Resilience through Knowledge Co-Production: Indigenous Knowledge, Science, and Global Environmental Change

Confronted with the complex environmental crises of the Anthropocene, scientists have moved towards an interdisciplinary approach to address challenges that are both social and ecological. Several arenas are now calling for co-production of new transdisciplinary knowledge by combining Indigenous knowledge and science. This book revisits epistemological debates on the notion of co-production and assesses the relevant methods, principles and values that enable communities to co-produce. It explores the factors that determine how indigenous-scientific knowledge can be rooted in equity, mutual respect and shared benefits. Resilience through Knowledge Co-Production includes several collective papers co-authored by Indigenous experts and scientists, with case studies involving Indigenous communities from the Arctic, Pacific islands, the Amazon, the Sahel and high altitude areas. Offering guidance to indigenous peoples, scientists, decision-makers and NGOs, this book moves towards a decolonised co-production of knowledge that unites indigenous knowledge and science to address global environmental crises.

Marie Roué, Emeritus Research Director at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), is an environmental anthropologist who works with Sami reindeer herders in Norway and Sweden, and Cree First Nations in Arctic Quebec, Canada. She directed the CNRS/National Museum of Natural History research team on the anthropology of nature (APSONAT) and served as a member of the IPBES Multidisciplinary Expert Panel (MEP), as well as its task force on indigenous and local knowledge.

Douglas Nakashima recently retired from UNESCO's Natural Sciences sector where he created the global Local and Indigenous Knowledge Systems (LINKS) programme. He has worked in the indigenous knowledge field for over 40 years, beginning with research among Inuit and Cree First Nations in Arctic Canada. He led UNESCO's work with IPCC and IPBES that highlights the key role of indigenous knowledge in climate change and biodiversity assessments.

Igor Krupnik is Curator of Arctic Ethnology at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Trained as a cultural anthropologist and ecologist, he has worked in polar indigenous communities, primarily in Alaska and Bering Strait region. His area of expertise includes modern cultures, indigenous ecological knowledge, and the impact of modern climate change on human life in the North. He has published and co-edited more than 20 books, catalogues and community sourcebooks. He received a medal from the International Arctic Science Committee in 2012 for his role in building bridges between social and natural scientists and polar indigenous people.