Prioritizing the Attributes of the Training and Mentoring Programme for the Environmental Management Projects in the UNESCO Vhembe Biosphere Reserve, South Africa

Environmental management projects in biosphere reserves often struggle with limited capacity and weak long-term sustainability, despite their ecological and socio-economic importance. The study used Participatory Budgeting (PB) and the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to prioritize the attributes of a training and mentoring program for sustainable environmental management in the VBR. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods design grounded in engaged scholarship was used. In the qualitative phase, 32 purposively selected project members generated the programme’s knowledge areas, skills, teaching methods, and assessment approaches through reflection circles. In the quantitative phase, the project members ranked these items using Participatory Budgeting (PB), and the rankings were validated and refined using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Participants identified eight knowledge areas comprising 45 skills and prioritized legislated and OHS requirements, environmental health, financial planning, policies, systems and procedures, among others. They preferred workshops, practical demonstrations, and on-the-job training, assessed through practical reports and group projects by experts from tertiary institutions. AHP resolved PB ties without contradicting its rankings. The study’s results provided important information for the co-design of a training program with the community to support environmental management projects in biosphere reserves. Such a program can be institutionalized through university–community engagement systems. Moreover, the study demonstrated that integrating PB with AHP produces a hybrid decision-support model that enhances legitimacy, transparency, and analytical rigor in participatory programme design.