Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems: UNESCO's LINKS Programme

Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems UNESCO’s LINKS Programme www.unesco.org/links Local communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform - Informal Technical meeting 27-28 February 2017, Brussels Doug Nakashima & Jen Rubis UNESCO - LINKS programme UNESCO - United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization LINKS -Local & Indigenous Knowledge Systems programme -cross-cutting programme (since 2002) * * * INTERDISCIPLINARY –drawing upon disciplines in the natural and social sciences and culture * * * TRANSDISCIPLINARY –building dialogue across diverse knowledge systems Notably between indigenous peoples’ knowledge systems and scientific knowledge. Multiple dimensions: -Indigenous Peoples’ Rights - Participation & Governance - Capacity-building (across all sectors) - Awareness-raising -Indigenous Peoples’ Knowledge Recognition of the essential role of Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge, practices and worldviews in environmental decision-making, notably with respect to global climate change An Indigenous Peoples’ Platform I From recognition to implementation? Growing recognition of indigenous knowledge for climate change assessment, mitigation or adaptation. But how can indigenous knowledge contribute, alongside science, to improved decision-making? Role of IK for achieving biodiversity conservation & natural resource management is well-established. - Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) - Article 8(j), -In-depth documentation of IK in all regions and ecosystems, - Joint or co-management regimes established for wildlife, fisheries, protected areas etc. …. although many challenges still remain. I Intergovernmental environmental assessments: IPCC and IPBES The Challenge: ensuring assessments are based on the best available knowledge –both scientific and local & indigenous knowledge Intergovernmental Panel of Experts on Climate Change (IPCC) –created in 1988 Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) - created in 2012 Intergovernmental science-policy processes –traditionally … - internationally-recognized scientific experts. - dominated by the physical & biological sciences. - restricted to reviews of the peer-reviewed scientific literature. Opportunities for considering indigenous peoples’ experts and indigenous knowledge have been few or nonexistent I Towards IPCC’s Fifth Report (5AR) 1. UNESCO-UNU workshop with IPCC: “Indigenous Peoples, Marginalized Populations and Climate Change”, Mexico, July 2011 - Vicente Barros, co-chair of IPCC Working Group II, and several IPCC authors of key chapters - indigenous knowledge holders, and natural & social scientists with expertise on indigenous knowledge 2. Review of IK in the scientific and grey literature “Weathering Uncertainty: Traditional knowledge for climate change assessment and adaptation”, 2012, UNESCO and UNU - To build awareness and facilitate inclusion of IK in the 5AR, - Make IK literature accessible and intelligible for authors whose core expertise is not indigenous knowledge - Explains key concepts related to indigenous knowledge I IPCC5AR: Outcomes for indigenous peoples’ knowledge Summary for Policymakers 5AR Synthesis Report Indigenous, local, and traditional knowledge systems and practices, including indigenous peoples’ holistic view of community and environment, are a major resource for adapting to climate change … Integrating such forms of knowledge with existing practices increases the effectiveness of adaptation. (IPCC 2014: 27) I Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Created in 2012 –modelled on the IPCC IPBES Principles include a specific commitment to ILK: •Recognize and respect the contribution of indigenous and local knowledge to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and ecosystems Busan Outcome: UNEP/IPBES.MI/2/9, Appendix 1, para. 2 (d) Scientific & technical functions of the Multidisciplinary Expert Panel: •Explore ways and means to bring different knowledge systems, including indigenous knowledge systems, into the science-policy interface UNEP/IPBES.MI/2/9, Appendix 1, para. 15 (g) To oversee this work on ILK, IPBES has created a Task Force on Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems - UNESCO-LINKS serves as the Technical Support Unit (TSU) I Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) IPBES/5/4 •Proposed approach across all functions •Assessments •Knowledge and data •Policy support tools and methodologies •Capacity-building •Institutional Arrangements •MEP •ILK liaison groups •Secretariat –TSU on ILK •Participatory mechanism –web platform, web consultations, dialogue workshops •Strategic partnerships http://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/pdf/ipbes-5-4-en.pdf I Difficulties aligning IK and science: Insights from a case study in Mongolia Pastoralists in Mongolia report major degradation of pastures since 1999 (Marin 2010: 167) due to: change in the quality of rains - less soft rains (shivree boroo) that penetrate soils, - more hard rains (shiruun boroo) that run-off. increase in localized patchiness of rainfall - no longer rains over large areas -‘silk embroidery’ rains (torgnii hee boroo) fall in limited areas with extensive areas left devoid of pasture However scientific data for the same area and period show no significant change – Quantitative measures of average annual precipitation over large territories I Challenges for a Climate Change Platform 1. Bridging scales –gap between local & regional/global •Challenges may be global, but solutions need to be local •Platform to work at different scales, with different tools and actors at the different scales •Science technologies (remote-sensing, ocean monitoring, seasonal outlook) provide valuable data, •But scales are often too broad for local decision-making, •Regional forecasts miss patchiness of rainfall. 2. Connecting qualitative and quantitative measures •Quantitative data may miss critical qualitative information •Total and mean rainfall (vs when and type of rain) 3. What to monitor? •Standardized scientific measurements may ignore factors essential for local livelihoods •Indigenous peoples lead in identifying priorities for adaptation IPBES, 2017. Indigenous and local knowledge systems (deliverable 1 (c)). IPBES/5/4 http://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/pdf/ipbes-5-4en.pdf Marin, A. 2010. Riders under storms: contributions of nomadic herders’ observations to analysing climate change in Mongolia. Global Environmental Change, 20: 162–76. Nakashima, D.J., Galloway McLean, K., Thulstrup, H.D., Ramos Castillo, A. and Rubis, J.T. 2012. Weathering Uncertainty: Traditional Knowledge for Climate Change Assessment and Adaptation. Paris, UNESCO, and Darwin, UNU, 120 pp. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0021/002166/216613e.pdf References Indigenous Peoples, Marginalized Populations and Climate Change www.ipmpcc.org IK & CC conferences @COP21 and 22 www.indigenous2015.org and www.indigenous2016.org Climate Frontlines in Africa: www.climatefrontlines.org/africa Arctic-BRISK: www.arcticbrisk.org UNESCO-LINKS www.unesco.org/links IPBES ILK publication series www.unesco.org/new/links/ipbes-pubs Related websites Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems programme (LINKS) UNESCO 7 Place de Fontenoy Paris, France Douglas Nakashima, Head of LINKS programme [email protected] Jen Rubis, [email protected] www.unesco.org/links Questions? Contact