Practitioner Profile (Lisa Adams): “We Cannot Carry the Whole on Our Own—We Have to Work Together”

Abstract

Being a facilitator comes with the responsibility of finding value in all forms of knowledge that stakeholders bring to the table. Lisa Adams values different perspectives and takes them into account while addressing critical environmental and public health issues. Lisa views herself as a perpetual student, constantly seeking new information and adjusting her approaches. She came to appreciate the criticality of local knowledge while facilitating workshops in Southeast Asia. This was a formative experience for Lisa, even though the organisation she worked with did not integrate the community members’ ideas. In her subsequent work on rabbit management in Victoria, she made sure that all stakeholders were heard, respected and included. She explains that her initial lack of knowledge about the rabbit management system was advantageous, because it encouraged her to seek out local knowledge. Adams’ powerful dedication to democratic and participatory community engagement is the centre of her philosophy on problem-solving and innovation.