Atlas of Living Australia
Indigenous Ecological Knowledge
www.ala.org.au
Stephanie von Gavel & Rebecca Pirzl
What is the ALA?
• One of several facilities funded by the
Australian Government for national
research infrastructure
• Hosted by
• Enables
• more effective & efficient scientific research
• expanded research opportunities & application
• informing policy & management
• community participation & connection
• education resource
Australia’s aggregation & access e-platform for biodiversity data
Australian node of
>AUD $55 million investment
past 10 years
forward 10 year commitment
Partners – founding & beyond
National Research infrastructure
Open data, open source, open
access, open services, open
infrastructure
A leading-edge
collaborative e-infrastructure
integral to advancing
biodiversity knowledge
• >78 million records
• 5,238 data sets
• 477 spatial layers
• 12.3 billion records downloaded from 1.4
million events
• 1,500 Google Scholar returns
Data types• specimens
• occurrence
• images, sounds
• literature
• sequences
• more ……
System• data capture & aggregation
• data management
• data discovery
• data visualisation
• data analysis & reporting
ALA – sharing biodiversity knowledge
One infrastructure - many systems
ALA – open infrastructure - “Powered by ALA”
Web Services
ALA PortalInternational Instances Domain Instances (Aus)
clic
k o
n im
ages to
go th
rough to
site
Hubs
Web Services / Apps
Suite of Apps
ALA IEK program - goals
Indigenous Ecological KnowledgeVision
• Improved social and ecological sustainability through enabling two-way biodiversity knowledge
Goals
• respect and recognise the value and ownership of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge (IEK) and give prominence to it alongside western science biodiversity knowledge
• support and invigorate IEK and its ongoing application and revitalisation in biodiversity conservation, environmental management and socio-cultural, land rights and economic goals
• support Indigenous people to realise their goals in Indigenous knowledge maintenance, management and application
• empower two-way participation in biodiversity information collection, management and access
• support intergenerational transmission of IEK
• ensure ethical practice through informed consent, equitable sharing of benefits arising from access to IEK, and other established principles of engagement
ALA IEK program – outputs
Output Areas
• Engagement - building best practice engagement approaches and protocols
• Awareness - raising the profile of IEK and ALA and synergies between knowledge systems
• Education - facilitating skill-sharing and learning and intergenerational transfer of IEK
• Capacity - building capacity and opportunities within communities and individuals to apply their knowledge
• Data/Knowledge - Indigenous people recording, managing, controlling and mobilising data/knowledge
• Platforms - platform/s, services and interfaces specifically for IEK that support traditional knowledge systems
• Science - Indigenous driven research/science outputs or goals/ priorities including knowledge co-production
• Application – the practice & use of knowledge, systems and capability for recognition and management of country
Context – knowledge systems
Seasonal
Language
Worldview
Ara Irititja
Walsh et al
Holmes et al
Imp
act–
social, en
viron
men
tal, econ
om
ic
SoE, CBD Aichi, Environmental
Accounts…
InvestmentIntervention
Information Aggregators /
Platforms(e.g. ALA)
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
Assessments, Indicators
VLs, Models…
Researchsystematics, ecological, conservation, ag, health
climate change…
Surveys, Collections,
Citizen ScienceRS, sensors
List/inventory, classify, vocab
DATA SCIENCE POLICYData-Science Interface Science-Policy Interface
Context – information supply chain
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
COLLECT AGGREGATE ANALYSE APPLY
Imp
act–
social, en
viron
men
tal, econ
om
ic
SoE, CBD Aichi, Environmental
Accounts…
InvestmentIntervention
Information Aggregators /
Platforms(e.g. ALA)
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
Assessments, Indicators
VLs, Models…
Researchsystematics, ecological, conservation, ag, health
climate change…
Surveys, Collections,
Citizen ScienceRS, sensors
List/inventory, classify, vocab
DATA SCIENCE IMPACTData-Science Interface Science-Policy Interface
Context – information supply chain
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
COLLECT AGGREGATE ANALYSE APPLY
Information platforms
(two-way / private)
decisio
n to
share
Indigenous knowledge /
language systems
Indigenous led/ directed research
/methods
decisio
n o
n ap
plicatio
n
Researchethnobotany, biocultural,
health, ecological….
