Alternative approaches to co-design: insights from indigenous/academic research collaborations

Abstract

The impacts of global environmental change create new challenges and opportunities for indigenous peoples worldwide. Yet, there remains limited recognition that indigenous knowledge frameworks could (and should) influence the processes and outcomes of climate change mitigation and adaptation. This paper presents insights relating to indigenous issues in a global environmental change context from two workshops, which were held in Brisbane, Australia, and Umeå, Sweden. These workshops were attended by more than 30 indigenous and non-indigenous researchers, natural resource managers, policy-makers, and representatives from government and non-governmental organizations from across Asia, Oceania, and Scandinavia. This paper builds on workshop participants’ insights and illuminates key components of the process of co-creation of knowledges for and with indigenous communities, and describes some of the main challenges to, and opportunities for, transdisciplinary and cross-cultural knowledge production. We argue that indigenous methodologies offer important lessons for current efforts within global sustainability research to integrate different knowledges and design and conduct research in culturally and ethical respectful manner.