Learning from one another: evaluating the impact of horizontal knowledge exchange for environmental management and governance

There is increasing advocacy for inclusive community-based approaches to environmental management, and growing evidence that involving communities improves the sustainability of social-ecological systems. Most community-based approaches rely on partnerships and knowledge exchange between communities, civil society organizations, and professionals such as practitioners and/or scientists. However, few models have actively integrated more horizontal knowledge exchange from community to community. We reflect on the transferability of community owned solutions between indigenous communities by exploring challenges and achievements of community peer-to-peer knowledge exchange as a way of empowering communities to face up to local environmental and social challenges. Using participatory visual methods, indigenous communities of the North Rupununi (Guyana) identified and documented their community owned solutions through films and photostories. Indigenous researchers from this community then shared their solutions with six other communities that faced similar challenges within Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Colombia, French Guiana, and Brazil. They were supported by in-country civil society organizations and academics. We analyzed the impact of the knowledge exchange through interviews, field reports, and observations. Our results show that indigenous community members were significantly more receptive to solutions emerging from, and communicated by, other indigenous peoples, and that this approach was a significant motivating force for galvanizing communities to make changes in their community. We identified a range of enabling factors, such as building capacity for a shared conceptual and technical understanding, that strengthens the exchange between communities and contributes to a lasting impact. With national and international policy-makers mobilizing significant financial resources for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, we argue that the promotion of community owned solutions through community peer-to-peer exchange may deliver more long-lasting, socially and ecologically integrated, and investment-effective strategies compared to top-down, expert led, and/or foreign-led initiatives.

Science into policy? Discourse, coastal management and knowledge

The world's coastal resources are under pressure, even more so under climate change with 90% of the world's population living near or along our coastal zone. Ecologically, this zone is also the most productive, and the mainstay of economic livelihoods on a global scale. Managing the coast effectively is crucial, but as an area it remains contested. Despite multiple efforts to manage the coast, it remains a contested space. This paper offers a reflection into the ways in which different discourses influence and impact on one specific dimension of coastal zone management-the transmission of science into the policy domain. Using historical and discourse analysis, we find that the science-policy interface is largely constructed within two knowledge discourses: (i) scientific knowledge and (ii) local knowledge. This arbitrary separation into a binary discursive landscape mitigates against science-policy integration in practice especially given each discourse in itself, encompasses multiple forms of knowledge. We argue that in order to better understand how to build scientific research outputs into policy, decision makers and researchers need to understand how knowledge works in practice, overcome this dichotomous construction of knowledge and specifically, re-construct or transition the notion of 'science as knowledge' into 'all knowledge types' into policy.

Indigenous sustainable land management practices: perspectives from Wadawurrung/Wathaurong Country

This paper discusses the role and potential of ethnobotany in Australian Aboriginal plant knowledge in supporting and enabling sustainable land management practices for land use developments. In particular, it draws upon the Wadawurrung / Wathaurong Country knowledge for the greater Geelong region of Australia, summarises recent investigations and research, offers a deeper insight into the risks of indigenous vegetation deterioration and opportunities relating to plant usage, and highlights the importance of this plant knowledge in sustainable land management practice. The focus of this investigation is upon the Wathaurong Country around the City of Greater Geelong, host city for the ISDRS conference, of which there is little published material and oral distillation.
The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how the Wadawurrung / Wathaurong people survived for over 60,000 years through sustainable land management techniques, caring & healing themselves by holding deep knowledge of the plants available in this region. Ethnoecology is the governing theoretical framework, with ethnobotany being a subset of this and the primary focus of this paper.
Conclusions arising from this research include: there is limited knowledge as a modern colonised nation; what little knowledge there is left is ageing and will disappear; and, there is an urgent need to better understand what still grows in the region prior to further urban applications and this is also compounded by the driving forces of climate change. Accordingly this paper demonstrates the need to urgently undertake this research. The implications for ‘Tipping Points’ is that we are increasingly at the point of no return is when we forget about the indigenous knowledge base and watch the death of the knowledge holders, and their wisdom and its benefits have not been transposed into contemporary society.

Embedding university perspectives in university teaching and learning : lessons learnt and possibilities for reforming/decolonising curriculum

Embedding Indigenous knowledge in the curriculum continues to challenge traditional western perspectives on Indigenous epistemologies and cultures. This paper will initially discuss experiences of embedding Indigenous perspectives in the curriculum at an Australian university. The project was inspired by the Reconciliation Statement which ensured funding through Teaching and Learning Large Grants. Its successful outcomes included the creation of identified positions for Indigenous academics within faculties, creation of a resource hub of relevant teaching materials and consistent documentation and awareness of Indigenous perspectives through interviews and workshops. The paper concludes by critically interrogating the methodology used to conceptualise Indigenous knowledge in embedding Indigenous perspectives in a university curriculum. This paper argues for a thorough curriculum reform if a degree of decolonisation of the western constructed Indigenous knowledge and its living systems are desired.

