Science-Traditional-Knowledge
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Traditional Knowledge
Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge The current international system for protecting intellectual property was fashioned during the age of industrialization and developed subsequently in line with the perceived needs of technologically advanced societies. However, in recent years, indigenous peoples, local communities, and governments mainly in developing countries, have demanded equivalent protection for traditional knowledge . WIPO member states take part in negotiations within the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folklore (IGC), in order to develop an international legal instrument (or instruments) that would give traditional knowledge, genetic resources and traditional cultural expressions (folklore) effective and balanced protection. Such an instrument could range from a recommendation to WIPO members to a formal treaty that would bind countries choosing to ratify it. Representatives of indigenous and local communities are assisted by the WIPO Voluntary Fund to attend the IGC, and their active participation is crucial for a successful outcome. Traditional knowledge is not so-called because of its antiquity, much traditional knowledge and many traditional cultural expressions are not ancient or inert, but a vital, dynamic part of the lives of many communities today. The adjective “traditional” qualifies a form of knowledge or an expression which has a traditional link with a community: it is developed, sustained and passed on within a community, sometimes through specific customary systems of transmission. In short, it is the relationship with the community that makes knowledge or expressions “traditional.” Traditional knowledge is not easily protected by the current intellectual property system, which typically grants protection for a limited period to inventions and original works by named individuals or companies. -
Indigenous Experiences in the U.S. with Climate Change
Climate Change and Environmental StewardshipIndigenous Experiences in the Anthropocene in the U.S. with Abstract: The recognition of climate change issues facing trib- al communities and indigenous peoples in the United States Karletta Chief is growing, and understanding its impacts is rooted in indig- (Navajo Nation), Assistant enous ethical perspectives and systems of ecological knowl- Professor, Department of Soil, edge. This foundation presents a context and guide for con- Water, and Environmental temporary indigenous approaches to address climate change Sciences, University of impacts that are comprehensive and holistic. Tribal communi- Arizona, Tucson, AZ ties and indigenous peoples across the United States are re- envisioning the role of science in the Anthropocene; working John J. Daigle to strengthen government-to-government relationships in cli- mate change initiatives; and leading climate change research, (Penobscot Nation), Associate mitigation and adaptation plans through indigenous ingenuity. Professor, School of Forest Unique adaptive capacities of tribal communities stem from Resources, University of their ethics and knowledge, and help frame and guide suc- Maine, Orono, ME cessful adaptation. As documented in the Special Issue of the Climatic Change Journal on the impacts of climate change to Kathy Lynn U.S. indigenous communities (Maldonado and others 2013), these issues include the loss of traditional knowledge; impacts Adjunct Faculty Researcher, to forests, ecosystems, traditional foods, and water; thawing Environmental Studies of Arctic sea ice and permafrost; and relocation of communi- Program, University of ties. This collaboration, by more than 50 authors from tribal Oregon, Eugene, OR communities, academia, government agencies, and NGOs, demonstrates the increasing awareness, interest, and need to Kyle Powys Whyte understand the unique ways in which climate change will af- (Citizen Potawatomi fect tribal cultures, lands, and traditional ways of life. -
Using Modern Technologies to Capture and Share Indigenous Astronomical Knowledge
Australian Academic & Research Libraries (2014) | Preprint Using Modern Technologies to Capture and Share Indigenous Astronomical Knowledge Martin Nakata a*, Duane Hamacher a, John Warren e, Alex Byrned, Maurice Pagnucco b, Ross Harley c, Srikumar Venugopal b, Kirsten Thorpe d, Richard Neville d and Reuben Bolt a a Nura Gili Indigenous Programs Unit, University of New South Wales b School of Computer Science and Engineering, University of New South Wales c College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales, Sydney d State Library of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia e Microsoft Research, North Ryde, Australia Abstract Indigenous Knowledge is important for Indigenous communities across the globe and for the advancement of our general scientific knowledge. In particular, Indigenous astronomical knowledge integrates many aspects of Indigenous Knowledge, including seasonal calendars, navigation, food economics, law, ceremony, and social structure. We aim to develop innovative ways of capturing, managing, and disseminating Indigenous astronomical knowledge for Indigenous communities and the general public for the future. Capturing, managing, and disseminating this knowledge in the digital environment poses a number of challenges, which we aim to address using a collaborative project involving experts in the higher education, library, and industry sectors. Using Microsoft’s WorldWide Telescope and Rich Interactive Narratives technologies, we propose to develop software, media design, and archival management solutions to allow Indigenous communities to share their astronomical knowledge with the world on their terms and in a culturally sensitive manner. Keywords: Indigenous Knowledge, cultural astronomy, data management, Intellectual property, Indigenous Australians. Introduction Although increasing numbers of Indigenous people live less traditional lives, many still seek to maintain meaningful connections to their traditional knowledge, heritage, and land (Edwards and Heinrich 2006). -
