Forthcoming Conferences in 2005 - 2006

UNAIDS Conference: Global Summit on HIV/AIDS, Traditional Medicine & Indigenous Knowledge, Accra, Ghana, March 3 - 18, 2006

This conference aims to: facilitate the identification and testing of potentially beneficial low-cost naturally-derived medicinal products for HIV/AIDS prevention and cure and also facilitate the production of valuable resources which will ensure sound education and cultural empowerment in the fields of medicine, health care and sustainable development. The Global Summit on HIV/AIDS, Traditional Medicine and Indigenous Knowledge will be held at the Accra International Centre, Republic of Ghana. For more information visit:
http://www.africa-first.com/gsaidstmik2006/default.aspx

Global Conference on African Healing Wisdom, Washington DC, July 6-9, 2005

The workshop aims to To increase the capacity for dialogue and cooperation among traditional healers and health care providers across the health continuum in the United States, African countries and African communities in the Americas and Caribbean region. For more information visit: http://www.procultura.org/AFRICA.htm

First Africa Regional Conference of ICMI, Johannesburg, South Africa
June 22 - 25, 2005

This workshop's theme is Mathematics Teaching and Teacher Education in Changing Times and has the four strands: (i) Teacher Education (primary and secondary; initial and in-service), (ii) Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and Resources for teaching and learning, (iii) Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), Ethnomathematics and the Curriculum, and (iv) Teaching and Learning Mathematics (primary, secondary and tertiary). For more information visit: http://www.wits.ac.za/ICMI

Australian Rural Health Education Network Indigenous Knowledge Conference, Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand),
June 22 -25 2005

Hosted by He Parekereke and Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand) the Indigenous Knowledge Conference will bring together scholars and academic and community researchers from a range of disciplinary fields and nations to develop discipline - based responses to the real-world struggles of Maori and Indigenous peoples. For more information visit:
http://www.vuw.ac.nz/indigenousknowledges

Archives

2005

Traditional Healing & HIV/AIDS Conference, Dakar, Senegal, April 11-13, 2005

The objective of the conference is the creation of an infrastructure to support on-going dialogue between traditional healers and the conventional medical community, thereby enabling emergence of a united front in the struggle against HIV/AIDS.

Indigenous Knowledge & Traditional Medicine Conference, Johannesburg, South Africa - March 16-18, 2005

The workshop will review current international, regional, state and local laws as they affect indigenous knowledge and practices, and to recommend changes and amendments to such laws wherever necessary, so as to give adequate protection to indigenous knowledge and the rights of traditional healers to medicinal knowledge and products against bio-piracy.

Workshop on the Scientific Validation of Indigenous Knowledge and HIV/AIDS, Johannesburg, South Africa, February 9-11, 2005

The workshop will bring together traditional healers and global scientists to develop common approaches on validation with a focus on traditional healing practices related to HIV/AIDS. Specifically, the objective of the workshop is to find joint approaches for validation of traditional medicine and ways for scientists and healers to learn from each other. The workshop is jointly organized by the GRA and the World Bank. GRA is the Global Research Alliance which will send scientists from its member organizations to the workshop.

2004

Senegal, 4th International Conference on Traditional Healing & HIV/AIDS, Dakar, Senegal, 20-21 July, 2004

The 4th International Conference & Exhibition on Traditional Medicine under the
theme: "Traditional Healing & HIV/AIDS" will take place at Hotel Meridien President, Dakar, Senegal, West Africa in July 20-21, 2004. The conference is being organized in association with the Government of the Republic of Senegal and ENDA TM.

2003

AUGUST: First Global Summit on Indigenous Tourism. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. For more information: send an e-mail to Marsha_Smoke@hotmail.com

June 30-July 8: 4th Intercultural Encouter in the Amazonian Region and Territory and Culture Forum. Amazonas, Colombia. For more information: visit http://www.rds.org.co/amazonia, or send an e-mail to javier@rds.org.co

July 24-July 25: Intellectual Property Rights of the Traditional Healer. Johannesburg, South Africa. 3rd International Conference and Exhibition on Traditional Medicine. The purpose of this conference is to address the protection of traditional healers’ rights to medical knowledge and discoveries against bio-piracy, and also to adopt global standards for education and training of traditional healers for integration into mainstream medical practice. For more information: send an email to info@africa-first.com, or visit http://www.africa-first.com/iktm2005/index.htm

The 2nd International Conference on Medicinal Mushrooms: From Traditional Knowledge to Modern Technology, Cholburi, Thailand, 17-19 July 2003.
The conference seeks to promote bio-business in mushroom based medicines, food supplements and further research and development on medicnal mushrooms.

CASTs 2003 Conference, Saskatchewan,Canada, September , 18-20, 2003.
The conference seeks to interconnect aspects of western science with Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge.

