DOI: 10.5061/dryad.mcvdnckf0
title: Semi-structured interview framework from: Growing together: Strengthening the partnership and impact of a zoo and community-led conservation organization

description: Indigenous peoples and local communities play a pivotal role in addressing
 the climate and biodiversity crises. The South Rift Association of Land
 Owners (SORALO) is a community-driven organization, representing 30
 Indigenous Maasai communities in Kenya, which cultivates resources to
 support communal landscape management. The Cincinnati Zoo &
 Botanical Garden (CZBG) is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums
 (AZA)-accredited zoological facility and has partnered with SORALO since
 its inception in 2006. This study evaluates the strengths and challenges
 of the SORALO-CZBG partnership using the PARTNERS framework and examines
 its alignment with the Naivasha Vision—principles established by African
 conservation leaders in 2023 at the African Community Conservation Forum.
 We conducted eight semi-structured interviews with SORALO and CZBG staff
 (four from each organization) and analyzed them through thematic analysis
 and constant comparative methodology. The analysis shows the PARTNERS
 framework is an effective tool for evaluating the strengths and
 opportunities for growth between an international conservation partner and
 a community-based conservation organization. The SORALO-CZBG partnership
 is aligned with the Naivasha Vision and has strengths in all facets of the
 PARTNERS framework. Key opportunities for growth in the partnership were
 found in aptness, responsiveness, negotiation, empathy, and strategic
 support. This evaluation acted as a tool for SORALO-CZBG leaders to talk
 through strengths and opportunities for growth, along with plans to
 address each. Practical Implication: Our findings highlight key factors
 that strengthen conservation partnerships and offer recommendations for
 conservation organizations, especially international NGOs, to examine
 their partnerships and practices to enhance collaboration with
 community-led conservation initiatives and best practices written by
 community conservation leaders.
description: # Semi-structured interview framework from: Growing together:
 Strengthening the partnership and impact of a zoo and community-led
 conservation organization Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.mcvdnckf0](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.mcvdnckf0) We have
 submitted our semi-structured interview guide that acted as a deductive
 framework for our interviews, aligning with the PARTNERS framework and
 following Mishra et al. (2017). This guide also acted as the central
 note-taking location, as it was copied prior to each of the eight
 interviews and filled out by the note-taker for each interview. ##
 Description of the data and file structure This data shows the interview
 guide and note-taking location utilized for the 1-hour, individual
 semi-structured interviews. It acted as a deductive framework for these
 interviews, and the interview data collected were later analyzed through
 thematic analysis and the constant comparative method. ####
 Interview_framework.csv *Construct* refers to one of the eight
 ideas represented within the PARTNERS acronym and framework.
 *Definition* refers to the definition(s) of the connected construct that
 has been defined within existing literature.  *Example of CZBG and SORALO
 partnering in this way* provide pre-identified examples of the construct,
 if the interviewee needed a reference point throughout the interview to
 better understand the construct they were being asked to share about.  *
 *Other examples?* under this column header was the prompt for the
 interviewer to ask Question 1, referenced below, and the cell in which
 additional examples named by the interviewee were recorded. These were
 responses to Question 1 within the **Methodology --&gt; Interview Guide
 and Framework** section of the manuscript.  *Key Take-aways* was the
 prompt to the interviewer to ask Question 2 of the **Methodology --&gt;
 Interview Guide and Framework** section of the manuscript. The notetaker
 recorded data below this cell for each construct. *Challenges* was the
 prompt to the interviewer to ask Question 3 of the **Methodology --&gt;
 Interview Guide and Framework** section of the manuscript. The notetaker
 recorded data below this cell for each construct. These three questions
 were repeated for each construct, in the order that they appear on this
 excel sheet, until all eight constructs were completed. Then, the final
 two questions at the bottom of the interview guide were asked in the order
 that they appear, and the notetaker took notes in the cells to the right
 of these questions.  ## Sharing/Access information This interview guide
 was adapted for use from the framework of Mishra et al. (2017). #####