Leiden University Global Seed Fund for Sara de Wit and Miriam Waltz

Congratulations to Sara de Wit and Miriam Waltz, who have just been granted a Leiden University Global Seed fund for collaborations with priority partners in the regions, for their proposed project 'Climate Talks: Fostering Equitable Exchange Between Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Climate Science'. 

Indigenous Knowledge
Policymakers show a growing interest in the application of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) for addressing planetary challenges such as biodiversity loss and climate change. Global reports state that IKS are under threat from biodiversity loss and climate change, while acknowledging that these may hold valuable insights to ‘solve’ these problems. Yet, IKS are still marginalised. Moreover, these same scientific knowledge frameworks are contributing to the marginalisation of indigenous ways of knowing and being in the world. The value of indigenous knowledge in science and policy is poorly understood, often leading to their instrumentalisation for Western agendas like nature conservation. This interdisciplinary project will explore the potential for equitable exchange of IKS and climate science for climate justice. Multi-stakeholder engagement meetings will be organised in Ghana with Leiden University and University of Ghana researchers, indigenous people, climate scientists, NGOs and policy makers. The University of Edinburgh is an additional partner in the research consortium.