Traditional Knowledge and Global Lawmaking Kuei-Jung Ni
Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights Volume 10 | Issue 2 Article 3 Winter 2011 Traditional Knowledge and Global Lawmaking Kuei-Jung Ni Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njihr Recommended Citation Kuei-Jung Ni, Traditional Knowledge and Global Lawmaking, 10 Nw. J. Int'l Hum. Rts. 85 (2011). http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njihr/vol10/iss2/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Northwestern Journal of International Human Rights by an authorized administrator of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. Vol. 10:2] Kuei-Jung Ni Traditional Knowledge and Global Lawmaking Kuei-Jung Ni! I. INTRODUCTION ¶1 The value and significance of traditional knowledge (TK)1 has been widely recognized. According to the study of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), TK has tremendous merits in various respects, generating cultural, social, ecological, biological, agricultural, and industrial values.2 ¶2 In short, TK refers to the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities in the world. Yet there seems to be no definite and universally approved definition of TK.3 The concept of TK may be reflected in the work of the WIPO, which outlines its general scope as follows: [T]he term “traditional knowledge” refers to the content or substance of knowledge resulting from intellectual activity in a traditional context, and includes the know-how, skills, innovations, practices and learning that form part ! Professor of Law & Director, Institute of Technology Law, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan. -
Oslo 2004: the Abel Prize Celebrations
NEWS OsloOslo 2004:2004: TheThe AbelAbel PrizePrize celebrationscelebrations Nils Voje Johansen and Yngvar Reichelt (Oslo, Norway) On 25 March, the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters announced that the Abel Prize for 2004 was to be awarded to Sir Michael F. Atiyah of the University of Edinburgh and Isadore M. Singer of MIT. This is the second Abel Prize awarded following the Norwegian Government’s decision in 2001 to allocate NOK 200 million to the creation of the Abel Foundation, with the intention of award- ing an international prize for outstanding research in mathematics. The prize, amounting to NOK 6 million, was insti- tuted to make up for the fact that there is no Nobel Prize for mathematics. In addi- tion to awarding the international prize, the Foundation shall contribute part of its earnings to measures for increasing inter- est in, and stimulating recruitment to, Nils Voje Johansen Yngvar Reichelt mathematical and scientific fields. The first Abel Prize was awarded in machine – the brain and the computer, break those rules creatively, just like an 2003 to the French mathematician Jean- with the subtitle “Will a computer ever be artist or a musical composer. Pierre Serre for playing a key role in shap- awarded the Abel Prize?” Quentin After a brief interval, Quentin Cooper ing the modern form of many parts of Cooper, one of the BBC’s most popular invited questions from the audience and a mathematics. In 2004, the Abel radio presenters, chaired the meeting, in number of points were brought up that Committee decided that Michael F. which Sir Michael spoke for an hour to an Atiyah addressed thoroughly and profes- Atiyah and Isadore M. -
Digital Technologies and Traditional Cultural Expressions: a Positive Look at a Difficult Relationship Mira Burri*
International Journal of Cultural Property (2010) 17:33–63. Printed in the USA. Copyright © 2010 International Cultural Property Society doi:10.1017/S0940739110000032 Digital Technologies and Traditional Cultural Expressions: A Positive Look at a Difficult Relationship Mira Burri* Abstract: Digital technologies have often been perceived as imperilling tradi- tional cultural expressions (TCE). This angst has interlinked technical and so- ciocultural dimensions. On the technical side, it is related to the affordances of digital media that allow instantaneous access to information without real loca- tion constraints, data transport at the speed of light and effortless reproduction of the original without any loss of quality. In a sociocultural context, digital technologies have been regarded as the epitome of globalization forces—not only driving and deepening the process of globalization itself but also spreading its effects. The present article examines the validity of these claims and sketches a number of ways in which digital technologies may act as benevolent factors. It illustrates in particular that some digital technologies can be instrumentalized to protect TCE forms, reflecting more appropriately the specificities of TCE as a complex process of creation of identity and culture. The article also seeks to reveal that digital technologies—and more specifically the Internet and the World Wide Web—have had a profound impact on the ways cultural content is created, disseminated, accessed and consumed. It is argued that this environ- ment may have generated various opportunities for better accommodating TCE, especially in their dynamic sense of human creativity. Digital technologies have often been perceived as imperiling traditional cultural expressions (TCE). -
