​

The 2019 Indigenous Knowledge Forum launched the Garuwanga Project draft report for general public discussion and consultation providing an opportunity for revision before the final report is released. This was the last activity for the Garuwanga Project.

 

The Nagoya Protocol, which came into force on 12 October 2014, has already been ratified by 113 UN member states and the European Union. Implementation of the Protocol requires the establishment of national focal points and competent national authorities (which may be one and the same). Such authorities, if created as non-government organisations and/or if governed by representatives of the communities they are intended to protect, could help Indigenous communities to achieve self-determination in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Self-determination refers to a peoples’ right to freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development. The theme of this Forum is, therefore: Models for a Competent Authority – Facilitating Self-Determination.

 

Focussing on access to and the sharing of benefits from the use of traditional or Indigenous knowledge and culture, this Forum will bring together scholars and experts with the objective of facilitating discussion and information exchange on international experiences with competent authorities.

 

Papers presented at the Forum may be submitted for publication in the third volume of the Indigenous Knowledge Forum book series.

​

​

Program

​

Go to the link here to see details of presenters and session chairs and here for the abstracts and presentation slides from the forum.

​

Opening of Project Forum: Welcome & Acknowledgement of Country

​

​

​

​

​

​

Session 1: Theories of Indigenous Knowledge Self-Governance

​

​

​

​

​

​

Session 2: International Models of Competent Authorities

​

​

​

​

​

​

Session 3: Case Studies of Competent Authorities and Self-Determination Part 1

​

​

​

​

​

​

Session 4: Case Studies of Competent Authorities and Self-Determination Part 2

​

​

​

​

​

​

Closing remarks

​

​

​

​

​