From Beate.Scherf@fao.org Tue Apr 4 00:16:54 PDT 1995 >From Beate.Scherf@fao.org Tue Apr 4 00:16:53 1995 Return-Path: Received: from mx4.u.washington.edu by lists.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW95.02/UW-NDC Revision: 2.32 ) id AA13754; Tue, 4 Apr 95 00:16:53 -0700 Received: from faov2b.fao.org by mx4.u.washington.edu (5.65+UW95.02/UW-NDC Revision: 2.31 ) id AA21590; Tue, 4 Apr 95 00:14:54 -0700 Received: from Bogus.FAO.ORG by faov02.fao.org (PMDF V4.3-11 #3703) id <01HOXP6DFY748Y6TKJ@faov02.fao.org>; Tue, 04 Apr 1995 09:13:11 +0200 Received: from msmail.fao.org (168.202.2.28) by faov01.fao.org (PMDF V4.3-10 #3703) id <01HOXP6RZ700002W26@faov01.fao.org>; Tue, 04 Apr 1995 09:13:32 +0200 Received: by msmail.fao.org with Microsoft Mail id <2F8BFC3B@msmail.fao.org>; Tue, 04 Apr 95 09:13:47 +02 Date: Tue, 04 Apr 1995 09:05:00 +0002 From: "Scherf, Beate" Subject: for your info To: indknow@u.washington.edu, "Scherf, Beate" Message-Id: <2F8BFC3B@msmail.fao.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7BIT For your info! Beate. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- I have been invited to make a presentation at IFAD and also help in organising a workshop on indigenous knowledge systems. I am enclosing these issues here to generate wider feedback, ideas, and insights. I will be happy to summarise the discussion after a month in case many colleagues react to this note. Please do respond: Prof Anil K Gupta Co-ordinaor, SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions) & Honey Bee network c/o Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad - 380 015, India. fax : 91-79-427896 Phone: 469079( r) 407241 ( ext: 4922, 4927, 4930) office email: anilg@iimahd.ernet.in Crossroads of Creativity: BUILDING UPON PEOPLE'S KNOWLEDGE SYSTEMS Introductory issues: a. What are the roots of creativity and innovation at grassroots level in various sectors with particular atten- tion to sustainable management of natural resources. b. Why do regions of high biodiversity have also high poverty and how individual and institutional creativity helps in coping with the stress. c. Are there some patterns in the nature of social organi- zations in market dependent communities as distinct from nature dependent communities. d. How does one address the problem of knowledge erosion in the regions where this very knowledge can be an important building block for poverty alleviation through value addi- tion, networking and entrepreneurship development. e. How can a global network of innovative people provide an alternative paradigm for conceptualizing dignified devel- opment through building upon what people have and know rather than what they don't. Lessons of Honey Bee and SRISTI (Society for Research and Initiatives for Sustainable Technologies and Institutions)network. f. How can one move towards policy reform for dealing with issues relating to intellectual property rights, prior informed consent, venture capital support for adding value to innovations and converting innovations into commercial products, compensation mechanisms for traditional and con- temporary creativity, linkage between formal and informal science, credit and rural development programmes. Three groups will be formed to address following issues: GROUP I Indigenous knowledge for survival under stress: Documentation, issemination ISSUES: 1. To what extent can indigenous knowledge provide viable basis for identifying sustainable technological and institutional approaches for generating decentralized, diversified solutions to local problems. 2. What are the limits of local knowledge systems, to what extent can these limits be transcended by blending with modern science, institutions and other knowledge systems. What are the risks involved in such blending and how do we avoid them or minimize them. 3. The ethical basis of local creativity makes the task of designing compensation system very complex and difficult. Many times innovators refuse material compensation despite the fact that they are extremely poor and vulnerable. What kind of mate- rial and non material incentives for individual or collectives and in short and long term be designed to maintain the ethical basis of knowledge systems. The alternatives should provide incentives for younger generation to develop positive self image if they decide to grow with this knowledge system. 4. What are the cost effective approaches of tapping into the reservoir of local creativity and why the so called rapid and participatory appraisal methods almost always fail in accessing this reservoir. 5. What kind of accountability should we develop towards pro- vider of the knowledge? 6. What kind of changes are required in the IPR regime in the post-GATT and Rio period to empower rural innovators. GROUP II Value addition in local innovations for micro enterprise develop- ment ISSUES: 1. Many times local innovations can be a sub optimal response to a local problem. The optimality can be enhanced through local experimentation, exchange, lateral learning and linkages with modern science and technology without any assumption of one being superior to another. What kind of problems would arise in forg- ing such linkages between formal and informal science. 2. How can on-farm research on local innovations be designed so that experimental validation of the functional technologies can be done. This will also help in generating variety of modifica- adaptation of innovations. 3. Many times the innovators themselves have no interest in commercializing the innovation or converting it into a commer- cializable product for commercialization by someone else. How should transition from innovation to enterprise be conceptual- ized? In cases where innovator and entrepreneur are different, what kind of risk absorbing and enterprise promoting mechanisms be developed for: venture capital support, insurance or risk cover funds, guarantees, market research and product development support, promotion and image development, test marketing, consum- er surveys, regulation of trans bordered transactions between unequal partners, legal support for avoiding exploitation of local innovators, etc. 4. What kind of institutions be involved in generating micro enterprise development around local innovations. Whether specific credit and developmental instruments need to be designed for facilitating such enterprises. GROUP III Global Network of Grassroots Innovators: ISSUES 1. Networking among people requires reliance on vernacular language which implicitly means recognition of cultural diversity of idiom and ideologies/approaches of communication. What kind of informal institutions, mechanisms and processes be built upon while networking innovative people across the world. 2. Many times in the absence of peer group, a good idea may never grow into an excellent idea. How does one generate peer groups of innovators so that indigenous scholars get the same opportunity of critiquing each other's ideas as we get in the formal systems. 3. There has been a general disdain among the modern scientists as well as students about the local innovations. How does one modify educational and curricular processes so that young people grow by developing respect for this knowledge system which has helped in survival of poor people during various stresses. 4. Networking with scientists will require different kinds of changes in the research organizations, patterns of providing research grants, socialization of scientists, healthy respect for local functional knowledge, etc. How do we go about achieving these changes. 5. Modern technologies such as electronic mail, multi media productions and other computer aided systems of data base devel- opment can be democratized to serve the interest of grassroots innovators. What kind of institutional and technological innova- tions do we need to develop to achieve such a goal. 6. Asymmetry in the role and power of large corporations and other potential users of local knowledge makes the task of negotiation among unequal partners a very complex one. What kind of mediatory structures with legitimacy, authority, facilitative resources be generated to make these negotiations and contracts more transparent, fair, just and equitable. .