The 7th International ISE Congress, Pretoria, South Africa, 8-11 January 2003.
How can ethnobotany and ethnopharmacology bridge the gap between traditional knowledge and sustainable development? The conference will explore the following themes: ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY in the treatment of infectious diseases, PLANTS in the community: Sharing of knowledge, ETHNOBOTANY and biodiversity: Conservation and sustainable use, BIOLOGICAL and chemical studies on medicinal plants.

Biodiversity and biotechnology and the protection of traditional knowledge, St. Louis, USA, Spring 2003
The event will focus on the agricultural and plant aspects of the biotech revolution, including its impact on the protection of biodiversity;
with particular attention to the protection of traditional knowledge and other intellectual property mechanisms of interest to the developing world.

5th European colloquium on ethno-pharmacology, Valencia, Spain, 8-10 May 2003 The main themes are indigenous knowledge and practices related to curative natural products, uses of medicinal plants and scientific studies of their diffusion.

2002

Workshop on Application of Indigenous Knowledge for Coastal Drylands, Alexandria, Egypt, 21- 25 September. This workshop emphasizes the use of indigenous knowledge and traditional technologies for sustainable management of marginal dryland. It is co-organized by: UNU, UNESCO and ICARDA. For details see website.

International Symposium to Protect Knowledge to Feed the World, Bern, Switzerland, 26 September, 2002. How can farmers in developing countries protect their traditional knowledge? The aim of this international symposium is to foster exchange of experience between important stakeholders and promote the debate on strategies for the future. Info-Agrar believes this will induce a learning process and lead to new forms of collaboration. See website for details.

Conference on mountain cultures and biodiversity in montane South East Asia
Lijiang, Yunnan (China), Date: 25 - 28 of August 2002. The three main themes for the MMSEA III conference are: Indigenous Knowledge vs./plus/and scientific knowledge systems Globalisation vs./or/and localisation Methodology of Research and development: the challenge of bridging systems, worldviews, cultures through participation and dialogue. For more information, see Background Note ( 379KB) or visit the Center for Biodiversity and Indigenous Knowledge.

World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, August 26 - September 4, 2002. The Summit marks the 10th anniversary of the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro. The UN Secretary General's five priority areas for Johannesburg are: Water, Energy, Health, Agriculture and Biodiversity. Official website.

Medicinal Plant and Indigenous Knowledge Convention in Rabat, Morocco
May 2nd - 4th 2002
1. The International Conference on Medicinal Plants, Indigenous knowledge and Benefit Sharing - The conference will contribute to the outcomes of the Convention on Biological Diversity's COP-6 for issues relating to benefit sharing, indigenous biodiversity, health knowledge and protection of intellectual property rights. It is expected that the conference will attract more than 300-400 international delegates, representing major stakeholders from all continents. For more information go to - http://www.czp.cuni.cz/en/info/pokus.asp?Kod=871.
2. The International Colloquium on the Medicinal Plants / Health / Environmental and Development - The Colloquium is organized by the Moroccan Network of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants (MAP) in collaboration with other Institutes and with Conserve Africa International, London, UK. This congress, organized by the MAP aims to give a progress report on the recent contributions at the industrial, scientific and technological level. For more information, visit http://www.multimania.com/congres2002pma/.
3. International Workshop on Sustainable Trade and Conservation of Medicinal Plant Resources - Conserve Africa International, UK and Denzil Phillips International Ltd, UK will organize this 3-day workshop. For more information, visit http://www.multimania.com/congres2002pma/.

Ancient and traditional wisdom in agriculture, environment and health for sustainable development
India, 28th February - 3rd March 2002. A conference on the application of ancient technologies in modern times. Organized by Department of Extension Education, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi.

Fourth Brazilian symposium of ethnobiology & ethnoecology (SBEE)
Brazil, February 25 to March 1, 2002.The main theme for the Symposium will be: People in ecosystems: linkages between traditional wisdom and biodiversity conservation. Location: Recife, Pernambuco. Messages to the organizing committee should be sent to ivsbee@yahoo.com.br. The conference language is Portuguese.

Brazil Starts Mapping Medicianal Plant Potential - February 26, 2002 - Brazil's IBAMA environmental agency has created the country's first ever database and research center into medicinal plants.

International Siddha Congress, India
February 22 - 24, 2002
The Medicinal Plants Conservation Network (MCPN) is organizing this event to be held in a village in Tamil Nadu. This event, the first of its kind, introduces Siddha, one of the four most ancient, rich and traditional systems of medicine in India. The Congress is expected to open a 'global window' to the age old Siddha system of medicine, whose literature is recorded mainly in a regional language, Tamil and in stone scriptures and palm leaf notes, which date back to BC 4,000.
Online registration is possible at website http://gandeepam.org.

