Learning pathway on: Learning from communities and respecting their knowledge

By Elisa Morgera (as part of the Hub’s collaboration with UNITAR on the One Ocean Learn platform)

Learning pathway on: Learning from communities and respecting their knowledge

By Elisa Morgera

There is growing international recognition of, and interest in, the distinctive contributions of the knowledge of indigenous peoples and other communities to the realization of various international objectives, such as the conservation and sustainable use of the ocean, the protection of health and the availability of food. That said, “modern” or “western” science still tends to marginalize the knowledge of indigenous peoples and local communities, even if much “modern” science can be said to derive from communities’ knowledge (Vermeylen, S., Martin, G., and Clift, R., 2008, ‘Intellectual Property, Rights Systems and the Assemblage of Local Knowledge Systems’, 15 International Journal of Cultural Property 201–21.).

There are therefore international rules aimed at the protection of the knowledge of communities, both for the purposes of international environmental law and human rights law. Some international rules and guidelines address specifically indigenous peoples, and others refer also to local/traditional communities, such as peasants. There is guidance, for instance, in relation to the protection of the knowledge of small-scale fishers (E Morgera and J Nakamura, Shedding a Light on the Human Rights of Small-scale Fishers: Complementarities and Contrasts between the UN Declaration on Peasants’ Rights and the Small-Scale Fisheries Guidelines in Brunori et al, Commentary on the Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (Routledge, 2022).

International environmental law, in particular, affords protection to communities’ knowledge in recognition of its contributions to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. International human rights law protects traditional knowledge as part of the broader human right to culture. These two areas of law provide complementary forms of protection, which have been recently acknowledged in the 2018 UN Framework Principles on Human Rights and the Environment (Principle 15). In a nutshell, States have obligations with regard to:

  • the recognition of communities’ knowledge on an equal basis with other systems of knowledge;
  • the protection of communities’ knowledge from unauthorized use through free prior informed consent and fair and equitable benefit-sharing;
  • the continuous and effective involvement of knowledge holders in relevant decision-making processes and in scientific research.

In addition, businesses are expected to respect the human rights of knowledge holders by integrating free prior informed consent and fair and equitable benefit-sharing into due diligence processes, in understandable and culturally appropriate formats, as well as provide grievance mechanisms.

Furthermore, researchers are expected to respect the human rights of knowledge holders, a by engaging in good-faith, iterative dialogue with traditional knowledge holders to develop an equitable partnership and to ensure their continued participation in research efforts, including in determining research priorities.

Source: https://www.strath.ac.uk/media/1newwebsite/departmentsubject/law/strathclydecentreforenvironmentallawandgovernance/pdf/BENELEX_Module_02_ENG_14_May_-_compressed.pdf also available in French and Spanish at https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/strathclydecentreenvironmentallawgovernance/benelex/researchoutputs/learningmodules/moduleontraditionalknowledge/

In engaging with communities, it is also essential to bear in mind that their knowledge is intimately connected to their access and use of natural resources and efforts to respect their knowledge are inter-dependent on other State obligations to:

  • Recognizing and protecting their rights to the lands, territories and resources that they have traditionally owned, occupied or used;
  • Consulting with them and obtaining their free, prior and informed consent before relocating them or taking or approving any other measures that may affect their lands, territories or resources; and
  • Ensuring that they fairly and equitably share the benefits from activities relating to their lands, territories or resources.

[Source: https://www.strath.ac.uk/media/1newwebsite/departmentsubject/law/strathclydecentreforenvironmentallawandgovernance/pdf/MB_-_BENELEX_singole_28_Feb_FINAL.pdf

also available in French and Spanish at https://www.strath.ac.uk/research/strathclydecentreenvironmentallawgovernance/benelex/researchoutputs/learningmodules/moduleonnaturalresources/ ]