Traditional knowledge

2. Contents
1) Introduction
2) Characteristics of indigenous knowledge
3) Aspects of traditional knowledge
4) The impact of colonization on Traditional
Knowledge
5) Diff. TK VS Western knowledge
6) Protecting traditional knowledge
7) Conclusion

3. 1.Introduction
• Traditional knowledge refers to
the knowledge, innovations
and practices of indigenous and
local communities around the
world. Developed from
experience gained over the
centuries and adapted to the
local culture and environment.
Traditional knowledge is
transmitted orally from
generation to generation.

4. Examples
Bamboo basket making
Use of turmeric as antiseptic

5. 2.Characteristics of indigenous
knowledge
• Is generated within communities
• Is location and culture specific
• Is the basis for decision making and survival
strategies
• Is not systematically documented
• Concerns critical issues of human and animal life:
primary production, human and animal life, natural
resource management
• Is dynamic and based on innovation, adaptation and
experimentation
• Is oral and rural in nature

6. 3.Two aspects of TK
• First: Practical base- Traditional explanations of
environmental phenomena, winds or water currents
for example are based on cumulative collective
experience, tested over centuries, by people who
have a sophisticated and practical knowledge of the
land on which they depended for every aspect of life.
• Second: Spiritual to the ethical beliefs and world
views of indigenous peoples.

7. 4.The impact of colonization on
Traditional Knowledge
TK has not been systematically documented
until recently;
It has largely orally transmitted
Enforced shifts away from tradition
subsistence practices
Health and social problems; and
The dominance of western scientific traditions

8. Traditional knowledge Western scientific knowledge
1.Qualitative 1.Quantitaive
2.Intuitive 2.Rational
3.Holistic 3.Reductionistic
4.Moral, spiritual 4.Supposedly value-free
5.Considers “mind” and “matter”
together
5.Mechanistic
6.Based on empirical observation 6.Based on experimentation and
systemization
7.Generated and held by the users
themselves
7. Generated by specialists
5.diff. TK VS Western knowledge

10. • The protection may be defensive which aims
at stopping third parties from acquiring
intellectual property rights over traditional
knowledge.
• Positive protection seeks to grant rights that
empower communities to promote
their traditional knowledge, control its uses
and benefit from its commercial exploitation
6.Protecting traditional knowledge

11. • Protecting TK also contributes to the cultural and
political goals of self-determination and self-
reliance by creating strong, ongoing appreciation
within the community of its history and its roots.
• Because TK has a wide range of commercial and
scientific uses, its becoming increasingly valuable to
non-indigenous outsiders.

12. Traditional knowledge documentation
• There are also many initiatives underway to
document traditional knowledge. In most cases the
motive is to preserve or disseminate it, or to use it,
for example, in environmental management, rather
than for the purpose of legal protection.

13. • The Traditional
Knowledge Digital
Library (TKDL) is
an Indian digital
knowledge repository of
the traditional
knowledge, especially
about medicinal
plants and formulations
used in Indian systems of
medicine. Set up in 2001.

14. • The objective of the library is to protect the
ancient and traditional knowledge of the
country from exploitation
through biopiracy and unethical patents, by
documenting it electronically and classifying it
as per international patent
classification systems.

15. • There are nevertheless concerns that if
documentation makes traditional knowledge
more widely available to the general public,
especially if it can be accessed on the Internet,
this could lead to misappropriation and use in
ways that were not anticipated or intended by
traditional knowledge holders.

16. 7.Conclusion
• Traditional knowledge helps shape and
defines their existence and provides the
foundation for their beliefs
and traditional practices.
• It provides the basis for problem-solving
strategies for local communities, especially
the poor.
• It represents an important component of
global knowledge on development issues.