Issues and Options for Traditional Knowledge Holders in Protecting Their Intellectual Property
CHAPTER 16.6 Issues and Options for Traditional Knowledge Holders in Protecting Their Intellectual Property stepHen A. HAnsen, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Science and Human Rights Program, U.S.A. JUstin w. van Fleet, Principal Consultant and Director, The Advance Associates, LLC, U.S.A. ABSTRACT continued survival. Key examples of TK are these Traditional knowledge (TK) is the information that peo- uses of biological resources: ple in a given community, based on experience and adapt- • plao-noi in Thailand for the treatment of ed to local culture and environment, have developed over time and that continues to develop. This knowledge is ulcers used to sustain the community and its culture, as well • the hoodia cactus by Kung Bushmen in as the biological resources necessary for the continued Africa to stave off hunger survival of the community. Since 1948, international hu- • turmeric in India for wound-healing man-rights standards have recognized the importance of protecting intellectual property. Yet, to date, intellectual • ayahuasca in the Amazon basin for sacred property (IP) rights are not adequately extended to the religious and healing purposes holders of TK. The requirements for IP rights protections • j’oublie in Cameroon and Gabon as a under current IP regimes remain largely inconsistent with sweetener the nature of TK. As a result, it is neglected and consid- ered part of the public domain with no protections or benefits for the knowledge holders, or expropriated for TK includes mental inventories of local bio- the financial gains of others, often referred to as biopiracy. logical resources, animal breeds, and local plant, This chapter presents basic IP concepts in the context of crop, and tree species. -
The History of the Abel Prize and the Honorary Abel Prize the History of the Abel Prize
The History of the Abel Prize and the Honorary Abel Prize The History of the Abel Prize Arild Stubhaug On the bicentennial of Niels Henrik Abel’s birth in 2002, the Norwegian Govern- ment decided to establish a memorial fund of NOK 200 million. The chief purpose of the fund was to lay the financial groundwork for an annual international prize of NOK 6 million to one or more mathematicians for outstanding scientific work. The prize was awarded for the first time in 2003. That is the history in brief of the Abel Prize as we know it today. Behind this government decision to commemorate and honor the country’s great mathematician, however, lies a more than hundred year old wish and a short and intense period of activity. Volumes of Abel’s collected works were published in 1839 and 1881. The first was edited by Bernt Michael Holmboe (Abel’s teacher), the second by Sophus Lie and Ludvig Sylow. Both editions were paid for with public funds and published to honor the famous scientist. The first time that there was a discussion in a broader context about honoring Niels Henrik Abel’s memory, was at the meeting of Scan- dinavian natural scientists in Norway’s capital in 1886. These meetings of natural scientists, which were held alternately in each of the Scandinavian capitals (with the exception of the very first meeting in 1839, which took place in Gothenburg, Swe- den), were the most important fora for Scandinavian natural scientists. The meeting in 1886 in Oslo (called Christiania at the time) was the 13th in the series. -
Traditional Knowledge
Traditional Knowledge FACT WHAT IS TRADITIONAL SHEET KNOWLEDGE? Presented by the Traditional Knowledge, often abbreviated Intellectual as TK, refers to the holistic total of an Property Issues in indigenous people’s understanding of Cultural Heritage the world. While the term is often used Project. in relation to oral history, its bounds are much broader. Traditional Knowledge can refer to knowledge of past events, but also encompasses peoples’ embodied practices, spirituality, morality, ideologies, modes of artistic (or abstract) expression, and the ways in which knowledge is acquired and passed on through WHY IS TK IMPORTANT generations. Traditional Knowledge TO COMMUNITIES? systems extend into the present, and are alive and constantly adapted in • Connecting to the past: TK represents a order to remain relevant to contemporary powerful link to a community’s past. It offers indigenous life. The term is predominantly information about a people’s history, the used to designate those knowledge land they have lived on, how they procured systems that are markedly different from the and processed resources, and their dominant Western systems of knowledge. relationships to other communities, other species, and the cosmos. • Expressing the present: TK informs a community’s self-identity—how they understand themselves, each other, and WHO “OWNS” TK? (TK AS how they fit in the wider world. To know how one’s ancestors lived, what they valued, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY): and what they knew is vitally important to understanding who one is in the present. In • Researchers in fields as such diverse as many cases, practices based on TK—from archaeology, biotechnology, and natural harvesting plants to telling stories—connect resource management are increasingly generations, both living and long gone. -
