Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, 1993

Conferences

coming:

Eco-technology and Rural Employment

Madras (India), 12 - 15 April 1993 Each year the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Madras (India) organizes an interdisciplinary dialogue on the theme "New technologies: reaching the unreached". This year the Foundation invites participants to operationalize the concept of "biovillage" in order to achieve maximal substitution of synthetic chemicals and capital with knowledge and farm-grown inputs, and to ensure that economically and socially underprivileged sectors of rural communities derive economic benefits from new technologies. The proceedings and recommendations of the dialogue will be published. Contact: M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, 14 2nd Main Road, Kottur Gardens, Kotturpuram, Madras - 600 085, India.

National Seminar on Indigenous Technologies for Sustainable Agriculture

New Delhi (India), 23 - 25 March 1993 The seminar will focus on traditional technologies in agriculture, animal husbandry, forestry, fisheries, food and nutrition, family welfare, and other fields. The objectives of the seminar are: * to prepare an inventory of traditional knowledge and practices in the fields under consideration; * to discuss the relevance of traditional technologies for national development; * to understand the knowledge and wisdom contained in various tribal cultures in India; * to understand the processes and mechanisms of developing traditional technologies; * to know the patterns of communicating, disseminating, and adopting traditional technologies; * to develop a strategy for integrating the indigenous knowledge system with the formal research system. The seminar is being organized by the National Council of Development Communication, Varanasi, in collaboration with the Division of Agricultural Extension, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Contact: Dr. B.P. Sinha (seminar director), Head, Division of Agricultural Extension, Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi - 110 012, India. Tel: +91-11-582081.

Common Property in Ecosystems under Stress

The International Society for the Study of Common Property will hold its Fourth Annual Common Property Conference in Manila (Philippines), 14 - 18 June 1993 The conference will be focussed on common property/property rights regimes, and the use and management of common-pool resources in ecosystems under stress. These may be defined as stress from a number of fundamental and intervening processes and factors, such as natural and man-made disasters (including pollution and drastic changes in land use), population growth, commercialization, social and political upheavals, government intervention, transnational and local boundary conflicts, etc. Contact: Dr. Villia Jefremovas, Sociology and Anthropology, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1S 5B6. Tel: +1- 613-788 2600 ext. 1435. Fax: +1-613-788 4062.

Human evolution in its ecological context

Pithecanthropus Centennial Exhibition and International Congress. Leiden, the Netherlands, 23 - 28 June 1993 In 1993 it will be one century ago that Eugene Dubois, a young anthropologist and anatomist from Holland officially announced his world-famous discovery in Solo, Java (Indonesia). He had found fossil remains of the early Java Man, the first 'missing link' between ape and man. His discovery, consisting of a fossil skullcap, a femur and a molar (which are presently kept in the vault of the National Museum for Natural History in Leiden), shocked the scientific world of the late nineteenth century, in which Darwin, Huxley and Haeckel had expounded the new theories of human evolution. Dubois named this early ancestor Pithecanthropus erectus. Although the publication of his findings marked the beginning of a new stage in the reconstruction of mankind's history, the true significance of Dubois's work and vision has thus far remained outside the spotlight: his reorientation as regards our place within--and not above--nature. In order to mark this milestone in the scientific study of human evolution in relation to its environment and to our present ecological problems, several academic and cultural events will take place in the Netherlands in the summer of 1993 under the theme 'Human evolution in its ecological context'. The Pithecanthropus Centennial Foundation, chaired by Dr. L. Jan Slikkerveer (director of LEAD), has been established to organize the events. Since the international conference will focus on ecological aspects of human evolution through time and space from an interdisciplinary point of view, there will be six separate sessions: on geology, palaeoanthropology, geography, anthropology, human ecology/ecological anthropology, and philosophy. (L. Jan Slikkerveer) Contact: Dr. H. Beijer, Secretary-General, Pithecanthropus Centennial Foundation, Leiden University, Pieter de la Court Building, Wassenaarseweg 52, 2300 RB Leiden, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-71-5273469. Fax: +31-71-5273619.

past:

