Citizen science project in the M’zab valley oases (Algeria): Making groundwater management visible to young generations through the participatory visual approach

The skills, knowledge, values and rules of common resources management, like surface and groundwater in the M’zab valley (Algeria), are transmitted for centuries from one generation to another orally and on the field through observation and participation in the agricultural and water distribution tasks from a very young age. However, the continuity of intergenerational transfer of traditional knowledge faces challenges. Alterations of the water cycle related to climate change, mainly resulted in water scarcity, and technological transformations like the introduction of mechanised individual pumps, have disrupted the traditional collective organisation and challenged the intergenerational transmission of water management knowledge that prevailed in traditional systems. This has caused a loss of interest among the younger generation in their traditional knowledge around the governance of water resources. The participatory visual approach can facilitate community involvement in different citizen science projects. Our work explored how this approach can be used to address traditional knowledge holders’ concern about how to involve the younger generation in the groundwater management. We propose integrating different forms of knowledge- the research and video made by professional researchers, as well as the videos by four local scouts belonging to the M'zab oasis community.

The experience of participatory video enabled the four scouts to achieve three main things. Firstly, their involvement in concrete and practical projects enabled them to seek out information from knowledge holders from different backgrounds, deepen their own knowledge about the community-managed groundwater recharge and use system groundwater recharge and use system, acquire new skills (i.e. audio-visual and editing), express their perception and vision. Secondly, the four scouts used participatory video combining images and narrative to creatively and engagingly denounce two major environmental problems. Finally, the scouts used the potential of video to launch a call to action, building on the power of images and the emotions that those images can elicit.

Moreover, the interaction between research and artistic methods enables knowledge to be co-produced in a more dynamic and creative way. It also enables to overcome academia's bias against non-academic data. In our case study, the co-production of knowledge is crucial to raise awareness among young people. We believe that connecting different knowledge systems, traditional and scientific expertise, and emotions, can contribute to more sustainable governance of common resources like groundwater, by remembering the past, documenting the present and imagining the future.