sustainable relationships among resource users MAIA promotes local coalitions and multi-stakeholder resource user groups. MAIA will build participation and sustainability following a horizontal approach , which promotes greater cooperation among stakeholders, leading to more productive negotiations and collaborations between potential partners. This process builds on the continuing relevance of traditional knowledge and resource management systems, together with other types of information about resource bases, to help communities make objective, better informed decisions that are more consistent with sustainable development objectives.

The MAIA Model for Learning and Action can be applied to any development and environmental issue.