Promoting Community Radios in the Horn of Africa
January 8 - 10, 2002
This is a three-day symposium aimed at introducing and discussing the concepts and practices of community radios and their relevance to the Horn of Africa. The intent is to build on what is happening in areas of social development in the Horn and to reflect on the relevance of community radios in advancing social development initiatives. This will be accompanied by relevant experiences elsewhere in Africa that could provide learning opportunities to the Horn. The symposium is expected to generate interest for community radio initiatives among civil society organizations and support from public governing structures in the Horn.

2001

IK Market Place …Connecting project seekers with funding agencies… - August, 2001 - The IK Program has launched a virtual market place to connect proposal seekers with funding agencies. This will be an electronic forum where you can post proposals to mainstream IK on the web and seek funding. Donors will be encouraged to search our site for good proposals.

Learning from Local Farmers and Healers: World Bank, partners discuss validation of herbal treatments - May 15, 2001 - The IK Program sponsored a seminar bringing together development practitioners from East Africa, scientists from the US National Institutes of Health, George Washington University Hospital, and Bank staff.

James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, launches the first Swahili Website of the Bank. March 15, 2001 (Please see photos)

Singapore Traditional Chinese Medicine Research Symposium 2001 and US NIH NCCAM Workshop on Clinical Research Methodology and Grantsmanship, Singapore, November 12-14, 2001 - This research symposium will showcase the variety of traditional chinese medicine (TCM) research activities in Singapore and around the region. The workshop will provide practical guidance for applying for research grants from the US National Institutes of Health.

First National Workshop on Medicinal and Other Underutilized Plants in Kenya
29th October - 2nd November 2001
In June 2001, the Kenya Agricultural Research Organization (KARI) held a workshop within the context of the Bank supported NARP outlining an approach towards utilizing medicinal and essential oil plants. The workshop was partly funded by the Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program and lead to the First National Workshop on Medicinal and Other Underutilized Plants in Kenya. This will be held at the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute in Naivasha. The purpose of this workshop is to share experiences with people working on medicinal plants while formulating a national strategy and develop a national program. The participants will be drawn from individuals and institutions working on or having a special interest in Medicinal Plants. Local and international stakeholders, as well as guest participants from Africa and other parts of the world will be invited. For more information on the workshop, contact the chairman of the planning committee Professor Titus K. Mukiama at tmukiama@yahoo.com

FAO: First International Workshop on Farm Radio Broadcasting - February, 2001.
"Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs) Servicing Farm Radio: New Contents, New Partnerships", held at FAO Headquearters in Rome, Italy, from February 19 to February 22, 2001

2000

The Bank's first local language site in Wolof was officially opened by Mr. Wolfensohn in April 2000.

Nigeria: Govt okays traditional cure for HIV/AIDS medicine - The Guardian of Nigeria, December 6th, 2000.
On Dec. 5 2000, the Minister of Health Dr. Tim Menakaya declared that: "After prolonged suppression in favour of conventional medicine, traditional medicine practice and practitioners henceforth would be accorded formal status in the national health system."

The Sixth UNESCO-ACEID International Conference on Education
Information Technologies in Educational Innovation for Development: Interfacing Global and Indigenous Knowledge" - 12-15 December 2000, The Imperial Queens Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.

Traditional African Story and Song Raise AIDS Awareness - July 11, 2000—As delegates gather at the International AIDS Conference in Durban, where the Bank has committed $500 million more to control of the disease, the Bank's Africa Region Indigenous Knowledge Program is undertaking its own innovative effort to combat HIV/AIDS.

The Participatory Management Networking Service (PMNS) is a joint service of IUCN, the Bureau of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar) and WWF. The PMNS will integrate information on participatory management of natural resources, including Community-based management, Collaborative management and Indigenous Peoples management.

CGIAR - ICRAF releases an annotated list of 74 references on participatory testing and evaluation of agroforestry practices. This is an update of last year's list and includes 15 new references. Hard copies of papers are available from Mercy Mwangi although you will have to order books and publications from other CG centers yourself.

References on participatory testing and evaluation of agroforestry practices March 2000 (PDF File 51KB)

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) advises that a draft Report on "Intellectual Property Needs and Expectations of Traditional Knowledge Holders - Report on WIPO Fact-finding Missions on Intellectual Property and Traditional Knowledge (1998 - 1999)", is now available for public comment on WIPO's website. The draft is being published for public comment until October 30, 2000.

4th European Colloquium on Ethnopharmacology, May 11-13, 2000, Metz - France

Knowledge Fair - Spring Meetings

Global Knowledge II Conference in Malaysia

News Archive