‘Brick by Brick’: Laying the Foundations for the Future of Biocultural Diversity Research

The 1st International Society of Ethnobiology (ISE) pre-Congress Workshop for Emerging Ethnobiologists, held in Tofino, Canada in 2010, has been recognized by many as a resounding success. On the wave its success, the ISE is organizing a 2nd international pre-congress workshop for students, post docs and early career ethnobiologists, in conjunction with the 13th ISE Congress, Montpellier, France. The three-day intensive workshop (Thursday 17 May – Sunday 20 May) will bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous participants with leading experts from around the world for seminars on cutting edge topics, exchange of experiences, relationship-building, and fostering collaborations into the future. The 2010 Workshop demonstrated the many fresh and new ideas that students and early career ethnobiologists bring to Ethnobiology as a discipline and to the ISE as a society and the ideas, problems and challenges that they raised during the ISE Congress in Tofino were well received. Similarly, the conclusions and recommendations from the 2012 Workshop will be presented during the first ISE General Assembly, providing all Congress participants an opportunity to receive feedback on how to improve the quality of education within the discipline of Ethnobiology.

Location: Gîtes de Briandes, Briandes, France

Date: Thursday 17 May – Sunday 20 May 2012

Number of participants: Maximum of 30

Language: Please note that due to limited funding we are unable to provide translation, and the Workshop will be in English only.

Application: Please send the following to ISE student representative, Nemer Narchi (nnarchi@correo.xoc.uam.mx) by January 31^st 2012.

• Contact information (Name, Affiliation, Email address)
• CV (page limit: 1 A4 page)
• Motivation statement (page limit: 1 A4 page)
• Description of research topic and previous research experience (page limit: 1 A4 page)
• Proof of enrolment in (or recent completion of) an Undergraduate, Masters, PhD or Post-doc program
• Statement of fluency in English (if not your mother tongue)
• Please indicate if you are already presenting a poster during the Congress and if so, whether you would be willing to bring the poster to the workshop also.
• Description of any food restrictions you have (it will be very hard to organize alternative meals if this information is not provided)

Participation costs

• Registration: US$30
• Accommodation (Thursday to Sunday, 3 nights), meals, transport to the location: US$70

*Full payment of $100 will be due by 31^st March 2012.  Once we have reviewed all applications, we will get in touch with all successful applicants and provide detailed instructions for payment (via credit card, check or wire transfer).

The organization of breakfasts, coffee breaks and lunches will be managed by the students themselves under the coordination of the ISE student representatives.

Please note that Gîtes de Briandes is set in the countryside and not served by public transport. You are therefore asked to take with you all necessary belongings for the length of the stay.

If you have any questions, please contact one of the ISE student representatives: Nemer Narchi (nnarchi@correo.xoc.uam.mx) or Hannes Dempewolf (handem@biodiversity.ubc.ca) or the ISE Coordinator, Natasha Duarte (isecoordinator@gmail.com).

Description of the Workshop

The first ISE pre-Congress Workshop for Emerging Ethnobiologists, held in Tofino, Canada in 2010, has been recognized by many as a resounding success. The Tofino Workshop culminated in the foundation of the International Network of Emerging Ethnobiologists (INEE) which aims to make accessible a global pool of knowledge, develop comparative perspectives on key biocultural issues, and promote collaborative research and other opportunities for the promotion and protection of biocultural diversity.

As with the first workshop, the timing of this second ISE Pre-congress Workshop for Emerging Ethnobiologists takes full advantage of the convergence of a large number (estimated 600) and diversity of ethnobiological researchers and practitioners who will be participating in the 13th ISE Congress in Montpellier, France.  Linking the Workshop with a high profile international event creates a unique opportunity, as several renowned leaders in ethnobiology will already be coming to Montpellier and requests for in-kind contribution of their time to give introductory remarks on key topics within the Workshop is feasible. The timing will also enable graduate students and early career ethnobiologists from different regions of the world to connect with each other in person and to meet and interact with experts in the field (both during the Workshop and subsequent Congress). Creating opportunities for in-person relationship building is the single most important way to catalyze sustainable future collaboration in the forms of further graduate studies, post-doctoral research opportunities, internships, field positions, new faculty positions, and new collaborative research grant applications or other initiatives.

The workshop will include topics such as (1) the inter- and trans-disciplinary nature of ethnobiology, (2) ethnobiological perspectives on advocacy and scientific integrity, (3) ancient knowledge and modern science – bridging the gap with innovative ethnobiological research, and (4) the role of biocultural diversity researchers in finding solutions for sustainable development.

Ideally, workshop participants should already be involved in ethnobiology fora in their home countries.  Each participant will not only be asked to take back the information and ideas shared throughout the workshop, but they will also be able to serve as point people within their communities and encouraged to apply practical and policy-relevant information that ties in closely to sustainable development efforts in their home countries.  The ISE (with help of sister societies) will continue to promote and utilize the INEE as a means for supporting and encouraging the workshop participants in their efforts both in the short-term and over the long-term through networking, sharing resources and lessons learned.

