Focus
Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor

The Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor serves everyone around the world who has an interest in the role that indigenous knowledge (local knowledge, traditional knowledge) plays in participatory approaches to sustainable development.

It provides:

• an instrument for the exchange of information;
• a platform for debate on the concept of indigenous knowledge in a variety of disciplines;
• an overview of activities in the field of indigenous knowledge and sustainable development.

The Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor has two sections: Articles and Communications. The articles reflect the state of the art of indigenous knowledge (IK) in various policy sectors and disciplines by presenting information on:

• research: studies of indigenous knowledge systems, research methodology, research needs, research results, cooperation in research, and organizational aspects of research;
• theory and practice: the interface of indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge, and the use of research results in the preparation and implementation of development projects;
• policy: indigenous knowledge as an area of interest and a policy instrument for donors, international organizations, governments, NGOs and development organizations.

The section Communications is divided into sub-sections: Resource Centres, Calls (for information and cooperation, papers, and research proposals), Databases, Networks, Films and Audio-Visual Devices, Conferences (coming and past), Research, and Publications. The major function of this section is to disseminate information, to inform a broader public about various local initiatives and activities, and to stimulate national and international cooperation.

The editorial board of the Monitor is responsible for editorial policy. The editor is responsible for producing the Monitor in accordance with the policies of the editorial board and Nuffic-CIRAN.

IK Network
Nuffic-CIRAN produces the Monitor in close cooperation with 31 indigenous knowledge resource centres around the world. The IK resource centres provide a framework for networking. Each centre has a corresponding editor. Similarly, associate corresponding editors are affiliated with organizations that are active in the field of indigenous knowledge. The international IK network consists of some 3000 persons and institutions in 130 countries, that are working in the field of application of local specific knowledge to development. Those persons who want to play an active role in the international Ik network are kindly asked to let CIRAN enter data on their expertise into the database of development related research. One of the most direct ways in which such individuals from the IK network can play a signifcant role in the production of the Monitor is by peer reviewing articles submitted for publication, when the editor searches the database for specialists in the field concerned. In addition, the editor may approach specialists with the request to review publications that bear relevance to indigenous knowledge and sustainable development.

Presently, the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor has over 3000 subscribers. Thanks to funds provided by Nuffic and the Directorate-General for International Cooperation of the Netherlands' Ministry of Foreign Affairs, readers living and/or working in the global South receive their copies free of charge.

Guus W. von Liebenstein Anna van Marrewijk
Director CIRAN Editor IK&DM

Other Nuffic-CIRAN services to the IK Network are offered via the Internet:

• Back issues: all issues of the Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor since its introduction in February 1993 are available on the World Wide Web site:
• IK pages: a gateway to indigenous knowledge on the Internet. The IK-pages systematically present the Internet's main sources of secondary information regarding indigenous knowledge. But the site does more than this. It also indexes and provides access to primary sources of information through the use of an automatic search engine.

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Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl
(c) copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 1997.