We are grateful to the Netherlands organization for
international cooperation in higher education (Nuffic) for
guaranteeing the production of the Indigenous Knowledge
and Development Monitor in 1994. But distribution to all
recipients free of charge requires other financial support as
well.
We hope that this first issue of 1994 reaches you on time and in good order. The last issue (December 1993) was sent by surface mail, and we received reports of many problems. The Monitor reached readers very late and in some cases not at all. Due to these problems the publication of this issue fell a month behind schedule. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience. If you did not receive the December 1993 issue, let us know and we will try to supply you with a photocopy.
Demand for the Monitor has grown very fast so that we do not have any more copies of the three issues of Volume 1 (1993). Since we do not have funds for reprinting these issues, CIRAN is now looking into the possibility of making back issues of the Monitor available via E-mail.
Among development workers and policy-makers there is growing appreciation for indigenous knowledge and the immense contribution it can make to development activities. This trend should be further stimulated by making indigenous knowledge more accessible and thus more effective for the development enterprise. None of this is possible without a free flow of information, and the Monitor's primary purpose is to play a crucial role in this process. At the same time we must guard against overstating the unique role and relevance of indigenous knowledge. Many communities have also made good use of insights from the international knowledge system. The information contained in the Monitor will be most useful if it promotes an interactive flow of data between the various knowledge systems, thus contributing to the efforts to develop new paradigms for sustainable and equitable development.
The editorial board welcomes all your comments and ideas, and
cordially invites you to join the debate by submitting
contributions for the next Monitor. The deadline is 1 July
1994.