PREVIOUS EVENTS

Epupa Knowledge Fair

The Inaugural Namibian Indigenous Knowledge Fair was held in April 2021, with approximately 100 participants, bringing together indigenous community members from different conservancies, academics, funders, NGOs and government officials. The event was hosted by the Epupa community, and co-organised with the Namibia University of Science and Technology, sharing local and recent research findings around the topic of co-designed conservation technologies to improve ecosystem management.

The three-day event consisted of numerous workshops on digitalisation ethnobotany, and wildlife activity reporting, workshops on intestine reading, drone wildlife surveillance, and livelihood, amongst community narratives, speeches, discussions and dialogues.

Statements from recent participatory Design Conference in Sibu,
Malaysia, 11-16 August 2024

““In the past week or few weeks that I was here, the most important part is that I felt the spirit. The spirit of the people that were present here. I could feel the positivity of the people that are engaging together because they are all striving for something that we all want to benefit [from] – not only as people but as the environment with people coming from different fields of education trying to find answers. That is something that I felt, the closeness, the humbleness of the people.”
-Elder Herman Many Guns, Southern Alberta, Canada

“There are so many different ideas that we can learn from each other. Not only in terms of technology but the approaches for us. This is a research-based conference but what really grounded me is that each of our community groups from our different tribes, from our different countries provided a platform and the foundation for some really in-depth conversations.”
-Whakatōhea Iwi (Daniel Paruru) Aotearoa, Maori, New Zealand

“We gained new experiences, shared stories, ideas, and were able to learn about each other’s customs and cultures. Although I don’t speak much, deep down, I was very moved and inspired by the incredible experiences from all of you great people. You all are such an inspiration in my life. Hopefully, one day you can all come to my village.”
-Diana Azlyn, Long Lamai, Malaysia

“For me, I have been able to see and understand that all of these different interchanges with different cultures reinforces our strength. What I’ve noticed is that we have commonalities, and even though people are trying different things, the common thing is that everybody has this motivation, this understanding in the importance to strengthen their own cultures and to find ways to keep this knowledge alive.”
-Shakira, Ecuador

“I am very grateful to be invited and be together in this great event. I am really inspired by what I have learned through the shared knowledge and experiences, especially how community knowledge can be transformed into technology, etc.”
-Garen Jengan, Long Lamai, Malaysia

The sangoma, the mountain and the bureaucratic mud

In 2001, following the call of his ancestors, Ntate Ephraim Mabena began to clear the mountain behind his house, made of enormous piles of trash. Seventeen years later, the Mothong African Heritage Trust is an environmental haven that is the pride of Mamelodi. But while it has the endorsement of the national government and three universities, the local municipality is blocking further investment. Will the ancestors come once more to Ntate Mabena’s aid?

The first time it came, in 2001, he was famous in these parts for other things. Back then, he was known as the founder of the local kickboxing and karate club, the man to go to if you wanted to keep your son or daughter off the streets. Others knew him as the driving force behind the Mamelodi Fencing Club, which in the late 1990s made a clean sweep of the medals at the national junior championships. A defier of the body’s limits, Mabena had also made a name for himself as an endurance runner, having once undertaken a five-day marathon to raise funds for a trip to Japan.

Read the full article to learn more