2019:Advocacy/Traditional Knowledge and the Open Movement

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Advocacy/Traditional Knowledge and the Open Movement

Title

Traditional Knowledge and Free Knowledge: Polar Opposites?

Description

There is a long — and sometimes horrifying — record of cultural appropriation of Indigenous community expression, documentation, folklore, and artifacts. In the past there has been theft of Indigenous cultural objects, in addition to inappropriate sharing of Traditional Knowledge and resources that were never meant to be shared outside of a particular Indigenous community. Therefore, it's not clear how Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous communities can benefit from projects that facilitate free knowledge.

Decisions on how to access Traditional Knowledge will also affect ongoing efforts by the GLAM movement. There are legal and ethical questions that need to be addressed when Traditional Knowledge becomes a part of GLAM projects. If Wikimedia projects are to be beneficial to as many communities around the world as possible, it is necessary to explore questions of how to engage with Traditional Knowledge in the commons. The proposed roundtable discussion aims to delve into the legal and polic y issues surrounding Traditional Knowledge. It will invite a diverse range of stakeholders and the audience to a discussion into how the Wikimedia projects can better serve communities of all kinds, especially Indigenous communities.

Relationship to the theme

This session will address the conference theme — Wikimedia, Free Knowledge and the Sustainable Development Goals — in the following manner:

This panel is connected to the goal to 'Reduce Inequalities' that may be perpetuated through legal and policy decisions. A discussion about accessing and preserving Traditional Knowledge will add to the conversation about how the Wikimedia projects can be more inclusive and egalitarian.

Session outcomes

At the end of the session, the following will have been achieved:

- Identify issues with accessing and making Traditional Knowledge available on Wikimedia projects

- Learn about various dimensions of the topic from the perspective of communities, cultural institutions, and academics

- Brainstorm on steps that advocacy team can take to engage with Traditional Knowledge and Indigenous Communities

Session leader(s)

• Mehtab Khan

Affiliation/country (if any)

• Pakistan

E-mail contact (optional)

• mehtabk@berkeley.edu

Session type

Each Space at Wikimania 2019 will have specific format requests. The program design prioritises submissions which are future-oriented and directly engage the audience. The format of this submission is a:

• Roundtable discussion forum

Requirements

The session will work best with these conditions:

• Room: classroom

• Audience: 40-50

• Recording: if participants agree to recording