Traditional Knowledge, Innovation and Practices
Living in harmony with nature Traditional Knowledge, Innovation and Practices Traditional knowledge is the knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities around the world. Developed from experience gained over centuries and adapted to the local culture and environment, it is transmitted orally from generation to generation. It tends to be collectively owned and takes the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community laws, local language, and agricultural practices, including the development of plant species and animal breeds. Sometimes it is referred to as an oral tradition for it is practiced, sung, danced, painted, carved, chanted and performed down through millennia. Traditional knowledge is mainly of a practical nature, particularly in such fields as agriculture, fisheries, health, horticulture, forestry and environmental management in general. Appreciation of the value of traditional knowledge is growing. This knowledge is valuable not only to those who depend on it in their daily lives, but to modern industry and agriculture as well. Many widely used products, such as plant-based medicines, health products and cosmetics, are derived from traditional knowledge. Other such valuable products include agricultural and non-wood forest products as well as handicraft. Traditional knowledge can make a significant contribution to sustainable development. Most indigenous and local communities are situated in areas where the vast majority of the world’s genetic resources are found. Many of them have cultivated and used biodiversity in a sustainable way for thousands of years. Some of their practices have been proven to enhance and promote biodiversity at the local level and aid in maintaining healthy ecosystems. -
Locality in the History of Science: Colonial Science, Technoscience, and Indigenous Knowledge
Locality in the History of Science: Colonial Science, Technoscience, and Indigenous Knowledge Author(s): David Wade Chambers and Richard Gillespie Source: Osiris, 2nd Series, Vol. 15, Nature and Empire: Science and the Colonial Enterprise (2000), pp. 221-240 Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/301950 . Accessed: 14/10/2014 18:17 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The University of Chicago Press and The History of Science Society are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Osiris. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 142.103.183.194 on Tue, 14 Oct 2014 18:17:58 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Localityin theHistory of Science: ColonialScience, Technoscience, and IndigenousKnowledge David WadeChambers* and RichardGillespie** INTRODUCTION DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY,THE "colonialworld" becamea prominentresearch focus for historians of sci- ence. In theprocess of establishingthis new subdivisionof knowledge,colonial -
Traditional Knowledge in Policy and Practice
United Nations University Press is the publishing arm of the United Nations University. UNU Press publishes scholarly and policy-oriented books and periodicals on the issues facing the United Nations and its peoples and member states, with particular emphasis upon international, regional and transboundary policies. The United Nations University was established as a subsidiary organ of the United Nations by General Assembly resolution 2951 (XXVII) of 11 December 1972. It functions as an international community of scholars engaged in research, postgraduate training and the dissemination of knowledge to address the pressing global problems of human survival, development and welfare that are the concern of the United Nations and its agencies. Its activities are devoted to advancing knowledge for human security and development and are focused on issues of peace and governance and environment and sustainable development. The Univer- sity operates through a worldwide network of research and training centres and programmes, and its planning and coordinating centre in Tokyo. Traditional knowledge in policy and practice Traditional knowledge in policy and practice: Approaches to development and human well-being Edited by Suneetha M. Subramanian and Balakrishna Pisupati © United Nations University, 2010 The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not nec- essarily reflect the views of the United Nations University. United Nations University Press United Nations University, 53-70, Jingumae 5-chome, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-8925, Japan Tel: +81-3-5467-1212 Fax: +81-3-3406-7345 E-mail: [email protected] general enquiries: [email protected] http://www.unu.edu United Nations University Office at the United Nations, New York 2 United Nations Plaza, Room DC2-2062, New York, NY 10017, USA Tel: +1-212-963-6387 Fax: +1-212-371-9454 E-mail: [email protected] United Nations University Press is the publishing division of the United Nations University.