At a time when the climate crisis demands global action, Leiden University College's (LUC) research project REFloC (Resilient Ecosystems and Flourishing Communities) in Ghana is choosing a different path: listening closely.
Rather than solely relying on quantitative data or top-down solutions, the project centres the voices, knowledge systems, and lived experiences of Forest-Dependent Communities in Ghana to explore how both people and ecosystems can thrive together.
About the project
Led by Dr. Davina Osei, Assistant Professor of Social Economics and Development at LUC, and supported by an FGGA Starter Grant, REFloC is an interdisciplinary initiative unfolding in three communities in Ghana's Volta Region:
- Goviefe Todzi (rural)
- Kpeve Old Town (peri-urban)
- Golokuati (district capital)
In partnership with the local NGO Accelerated Rural Development Organisation (ARDO Ghana), the project seeks to understand how local communities perceive and experience environmental change and how those perceptions shape their strategies for survival, resilience, and aspiration.
'At the heart of the project is the question of how ecosystems and communities can flourish together', Osei explains. 'We want to explore how people living in and around forests interpret changes in their environment, and how that affects the way they adapt, survive, and plan. This is the heart of co-becoming.'
Balancing forest conservation and community well-being
Many conservation or development frameworks tend to prioritise either ecological sustainability or human well-being and rarely both. REFloC challenges this divide.
Osei's previous work revealed the tensions that arise when policies treat forest landscapes as either human-free zones or as spaces for extractive development. 'We designed the project around the idea that socio-economic and ecological life are deeply entangled,' Osei explains. 'The conventional separation just doesn't make sense when you're living in a place where forests are also sites of culture, spirituality, food security, and identity.'
Working together with forest communities 
Forest walks with community members 
Community-centered research methods
REFloC employs a suite of participatory and mixed methods to ensure that the research is deeply grounded in local realities. These include household surveys, oral histories, photo responses, forest walks, community mapping, participatory GIS, and stakeholder interviews.
'We work with communities, not just on them', says Osei. 'Our methods are designed to centre lived experiences and ensure that knowledge flows both ways.'
A story from the sacred grove
During a forest walk in Kpeve Old Town, one of the community elders led the team to a sacred grove. Traditionally, this grove would have a guardian 'chosen' by the forest itself, someone in the community spiritually attuned to its needs. But modern changes and the loss of rituals broke this relationship. The community is seeking a way to restore that connection. 'We feel the grove is waiting', said the community elder, 'but we must first apologise'.
This sparked deep conversation within the REFloC team about care, responsibility, spiritual ecology, and how certain aspects of modern development had made these older ways feel less 'valid'.
Early insights and findings
While REFloC is still in its early stages, the process has already revealed powerful insights. 'Resilience isn't just about bouncing back,' Osei notes. 'It's also about holding on to what matters. Whether that's a sacred grove, a memory, a livelihood, or a set of relationships.'
'From local community members to district officials and even national-level actors, our engagements have triggered discussions about how to strengthen what's already working and how to rethink what isn't.'
Later phases of the project will include feedback loops with the communities and the co-development of tools that support both learning and policy transformation.
Teaching global challenges differently
REFloC's impact goes beyond fieldwork by also laying the groundwork for educational toolkits on teaching global challenges and interdisciplinary, co-creative research. These toolkits will feature case studies, stories, and methods drawn directly from the project.
Students from LUC play an active role. 'Some of our students helped with literature reviews at the start of the project,' Osei shares. 'Now we're working with three of our alumni as research assistants, and they're doing a fantastic job supporting analysis and the creation of outputs.'
A student-led research clinic is also creating a global evidence gap map, with future phases involving students in co-developing teaching materials.
Looking ahead: The future of REFloC
his October, Osei will return to the three forest communities in Ghana to share early findings, a process that builds trust and ensures collective understanding.
'Inclusive research means truly listening,' says Osei, 'when done with care and humility, international collaboration can reveal insights that might otherwise be missed. Something especially vital in today's uncertain world.'