Healthy country, people, culture
Economic participation
Knowledge transfer…
meetin
g aspiratio
ns
Context – IEK program activities
Indigenous ecological knowledge
Information platforms (two-way/private)
decisio
n to
share
• Yugul Mangi two-way project• Kamilaroi language names• Tracks App – CLC• BioCollect
Prototype information platforms:• Seasonal calendar• Profiles - cross-cultural collections
• Olkola: decision & risk matrix• Traditional Knowledge Labels• ICIP principles/protocols• Language, spatial layers/place
decisio
n o
n ap
plicatio
n
meetin
g aspiratio
ns
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
Digital governance – protocols
• Indigenous Knowledge Protocol – worked with Terri Janke & Co
– Indigenous Cultural & IntellectualProperty (ICIP)
• Guiding Principles– key areas to address:
• Approach– how to embed in a “open”
platform & approach
– framework for practicalpathways & understandinge.g. options, visual narrative,
– the digital, administrative,legal, and contractualresponses
Respect, Recognition,Protection
Self-determination
Cultural integrity
Attribution
Benefit sharing
ConsentCommunication,
Relationships
Digital governance - sharing decisions
• Work of Olkola & CSIRO
• Decisions to share
– two-way sharing
– consent through collaborative decision making
– operating in western legal framework
• Risks & benefits
– what are the implications of sharing and sharing in different ways?
– balancing risk and benefit
Digital governance – TK Labels
This project will embed ICIP principles and protocols in a digital platform
supporting the recognition & visibility of Indigenous ecological knowledge through the
co-development of knowledge labels
ensuring more equitable and culturally respectful terms for the sharing of IEK
Recognition of ownership and/or
custodianship
Greater control of access &
usage
Keeping localised context
Respect for Indigenous Knowledge
Tracking provenance
Community driven processes
Limitations of formal IP system
Embedding protection in
the digital circulation of
information
Commercialisation of cultural assets
Need for Traditional Knowledge labels:
Seasonal Calendars – perspective
• Indigenous Seasonal Calendars– digital interactive platform
– testing prototype – user feedback
– user centred design still needed e.g. circular representation
– context and ICIP/traditional knowledge notices
• Platform– Create & manage own online calendars
– Support to host multiple calendars
– Workflow - create, edit, preview and publish
– Platforms - mobile, tablet and desktop
– Multimedia - dynamic content and multimedia
– Two-way sharing/connecting of information
Calendars
Data & Knowledge – two-way
Pollyanne Ponto using the Atlas of Living Australia
to store biodiversity data
Profiles• Knowledge recording & feedback
Yugul Mangi & Yangbala ProjectOlkola Project
Data & Knowledge – relevance
Indigenous
Protected Areas
Language?
Indigenous Land
Use Agreements
Murray-Darling – Traditional owners (surface water)
Native Title
Determinations
?
other relevant layers?
Layers
Language & alternative taxonomies
• manage and show language names Lists
Language & alternative taxonomies
• embedding into Names index Indexing
Biocollect - Tracks App
• Central Land Council – The Tracks App
– Modified 2ha track plot method
– GPS tracking & observation positioning
– Offline capable
– Indigenous language supported
– Web app + mobile apps
– Replacing CyberTracker
Apps
• Wiluna Rural Community School Hub– Simple biodiversity recording for
school & community
– Connecting local language names to species
BioCollect – community hubs
Hubs
• NESP - Cape York feral animal management
– Justin Perry / Kalan Enterprises
– Distance Sampler method
• Cape York turtle monitoring
• QLD state turtle monitoring
BioCollect – data management
• MERIT (Dept Environment)(>600 projects, ~20% of all)
– Commonwealth funded environment programmes have Indigenous participation and/or outcomes for Indigenous communities
MERIT – funding programs
Imp
act–
social, en
viron
men
tal, econ
om
ic
SoE, CBD Aichi, Environmental
Accounts…
InvestmentIntervention
Information Aggregators /
Platforms(e.g. ALA)
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
Assessments, Indicators
VLs, Models…
Researchsystematics, ecological, conservation, ag, health
climate change…
Surveys, Collections,
Citizen ScienceRS, sensors
List/inventory, classify, vocab
DATA SCIENCE IMPACTData-Science Interface Science-Policy Interface
Questions – information supply chain?
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
AP
Is –stan
dard
s
COLLECT AGGREGATE ANALYSE APPLY
Information platforms
(two-way / private)
decisio
n to
share
Indigenous knowledge /
language systems
Indigenous led/ directed research
/methods
decisio
n o
n ap
plicatio
n
Researchethnobotany, biocultural,
health, ecological….
Healthy country, people, culture
Economic participation
Knowledge transfer…
meetin
g aspiratio
ns
THANK YOU
ContactStephanie von Gavel - [email protected]
02 62464009
Rebecca Pirzl – [email protected]
More Informationhttp://www.ala.org.au/ala-and-indigenous-ecological-
knowledge-iek/
TK Label proposal - components
TK
TK
Integration of TK labels
Integrating into e-infrastructure
and metadata standards,
including search function
Consultation & Collaboration
Scope and focus of the project,
and ongoing collaboration and
co-creation
New TK labels & TK Notice
Environmental and ecological
specific labels, including
identifying notice
Adapt to local context
Local community adaption
of labels
Tools
co-curation of labels via
GitHub, workshops,
educational materials, training
Broader application
Contributing to national &
international dialogue on rights
and responsibilities for IEK
recognition