Local knowledge and agricultural research

Zimbabwe, 1992 There is growing awareness of the fact that an understanding of what local farmers know and do can provide agricultural researchers with better insight into the farmers' environment and into the concepts underlying their practise of agriculture in this environment. This insight will give agricultural researchers new options which could make them better able to adapt their work to the farmers' circumstances and specific requirements. The seminar 'Local Knowledge and Agricultural Research', which was held in Zimbabwe in 1992, emphasized the multiple relationships between farmers and agricultural researchers. Sixty people came together from a wide range of sectors, including African non-governmental organisations active in the management and use of plant genetic resources and sustainable agricultural development and advocacy; managers of gene banks; plant breeders; and social scientists. The unique composition of the group led to inspiring exchanges. The meeting focussed on increasing the capacity for research on local knowledge and development. It stressed the organizational requirements and recommended the establishment of local documentation centres, systems of compensation and reward, and funds for local research. The development of manuals and training units for the study of local knowledge were suggested. The meeting recommended that future agricultural research explicitly include components for strengthening local research capacity. Finally, the meeting called for a code of conduct with regard to plant genetic resources in which local knowledge is also considered. The CPRO-DLO Centre for Genetic Resources recently published a report on the meeting, which can be requested from the author. In the second half of 1993, Intermediate Technology Publications in London will publish a book based on the papers presented at the Zimbabwe meeting. (Walter S. de Boef) Contact: Walter S. de Boef, CPRO-DLO Centre for Genetic Resources, P.O. Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands. Tel: +31-317-477076/45. Fax: +31-317-418094.

Indigenous knowledge and sustainable development

Silang, The Philippines, 20 - 26 September 1992 Some 50 scientists and development professionals from 17 countries participated in this symposium organized by the Regional Program for the Promotion of Indigenous Knowledge in Asia (REPPIKA) and sponsored by the International Development Research Center (IDRC). During the first two days, participants presented some 40 papers which presented indigenous knowledge in various fields and discussed methods of recording and utilizing IK. Together the papers offered insight into the broad scope and great extent of local peoples' knowledge. The next three days were reserved for group discussions and plenary sessions for the purpose of drafting recommendations and guidelines for each step required for applying IK to sustainable development (recording, documenting, disseminating and utilizing) and regarding research and policy issues. Equally important, the symposium provided an opportunity for members of the global network of IK Resource Centers to meet and set up an agenda. Recurrent themes throughout the symposium were: (1) the ultimate goal of research on IK is its application to development and not its purely scientific use within the scientific community; (2) local people should be informed about and involved in IK research from the very beginning and methodologies should be developed to facilitate this process, and (3) mechanisms have to be found to ensure that local people retain control of their own knowledge and to prevent misuse of local knowledge by outsiders. (E. Mathias-Mundy, REPPIKA, International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR), Silang, Cavite 4118, The Philippines. Tel: +63-2-969945l or +63-2-582659. Fax: +63-2-5222494.

Conservation of biodiversity in Africa: Local Initiatives and Institutional Roles

Report on the International Conference at the National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, 30 August - 3 September, 1992 The Conference, organized by the National Museums of Kenya, was attended by more than 200 scientists, educators, environmental lawyers and economists from the North and the South to discuss the management and conservation of biodiversity from an African perspective. During the four days of the conference the participants examined the ways (a) to establish collaborative links between local and regional institutions, (b) to standardize survey and monitoring methods and (c) to stimulate regional exchange of data, training and expertise. In his introductory address to the Conference, Dr. Richard E. Leakey, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), highlighted the major past and present role of the Museums in conserving biodiversity in Africa throught its facilitating support including natural and social sciences research, laboratory equipment, educational services and its six regional museums throughout Kenya. Session 3 on 'Indigenous Knowledge Systems' highlighted the paramount importance of indigenous knowledge in the management and conservation of biodiversity. In his keynote speech to this session, Dr. Michael Warren stressed the interrelationship between indigenous knowledge, biodiversity conservation and development. Ms. Christine Kabuye and Mr. Patrick Maundu discussed the role of the East African Herbarium and the results of the Indigenous Food Plants Programme. Dr. Jan Slikkerveer officially anounced the establishment of the Kenyan Resource-centre for Indigenous Knowledge" (KENRIK) at NMK, based on further collaboration between NMK, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Leiden University LEAD Programme. In his concluding address, Dr. Jeffrey McNeely mentioned the potential role of indigenous people's knowledge and technology in current and future biodiversity conservation efforts in Africa, in which the NMK with its different departements, institutes and Centre for Biodiversity -together with the newly established Kenyan Resource-centre for Indigenous Knowledge (KENRIK)- will continue to play a key role in the future. (L. Jan Slikkerveer)

Back to: top of the page | Contents IK Monitor 1(1) | IKDM Homepage
Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl
(c) copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 1993.