20 In Guatemala, 42 percent of the population is indigenous. There are several challenges in the current education system. Government spends only meagre resources for education in the region, and the existing education system is a predominantly Western model that ignores the traditional cultural wisdom. A transformative education model which can ingrain values of cultural diversity and national identity within communities while fulfilling ambitions of scientific and technological capacities of a developing country is a vital need. The Mayan cultural worldview based on principles of sustainability fits well into this model. RCE Guatemala has taken the lead in integrating this Mayan worldview and principles of sustainability in various levels and forms of education. Wisdom dialogues and curriculum reforms are important strategies for this programme, with active networks of university faculty, school teacher and students, and community members. A major focus of RCE Kodagu’s biodiversity and traditional knowledge related activities is conservation of sacred groves through research and outreach programmes. Their field programmes involve livelihood initiatives through the promotion of bamboo cultivation; organic farming, creation of a forest protection battalion; ecosystem services valuation; and educational initiatives in schools and colleges. Through ecoclubs, several schools and colleges have undergone training in the area of sacred grove conservation. Identification, documentation and conservation of medicinal plants and associated knowledge in the region is another thrust area. A heritage interpretation centre depicting the local cultural and biodiversity has also been created. RCE Makana has become a hub for local organisations to collaborate in support of environment and sustainability initiatives. What has been most notable is that issues that ranged from water to biodiversity have each been found to have a local knowledge practice that had been previously overlooked. An emphasis on biodiversity conservation has thus become a matter of local importance to people and the environment. The RCE does not have funded projects but is a community-based initiative where funding can be pooled and change practices can be initiated at a level that local family resources allow. The two reported in this case report are compost gardening and the planting of indigenous food trees of cultural significance that serve to restore biodiversity-based food production and health in a small but significant process of indigenous knowledge and practices recovery. Learning in RCEs The case studies in this publication demonstrate how, in the context of RCEs in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas, different RCE stakeholders are able to express their concerns and address them through co-engaged practice and learning in developing regionally appropriate solutions to the challenges of bio-cultural diversity. Such individual articulation and collective contextualisation demonstrate the biodiversity problematic (ranging from protection of species and ecosystems to poverty eradication, health and livelihood security), its relevance for the variety of stakeholders and an opportunity that the RCEs’ learning spaces could offer for mainstreaming issues of biodiversity into development agenda. References Archer, M., 2010. Conversations about Reflexivity. London: Routledge. Berkes, F., and Folke, C., 1994. Investing in Cultural Capital for Sustainable Use of Natural Resources. In Investing in Natural Capital: The Ecological Economics Approach to Sustainability, ed. Koskoff, S. Washington DC: Island Press. Bodeker.G, C.K.Ong, C.Grundy, G.Burford and K.Shein, 2005. WHO Global Atlas onTraditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicine Kobe: WHO Centre for Health and Development. Bourdieu, P., 1990. The Logic of Practice. California: Stanford University Press. Breidlid, A., 2009. Culture, Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Sustainable Development: A Critical View of Education in an African Context. International Journal of Educational Development 29: 140–148. Cochrane, P., 2006. Exploring Cultural Capital and its Importance in Sustainable Development. Ecological Economics 57: 318-330. Couze, V., and Featherstone, M., 2006. Modernity. Theory, Culture and Society 23(2-3): 457-465. Elias, N., 1987. Involvement and Detachment. New York: Basil Blackwell. Elias, N., 1991. The Symbol Theory. London: Sage. Haverkort, B., Katrien Van’t Hooft, and Wim Hiemstra (eds.), 2003. Ancient Roots New Shoots. Leusden: ETC /Compas and Zed Books. Haverkort, B., 2006. Challenges for Endogenous Development and Biocultural Diversity. In Endogenous Development and Biocultural Diversity, eds. Haverkort, B. and Stephan Rist, Leusden: ETC /Compas, pp.24-44. EDITO RIAL
Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity
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