Indigenous-Led Education Global Network

Indigenous-led Education Network

It has become increasingly difficult for Indigenous communities to pass on their knowledge, language and culture.

Why a Global Network on Indigenous-Led Education?

Key Audiences

Boosting ILED initiatives and programs, thereby boosting Indigenous resilience.

Indigenous peoples in tropical forest regions are more resilient. They are leading their own education programmes, ensuring the well-being of future generations through the protection, revitalization and transfer of their languages and knowledge.

Supporters & Allies (media, academia, donors etc.)

Indigenous children and youth (and their communities).

Duty Bearers (public institutions, governments policy- and decision-makers).

To network & share knowledge.

To catalyse traction and (financial) support.

To raise awareness & increase visibility of ILED activities

Increased sharing and networking on ILED practices and initiatives.

Increased awareness among governments, donors, and other stakeholders.

Increase of successful ILED initiatives and programmes.

Increased levels of committed support for ILED programs.

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• Elit suspendisse varius interdum ultricies conubia.
• Cras euismod ante litora posuere.
• Arcu sociosqu pulvinar magna at mus ultricies magnis dignissim vitae feugiat.
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• Fringilla tristique luctus mauris.
• Et hendrerit cubilia maecenas rutrum mollis.
• Sodales aenean curabitur ut vivamus etiam erat class.
• Pharetra risus luctus semper libero dis.
• Id aliquet quam montes proin ad.

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• Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur adipiscing.
• Elit suspendisse varius interdum ultricies conubia.
• Cras euismod ante litora posuere.
• Arcu sociosqu pulvinar magna at mus ultricies magnis dignissim vitae feugiat.
• Ornare egestas faucibus curabitur tempus morbi.
• Fringilla tristique luctus mauris.
• Et hendrerit cubilia maecenas rutrum mollis.
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• Pharetra risus luctus semper libero dis.
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ILED Scope & Core Principles

o Open to all ages & genders.

o Indigenous communities in tropical forest regions (most underfunded and underexposed).

o Including Indigenous (grand)parents, community leaders, teachers, educators and other knowledge holders.

o Indigenous-led: activities initiated and managed by the grassroots.

o All types of education (Informal, non-formal and formal education).

o As a network, we focus on complementarity, not competition.

To create more traction and support for ILED initiatives, the network has developed three inter-related strands of work:

3. To raise awareness & increase visibility of ILED activities.

Generating an increased awareness and visibility of ILED initiatives by:

o Engaging external stakeholders through the organisation of webinars/dialogues and other outreach activities.

o Producing publications, multimedia and providing inputs to relevant consultations or processes.

o Celebrating successful grassroots initiatives with an annual award.

To create more traction and support for ILED initiatives, the network has developed three inter-related strands of work:

2. Catalyze traction and (financial) support: sharing funding opportunities, networks and contacts.

o Administering an accessible, low-bureaucratic Small Grants Fund for inspiring ILED initiatives. Some seed funding is provided through our own organisations, but we are seeking to grow this pool of small grants by engaging new donors and supporters.

o The small grants go directly to Indigenous-led, community-based and grassroots initiatives. Initiatives embedded in the communities create the biggest impact and potential for scaling up and replication.

To create more traction and support for ILED initiatives, the network has developed three inter-related strands of work:

1. Promote networking, knowledge sharing and exchanges.

The facilitation of cross-cultural knowledge sharing, aimed at generating mutual support and providing ILED partners with a source of inspiration. This includes:

o Local, regional and international cross-visits and exchanges on selected topics (online and offline).

o Peer-to-peer learning and review of each other’s initiatives and practices, sharing general news, opportunities, and contacts.

o Regional coordinators acting as a driving force in the network: supporting existing ILED activities and expanding the scope of the network, such as introducing new partners, donors and other opportunities for collaboration.

The Problem

Why a Global Network on Indigenous-Led Education?

The resilience and well-being of Indigenous communities is eroding due to many factors, including loss of language, knowledge and control over territories.

Mainstream education plays an important role as it is undermining traditional inter-generational knowledge transfer.

As a result, Indigenous communities increasingly become economically and socially dependent on outsiders.

Indigenous-led education initiatives and programs which are based on communities’ own priorities, ways of learning and empowering youth, are shown to be the most effective way to boost indigenous resilience and self-determination.

But such programs are underfunded, remain largely invisible, are considered too small, or generally not prioritized by donors, governments and others.

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Resilient Indigenous Communities are better at...

