A Continental Approach to Protecting Traditional Knowledge Systems and Related Resources in Africa

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayoyemi Lawal Arowolo
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Dickson Adom

Biodiversity management in Ghana has been largely driven by scientific conservation models. The time-tested and useful traditional conservation ethos in the Ghanaian cultural and artistic elements such as festivals, proverbs, cosmological belief systems and taboos are often watered down by conservationists in biodiversity conservation schemes. This is due to conservationists’ lack of clear-cut guidelines on how to effectively utilize the traditional knowledge systems in complementing the scientific conservation models they are well versed. The developed traditional biodiversity strategy was based on the findings from a robust phenomenological study conducted among purposively and randomly sampled key stakeholders in biodiversity management in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The document aims at offering comprehensive information and guidelines to conservationists on effective ways of implementing traditional knowledge systems in biodiversity conservation issues in Ghana. It ultimately aims at filling the dearth in traditional knowledge systems that have been an age-long problem for the conservation ministries and agencies in Ghana. The informative directions in the developed traditional biodiversity strategy would offer another lens to addressing conservation issues in Ghana while acting as a viable complement to the scientific models. This would ultimately maximize and enrich the conservation strategies for managing Ghana’s biodiversity.


Author(s):  
Betül Ankaralıgil ◽  
Gülşen Dişli

<p>It is important to preserve historic buildings in their original conditions, not only to protect building integrity but also to sustain Traditional Knowledge Systems. As stated by ICCROM, those Traditional Knowledge Systems play an important role in the conservation and management of heritage. Among them, building service systems including heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, drainage, and their architectural construction technology help sustain heritage buildings and extend their life cycle with a minimum level of energy demand. Passive survivability means also contribute to comfort conditions, opening new scenarios for the designing of contemporary buildings. Hence, in this research, first, traditional Kutahya houses were examined in terms of their construction, technology, and architecture. Then, among them, Lajos Kossuth House, dated the 18<sup>th</sup> century, has been chosen as an exemplary to investigate its traditional building service systems in more detail from the point of circularity in construction, their contribution to circular economy, Cradle to Cradle (C2C) strategies, and design for adaptability principles (DfA).  It is observed that they are mostly in a well-preserved condition in terms of both function and character-defining features. However, after 1982, during its refurbishment work to be used as a museum, some of its original details, especially the ones related to waste and clean water were destroyed. To be able to sustain and protect the rest of the original service systems and related architectural construction details in this case study building, they should first be documented, well defined and their recognition should be increased to serve as a model for the maintenance of similar building systems. In addition, it might be possible to transfer the knowledge of those passive survivability means and circular construction principles to contemporary buildings.</p>


Author(s):  
Swathy V Subramanian

Ponnani, a historic port town located at the mouth of the Bharathappuzha River on the Arabian Sea, was a prominent trading center on the Malabar coast of Kerala, India, in the 15th and 16th centuries. It is one of Malabar’s few surviving historic towns, with its heritage sites intact along with its building types, historic streets and alleys, local culture, and traditions. But some of its historic buildings are on the verge of dereliction and need immediate attention. This study attempts to convey an understanding of Ponnani, with an analysis based on field visits and existing literature. The relationship between the region’s architecture and landscape and current threats to its heritage is explored. Its vanishing traditional knowledge systems and vernacular architectural types are also discussed, in what may serve as a reference for adaptive use by future generations.


Author(s):  
Kathryn E. Newhook

Knowledge Management is a diverse field of study, dealing in the facilitation of knowledge sharing, the creation of knowledge systems, knowledge transfer, and knowledge preservation. Information professionals play an important role in helping these processes happen. Equally important is the preservation of Traditional Knowledge. Recognized as the knowledge Indigenous people have accrued over millennia, and formed through their interactions with their environment, Traditional Knowledge and its preservation also fall into the world of Knowledge Management. The performance of a piece of music is the manifestation of knowledge and, in the case of Jeremy Dutcher, is a form of knowledge preservation. Traditional Knowledge’s more fluid and dynamic nature is preserved in Dutcher’s 2018 album Wolastioqiyik Lintuwakonawa, where the artist creates a conversation between technical skill and the knowledge and language of the album. In the case of this paper, Dutcher’s album serves as an example of the way Traditional Knowledge can impact and provide new tools to the information profession and world of Knowledge Management.


Author(s):  
Michael Evans ◽  
Adrian Miller ◽  
Peter J. Hutchinson ◽  
Carlene Dingwall

Indigenous approaches to research are fundamentally rooted in the traditions and knowledge systems of Indigenous peoples themselves, although Indigenous methodologies and methods have become both systems for generating knowledge and ways of responding to the processes of colonization. Very specific Indigenous methods emerge from language, culture, and worldview. This chapter describes two such Indigenous research approaches drawn from the work of two Indigenous scholars with their communities in Australia and Canada. Although creative and new, these approaches draw deeply from their communities and thus express and enact traditional knowledge systems in contemporary terms. This approach may result in more pertinent research, better take-up and dissemination of research results, and a general improvement in the situations of Indigenous communities and peoples.


2014 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 223-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Reyes-García ◽  
Laura Aceituno-Mata ◽  
Laura Calvet-Mir ◽  
Teresa Garnatje ◽  
Erik Gómez-Baggethun ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Julie Maldonado ◽  
T. M. Bull Bennett ◽  
Karletta Chief ◽  
Patricia Cochran ◽  
Karen Cozzetto ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Julian A Robbins ◽  
Jonathan Dewar

Traditional Indigenous Approaches to Healing and the modern welfare of Traditional Knowledge, Spirituality and Lands: A critical reflection on practices and policies taken from the Canadian Indigenous Example In order for traditional knowledge to be maintained and to develop, it has to be practiced. Traditional healing provides a vehicle for this to occur. In Canada, the spiritual revitalization of Indigenous communities and individuals often involves the use numerous components of traditional healing. These elements are reflected most clearly at the grassroots level, however, current Indigenous programs delivered by Indigenous and governmental agencies have made some accommodating efforts as well. Perhaps most importantly, traditional knowledge and Indigenous spirituality hinges on the maintenance and renewal of relationships to the land. Indigenous land bases and the environment as a whole remain vitally important to the practice of traditional healing. A focus on Indigenous healing, when discussing Indigenous knowledge systems and spirituality, is paramount today due to the large scale suppression of Indigenous cultural expressions during the process of colonization. With respect to policy, there appears to be a historical progression of perception or attitude towards Indigenous traditional healing in Canada from one of disfavour to one favour. There are nevertheless continuing challenges for traditional healing. Mainstream perceptions and subsequent policy implementations sometimes still reflect attitudes that were formulated during the decline of traditional healing practice during colonization processes. As a consequence the ability for particular communities to maintain and use their specific understandings of Indigenous knowledge continues encounter obstacles. Indigenous Knowledge systems are living entities and not relics of the past. Today, these knowledge systems are still greatly being applied to help Indigenous communities and Indigenous people recover from intergenerational pain and suffering endured during the colonization process. Future policy development and implementation should aim to support Indigenous peoples and communities when they decide to learn about, maintain and build upon the knowledge amassed by their ancestors.


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