Traditional knowledge

About: Traditional knowledge is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 10825 publications have been published within this topic receiving 202790 citations. The topic is also known as: indigenous knowledge & indigenous knowledge system.

Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge: Equitable Partnerships in Practice

Abstract: Section 1: Biodiversity Research Relationships - Laying the Foundation Equitable Biodiversity Research Relationships * Professional Society Standards for Biodiversity Research: Codes of Ethics and Research Guidelines * Institutional Policies for Biodiversity Research * Publication of Biodiversity Research Results and the Flow of Knowledge * 'Giving Back': Making Research Results Relevant to the Local Group and Conservation * Section 2: Biodiversity Research and Prospecting in Protected Areas * Section 3: Community Relationships with Researchers - Building Equitable Research Relationship with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities: Prior Informed Consent and Research Agreements * Section 4: The Commercial use of Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge - Biodiversity Prospecting: The Commercial Use of Genetic Resources and Best Practice in Benefit Sharing * Biodiversity Prospecting Contracts: The Search for Equitable Agreements * Elements of Commercial Biodiversity Prospecting Agreements * Sharing Financial Benefits Trust Funds for Biodiversity Prospecting * Section 5: National Policy Context - Developing and Implementing National Measures for Genetic Resources Assess Regulation and Benefit-sharing * Section 6: Conclusions and Recommendations * Directory of Useful Contacts and Resources* Contributors' Contact Information * Acronyms and Abbreviations * Glossary * References * Index

Development as Experiment: Science and State Building in Late Colonial and Postcolonial Africa, 1930-1970

Abstract: This paper explores the continuous role that science has played in the establishment of a colonial and post-colonial "development regime" in Africa. Examining development schemes that flourished between 1930 and 1970, the paper shows how African agrarian societies became objects of both state intervention and expert knowledge. In pursuing large scale social engineering and social experiments, these schemes constituted a particular--colonial?--way of managing the African environment and of crafting knowledge on African societies. In constructing development ideologies and practices in the late colonial and post independence periods, they also played an important part in the construction of the African state. Their approaches shaped the future of tropical medicine, agriculture, and development studies. Ironically, they also created the preconditions for later interest in the values of indigenous knowledge.

Strengthening Protection of Intellectual Property in Developing Countries: A Survey of the Literature

Abstract: Will developing countries benefit economically from strengthening their protection of intellectual property? They have been repeatedly urged to do so by developed nations, most recently in the ongoing Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations. In search of the answer to this questions the authors have reviewed a substantial body of economic literature, theoretical and empirical, covering the economics of patents and other instruments of intellectual property. The vast majority of studies conducted to date have focused on industrial economies. This important body of research suggests that increases in intellectual property protection generate research and development activity sufficient to offset the social cost of the limited monopoly granted to patentees, copyright holders, and other owners of intellectual property. For developing countries, unfortunately, similar research is lacking. The paper proposes a research agenda that includes an assessment of intellectual property protection in developing countries, the incentive effects on local R&D, foreign direct investment and technology licensing, and the potential benefit to developing countries of "petty patents" and plant breeders' rights.

Local knowledge and adaptation to climate change in natural resource-based societies of the Asia-Pacific

Abstract: This paper reviewed 42 studies of how local knowledge contributes to adaptation to climate and climate change in the Asia-Pacific Region. Most studies focused on traditional ecological or indigenous knowledge. Three simple questions were addressed: (1) How are changes in climate recognized? (2) What is known about how to adapt to changes in climate? (3) How do people learn about how to adapt? Awareness of change is an important element of local knowledge. Changes in climate are recognized at multiple time scales from observations that warn of imminent extreme weather through expectations for the next season to identification of multi-year historical trends. Observations are made of climate, its impact on physical resources, and bio-indicators. Local knowledge about how to adapt can be divided into four major classes: land and water management, physical infrastructure, livelihood strategies, and social institutions. Adaptation actions vary with time scale of interest from dealing with risks of disaster from extreme weather events, through slow onset changes such as seasonal droughts, to dealing with long-term multi-year shifts in climate. Local knowledge systems differ in the capacities and ways in which they support learning. Many are dynamic and draw on information from other places, whereas others are more conservative and tightly institutionalized. Past experience of events and ways of learning may be insufficient for dealing with a novel climate. Once the strengths and limitations of local knowledge (like those of science) are grasped the opportunities for meaningful hybridization of scientific and local knowledge for adaptation expand.