2007 Call for Papers / Presenters

The second Sharing Indigenous Wisdom: An International Dialogue on Sustainable Development Conference is being hosted by College of Menominee Nation’s Sustainable Development Institute at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, Green Bay, Wisconsin, June 11-15, 2007.

Conference Theme

The conference is held to foster dialogue on traditional indigenous knowledge being utilized and incorporated as models and methods of sustainable practices. Traditional or Indigenous Knowledge refers to the wisdom, embodied in indigenous communities or groups, being utilized to preserve and protect resources vital to the continuity of indigenous communities or groups. This year the conference will focus on Natural Environment foundational element of the Menominee model of sustainable development.

College of Menominee Nation’s Sustainable Development Institute invite papers, presentations and posters which target one or more dimensions of the Menominee model of sustainable development and demonstrate work done in sustainable development, particularly the practice and utilization of indigenous knowledge in association with the natural environment. We also seek papers or presentations which delineate or explore the interaction of one or more model dimensions with the natural environment. We encourage current practitioners as well as scholarly research done collaboratively with indigenous practitioners or communities. Priority will be given to papers or presentations done jointly between indigenous community members or practitioners and researchers.

The Menominee model of sustainable development is a theoretical model that conceptualizes sustainable development as the process of maintaining the balance and reconciling the inherent tensions between the various dimensions of sustainability.

The six dimensions are:

• natural environment
• land and sovereignty
• economics
• technology
• institutions
• human perception, activity, and behavior

Each dimension is understood to be dynamic, both in respect to its internal organization, and in relationship to each of the other five dimensions of the sustainable development process.

In collaboration with the USDA Forest Service and the International Union of Forest Research Organization’s Task Force on traditional forest knowledge, papers or presentations are invited for the following topics, consistent with the focus on Natural Environment:

• History of the relationship of formal forest science and traditional knowledge in forest management
• Application of traditional knowledge in forest ecosystem assessments and management
• Indigenous community priorities for forest research and collaborative forest management
• Case studies on joint initiatives and utilization of traditional and formal scientific knowledge in forest management activities
• Development of good practices for including both traditional knowledge and formal science in forestry education, research and forest management activities

Submission Information

Priority will be given to papers or presentations done jointly between indigenous community members or practitioners and researchers. If you wish to present a paper, give a presentation, or exhibit a poster send your abstract, proposal or description of no more than 500 words to:

Dale Kakkak
Sustainable Development Institute
College of Menominee Nation
P.O. Box 1179
Keshena, WI 54135

Or attach to e-mail in a word processing file (.doc), Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) or plain text format to:

dkakkak@menominee.edu

• Deadline for submissions of abstracts or proposals - December 31, 2006
• Notification of acceptance - January 31, 2007
• Final Papers/Presentations Due - April 30, 2007

For more information on The International Union of Forest Research Organizations click here