IK Monitor Calls (9-1)

Indigenous Knowledge and Development Monitor, March 2001

Contents IK Monitor (9-1) | IKDM Homepage | Suggestions to: ikdm@nuffic.nl | © copyright Nuffic-CIRAN and contributors 2001.

Calls

FOR PARTICIPATION

Working Group for the study of European ethno-ecology and IK

Research on traditional ecological and technological knowledge is rare in Western Europe, even though thousands of farmers, hunters, gatherers and artisans manage their environment using indigenous knowledge and technologies. Most scientists, reviewers of research projects and donors question the value of research findings on these subjects that are obtained in Europe. They think that little or nothing can be learned from the few remnants of local knowledge that have survived in industrialized countries.

This viewpoint was seriously challenged at the conference organized by the International Society for Ethnobiology (ISE) and held in Athens, Georgia (USA) in October 2000. Europeans present at the conference became enthusiastic about the idea of creating a network of scientists who are doing research in the fields of European ethno-ecology and/or ethno-biology. Since returning home, several of us have pursued the idea further and now wish to invite European colleagues to join the new working group.

Fikret Berkes, of the Natural Resources Institute at the University of Manitoba (Canada), said at the conference that 'Europe is the most understudied region of the world when it comes to IK.' On the basis of our own experience studying traditional techniques for managing home gardens in a remote village in Austria, we certainly agree. Like the other Europeans at the conference, we felt much inspired by the enthusiasm and rigour of the many scientists who are working worldwide with indigenous knowledge. There is much to be learned from research on the traditional ecological and technological knowledge of Europe.

Scientists throughout Europe who are interested in discussing and investigating European IK are therefore invited to help us set up a network and forum for this purpose. Also, if you are looking for partners for a joint project, please contact us.

For more information: Dr Brigitte Vogl-Lukasser, Institute for Ecology and Nature Conservation, University of Vienna, Austria; or: Dr Christian R. Vogl, Institute of Organic Farming at the University of Agricultural Sciences (BOKU), Gregor Mendel Str. 33, A-1180 Vienna, Austria.
E-mail: vogl@edv1.boku.ac.at

See also the website at http://www.ethnoecology.at/, which provides regularly updated news and announcements of projects and events. The website also offers links to the websites of organizations and individuals who support the idea of studying IK in Europe. Already there is a lively online discussion of the possible aims and structure of the working group.