Recognising and respecting Torres Strait Islander mathematics knowledges and home languages through mainstream mathematics education [Abstract]

This abstract provides a preliminary discussion of the importance of recognising Torres Strait Islander knowledges and home languages of mathematics education. It stems from a project involving Torres Strait Islander Teachers and Teacher Aides and university based researchers who are working together to enhance the mathematics learning of students from Years 4-9. A key focus of the project is that mathematics is relevant and provides students with opportunities for further education, training and employment. Veronica Arbon (2008) questions the assumptions underpinning Western mainstream education as beneficial for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people which assumes that it enables them to better participate in Australian society. She asks “how de we best achieve outcomes for and with Indigenous people conducive to our cultural, physical and economic sustainability as defined by us from Indigenous knowledge positions?” (p. 118). How does a mainstream education written to English conventions provide students with the knowledge and skills to participate in daily life, if it does not recognise the cultural identity of Indigenous students as it should (Priest, 2005; cf. Schnukal, 2003)? Arbon (2008) states that this view is now brought into question with calls for both ways education where mainstream knowledge and practices is blended with Indigenous cultural knowledges of learning. This project considers as crucial that cultural knowledges and experiences of Indigenous people to be valued and respected and given the currency in the same way that non Indigenous knowledge is (Taylor, 2003) for both ways education to work.

The potential of critical race theory in decolonizing university curricula

This paper critiques our experiences as non-Indigenous Australian educators of working with numerous embedding Indigenous perspectives curricular projects at an Australian university. Reporting on these project outcomes alone, while useful in identifying limitations, does not illustrate ways in which future embedding and decolonising projects can persist and evolve. Deeper analysis is required of the ways in which Indigenous knowledge and perspectives are perceived, and what ‘embedding’ IK in university curricula truly means to various educational stakeholders. To achieve a deeper analysis and propose ways to invigorate the continuing decolonisation of Australian university curricula, this paper critically interrogates the methodology and conceptualisation of Indigenous knowledge in embedding Indigenous perspectives (EIP) in the university curriculum using tenets of critical race theory. Accordingly, we conduct this analysis from the standpoint that EIP should not subscribe to the luxury of independence of scholarship from politics and activism. The learning objective is to create a space to legitimise politics in the intellectual / academic realm (Dei, 2008, p. 10). We conclude by arguing that critical race theory’s emancipatory, future and action-oriented goals for curricula (Dei, 2008) would enhance effective and sustainable embedding initiatives, and ultimately, preventing such initiatives from returning to the status quo (McLaughlin & Whatman, 2008).

Decolonising curricula in an Australian university : re-imagining curriculum through critical race theory

The recognition of Indigenous knowledge in western academic institutions challenges colonial discourses which have informed and shaped knowledge about Indigenous peoples, cultures and histories. Deeper analysis is required of the ways in which Indigenous knowledge and perspectives are perceived, and the processes through which university curricula can accommodate Indigenous knowledge in teaching and learning. To achieve this deeper analysis, and to invigorate the continuing decolonisation of Australian university curricula, this paper critically interrogates the methodology and conceptualisation of Indigenous knowledge in embedding Indigenous perspectives (EIP) projects in the university curriculum by drawing from tenets of critical race theory and the cultural interface (Nakata, 2007). Accordingly, we conduct this analysis from the standpoint that Indigenous knowledge in university curricula should not subscribe to the luxury of independence of scholarship from politics and activism. The learning objective is to create a space to legitimise politics in the intellectual / academic realm (Dei, 2008, p. 10). We conclude by arguing that critical race theory’s emancipatory, future and action-oriented goals for curricula (Dei, 2008) would enhance effective and sustainable embedding initiatives, and ultimately, preventing such initiatives from returning to the status quo (McLaughlin & Whatman, 2008).

Evolving a relationship for cross-cultural participatory innovation

Participatory design prioritises the agency of those who will be most affected by design outcomes. However in cross cultural innovation involving indigenous and non-indigenous communities there is much work to do to develop the cross cultural innovation practices that can best bring together different skills, perspectives and ways of knowing in order to realise the aspirations of indigenous peoples. In this short paper we outline a work-inprogress method based upon relationship development and reciprocity over practical, tangible and culturally appropriate activities. We argue that in a cross-cultural setting the participatory innovation process must be part of a larger relationship building process. The paper centres around a proposed design project with a remote indigenous community on the Groote Eylandt archipelago. A project proposal has evolved from a relationship built through ecological work between scientists and the local community to study native populations of animal species. We describe the context and history and our proposed approach to engaging indigenous knowledge in design.