Preserving their own Culture

Maintaining Social Togetherness

Sustainable Territorial & Resource Management

Effective Community Governance

Community-Based Innovations & Adaptations

Biodiversity Conservation

Food Security

Strong Health Systems

Defending their Land Rights

Resilient indigenous communities

ARE BETTER AT...

The Keystone Foundation aims to enhance the quality of life Indigenous communities and the environment by using eco-development approaches.

Toda family gathering honey.

India

Keystone foundation

ILED Initiative

o Creation of a Knowledge Exchange Hub & Community Museum by the Indigenous communities of Nilambur (the Kattunaickan, Cholanaickan and Paniya peoples).

o To revitalise traditional modes of knowledge transmission based on oralities, and to share ideas of sustainable ways of living with communities residing in the region, manifesting in a Community Museum & Resource Centre.

o Main activities: community-led research, documentation, creation of exhibits & audio-visual materials, community media network, storytelling & outreach events, networking, capacity-building & knowledge-sharing etc.

Panama

FPCI

ILED Initiative

Impression of the traditionally carved canoe made by the Guna peoples.

The Project

o Eco-cultural training & participatory research by 20 students from the Félix Esteban Oller school (Narganá community) & the Olotebiliguinya school (Ustupu community).

o Merging both Indigenous & Mainstream Education and Knowledge (in the existing science clubs).

o Objectives:

• Strengthened capacity of the science clubs & student leaders in environmental issues and Indigenous knowledge/culture.
• To improve the information management on environmental and cultural issues.
• Recovery of Indigenous knowledge on biodiversity & culture.

Thailand

IMPECT Association

ILED Initiative

Youth learning from the elders of the community.

The Project

o Main aim: capacity-building of Indigenous children and youth to lead the implementation of cultural heritage activities: to develop the potential of the next generation of youth leaders.

o This ILED initiative is taking place in the Mawakhi Learning Center located in the Karen community in the North of Thailand (created by knowledgeable elders and community leaders to foster Indigenous-led education).

o Another activity is the creation of learning materials to support the inter-generational transfer of the Indigenous culture in the community learning center.

Peru

Feconau

Reunion to celebrate 40 years of defending Indigenous rights (Credits: FECONAU).

Costa Rica

La Lengua bribri

ILED Initiative

Ùkö: the word in the Bribri language for a traditionally woven mat.

The Project

o To make short videos and audio materials sharing about the Indigenous Bribri way of life, what it means to be Bribri and what Sibö̀ (creator of the Earth) has given the Bribri peoples to share in this world (our culture, the animals, plants, lands and rivers).

o Broadcasting these videos and audio materials on social media to reach the youth and to pass on this ancestral knowledge: it is time to talk about our identity, through the technological tools that hold our young people captive, so that they can take a look at their own roots.

United Kingdom & the Netherlands

FPP

Focus Areas

Children and youth hold signs for the aquatic animal conservation section of the Mae Tia River in 2008.

The Netherlands

Rutu Foundation

Main Programs

iledsecretariat@rutufoundation.org

The Netherlands

Both Ends

Focus Areas

Asia

NTFP-EP

Adivasi women training Adivasi youth on wild foods during the Forest Food Field School (Voices from the Forest

Kenya

Sengwer Community

ILED Initiative

Sengwer women speaking about land rights.

The Project

o Educating the children of the Sengwer community of Kabolet on the importance of restoring the eroded ecosystem by growing trees. Tree seedlings will be planted and grow by Sengwer children.

o Guided by the knowledgeable Berur women from the local tree nursery, also as a means to boost their economic resilience.

o Main activities: regular meetings at the cultural centre for community elders to pass on their Indigenous knowledge on conservation, beekeeping and other areas of relevance.

The Philippines

SPNKK

ILED Initiative

Young girl picking fruits in the Mobile Forest School

The Project

o Design & Production of Bilingual Illustrated Workbook: inviting students on a voyage through the Ata forest-oriented cultural heritage and the landscape of their ancestral domain and the natural environment (including recipes, stories, songs, illustrations, children's drawings and pictures).

o Created by content working groups consisting of teachers, Indigenous elders and youth.

o Other activities: workshop "culture in education", outreach events and the creation of additional out-of-school learning materials.

Uganda

FED

Friends with Environment in Development

Youth of Kibasi in Hakibaale, Kabarole District (mount Rwenzori region) during an environmental field tour.

Ecuador

Allianza Ceibo

Impression of the Indigenous-led education projects of

Suriname

VIDS

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