A cross-cultural approach towards designing digital noticeboards with a remote aboriginal community

This working paper reflects upon the opportunities and challenges of designing a form of digital noticeboard system with a remote Aboriginal community that supports their aspirations for both internal and external communication. The project itself has evolved from a relationship built through ecological work between scientists and the local community on the Groote Eylandt archipelago to study native populations of animal species over the long term. In the course of this work the aspiration has emerged to explore how digital noticeboards might support communication on the island and externally. This paper introduces the community, the context and the history of the project. We then reflect upon the science project, its outcomes and a framework empowering the Aboriginal viewpoint, in order to draw lessons for extending what we see as a pragmatic and relationship based approach towards cross-cultural design.

We have a lot to learn yet : a postcolonial lens in health promotion

Health promotion progresses a social justice and empowerment agenda and thus emphasises working with people to increase their control over their health. Certainly, Australia has experienced much success in this endeavour and is internationally recognised as a leader. However, health promotion has failed Indigenous Australians; a fact that is echoed in the health outcomes that ironically provide us with the “moral imperative” to act. Further investigation has also revealed health promotion’s foundation in colonial imaginings. Thus, this paper calls for the culture of health promotion to be examined as a risk factor for poor Indigenous health. To complement this call, this paper presents findings of an ethnographic study of Indigenous health promotion practice, undertaken from a postcolonial and critical whiteness framework. These findings provide a narrative of strength and innovative approaches, highlighting the value of Indigenous knowledge. These findings also contradict the biomedical tendency to construct culture as illness-producing. More broadly, this study’s findings entail important lessons for health promotion to consider, if it is to move beyond the rhetoric, to truly increase people’s control over their health.

Australian Aboriginal virtual heritage

The thesis uses creative practice and Indigenous knowledge frameworks with design methods to explore the ways in which virtual technology can represent Indigenous history and culture.

Creating new folk opera forms of applied theatre for HIV and AIDS education in Papua New Guinea

This research investigated the potential of folk opera as a tool for HIV and AIDS education in Papua New Guinea. It began with an investigation on the indigenous performativities and theatricalities of Papua New Guineans, conducting an audit of eight selected performance traditions in Papua New Guinea. These traditions were analysed, and five cultural forms and twenty performance elements were drawn out for further exploration. These elements were fused and combined with theatre techniques from western theatre traditions, through a script development process involving Australians, Papua New Guineans and international collaborators. The resulting folk opera, entitled Kumul, demonstrates what Murphy (2010) has termed story force, picture force, and feeling force, in the service of a story designed to educate Papua New Guinean audiences about HIV and the need to adopt safer sexual practices. Kumul is the story of a young man faced with decisions on whether or not to engage in risky sexual behaviours. Kumul's narrative is carefully framed within selected Papua New Guinean beliefs drawn from the audit to deliver HIV and AIDS messages using symbolic and metaphoric communication techniques without offending people. The folk opera Kumul was trialled in two communities in Papua New Guinea: a village community and an urban settlement area. Kumul is recognisable to Papua New Guinean audiences because it reflects their lifestyle and a worldview, which connects them to their beliefs and spirituality, and the larger cosmological order. Feedback from audience members indicated that the performance facilitated HIV and AIDS communication, increased people's awareness of HIV and AIDS, and encouraged behaviour change. Tellingly, in one performance venue, forty people queued for Voluntary Testing and Counseling immediately after the performance. Twenty of these people were tested on that night and the other twenty were tested the following day. Many of the volunteers were young men – a demographic historically difficult to engage in HIV testing. This encouraging result indicates that the Kumul folk opera form of applied theatre could be useful for facilitating communication and education regarding sexual health and safer sexual behaviours in Papua New Guinea. Feedback from participants, audience members and other research stakeholders suggests that the form might also be adapted to address other social and development issues, particularly in the areas of health and social justice.

Crossing lines: Sport history, transformative narratives, and Aboriginal Australia

In this collaborative article, we seek to unsettle the dominance of Western, reconstructionist accounts of Indigenous Australian sport history through reflections on our past research in the Queensland Aboriginal community of Cherbourg. That research focussed on a statue of legendary 1930s cricketer, Eddie Gilbert, and on sport exhibitions in Cherbourg's Ration Shed Museum. Here, we are less concerned with unveiling the ‘true’ account of Australian Aboriginal sporting history, or even a ‘true’ Indigenous representation of events. Rather, we are interested in analysing various perspectives in order to generate a more inclusive and complete account of Aboriginal sport history and the narrative implications of these for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia. Central to this endeavour is the positioning of Indigenous knowledge and understanding at the centre of history-making. The article is in two sections: reflections on our past work from the perspectives of the researchers themselves and an Aboriginal academic colleague, followed by a discussion of how those experiences and reflections will inform our pending project on the 1950s and 1960s Cherbourg marching girls teams.