The 2010 Workshop demonstrated the many fresh and new ideas that students and early career ethnobiologists bring to Ethnobiology as a discipline and to the ISE as a society and the ideas, problems and challenges that they raised during the ISE Congress in Tofino were well received. Similarly, the conclusions and recommendations from the 2012 Workshop will be presented during the first ISE General Assembly, providing all Congress participants an opportunity to receive feedback on how to improve the quality of education within the discipline of Ethnobiology. Emerging ethnobiologists are the future of the ISE and it is important to empower them and to provide opportunities to build their capacity as leaders as we meet the coming challenges relating to learning about and protecting the biocultural diversity of the planet.  The workshop conclusions will also be posted on the ISE’s and other partner organizations’ websites, distributed on ISE and sister societies’ listservs and be included in the ISE’s electronic newsletter to ensure wide dissemination among the ethnobiology and wider community.

Global Environments: Socio-ecological Interactions in a Dynamic World

Munich International Summer University; 1 – 24 August 2012
Rachel Carson Center, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

The Rachel Carson Center and the Global Diversity Foundation announce GESA 2012: the second Global Environments Summer Academy on Socio-ecological Interactions in a Dynamic World, to be held as part of the Munich International Summer University (MISU) in August 2012. The Academy is designed to broaden and deepen the knowledge, networking, and communication skills of postgraduate students and professionals who are concerned about human dimensions of environmental challenges. The GESA website provides an overview of the first Summer Academy, held from 2 – 26 August 2011.

The course convenors will select 15 – 18 Masters/PhD students or professionals from around the world who have the capacity to become future environmental leaders in academic, civil society or governmental institutions. Some partial and full scholarships will be available to cover travel, living costs in Munich and the course fee. We invite applications from students in the humanities, natural sciences and social sciences – as well as from postgraduates already working in advocacy, media or policy – who focus on the relationship of environment and society. We expect to choose candidates from a diverse range of disciplines including (but not limited to) anthropology, conservation biology, earth sciences, ecology, economics, environmental studies, geography, history, literary studies, media studies, philosophy, psychology, sociology, visual arts and other fields.

The course will focus on human dimensions of global environmental change, ranging from adaptive community management regimes to planetary processes. It will span local to global scales in exploring the most critical contemporary environmental issues from the perspective of biocultural diversity, environmental history and sustainability studies. Students will gain literacy in policy matters and will acquire skills in research design, fieldwork methods and data analysis related to documenting local environmental knowledge.

Interested students can sign up to receive updates on the course by filling in the pre-application form.

A MISU GESA course website with details about the course content, registration and other information as well as full online application will be available by 15 December 2011.

The 13th Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology will be held Montpellier, France from 20-25 May 2012. The Congress theme is Cultural diversity and biological diversity for sustainable development: Exploring the past to build up the future. Read more about the 2012 Congress.

Host Organization: The research team “Biocultural Interactions: domestication, resource management and human ecology” – a multidisciplinary (ethnobiology, geography, anthropology, ecology, genetics) and pluri-institutional (IRD, CNRS, CIRAD, University of Montpellier 2) group of scientists hosted at the Center for Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE).

Check out the Congress website for up-to-date information or contact the Organizers at: congress-ise2012@agropolis.fr

The Call for Individual Contributions is open until 31 October 2011.

Congress registration will open by the end of October 2011.

The 2012 Society for Economic conference will be held 3-7 June 2012 at Frostburg University, Maryland, USA. Check their website for more information as the date grows closer.

Dear Fellow Ethnobiologists,

Plans for the 2012 Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado are well underway.

The Society of Ethnobiology invites papers for our 2012 conference “Conservation and Communities” will be held from April 11–14, 2012, at the Denver Botanic Gardens in Colorado. This year’s conference theme explores the importance and power of linking conservation efforts to communities. Visit the Society of Ethnobiology’s website for more information, or email the conference organizers.

Encourage presentations will:

• Highlight engagement and collaboration with indigenous peoples
• Recognize the importance of working with children and elders
• Incorporate innovations in environmental education
• Document conservation (or lack there of) in the paleoecological and archaeological records
• Integrate diverse kinds of knowledge
• Recognize the importance of traditional knowledge in conservation and restoration
• Investigate the application of archaeobiological data to conservation
• Provide different perspectives on land and natural resource management

Among the many things to look forward to:

• Conference venue: the beautiful Denver Botanical Gardens
• Fantastic field trips (for Saturday) in the area (currently being planned)
• As always, a first-rate lineup of papers and posters.

Stay tuned for more information, but mark your calendars NOW.

19 to 21 December 2011

Organized by Faculty of Medicine and the Institute of Indigenous Medicine, University of Colombo,Columbo, Sri Lanka, under the , Chairmanship of Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Vice Chancellor, University of Colombo.

Abstracts will be accepted for presentation at the conference up to 31 September 2011. Please download the abstract instruction and submission form from the Conference website. All abstracts should be email to icmphp3@gmail.com

Note: This is not an ISE event, all inquiries should be made to the conference organizers.

Phuket, Thailand 27 to 29 November 2012.

The scientific programme of plenary talks, oral presentations, symposia, workshops, and poster sessions will be complemented by social events, a conference banquet, a welcome evening, and a range of post conference tours.

Scientific committee: Dr Chutamas Satasook, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand; Dr Swen Renner, Ulm University, Germany and Dr Paul Bates, Harrison Institute, UK

See the Congress website for further details.

The organisers have much pleasure in extending an invitation to participate in the first “Me Rongo” Peace Congress to be held on Rēkohu (Chatham Islands, New Zealand) 18-21 November 2011.

Registration has been extended through June 2011!

To register and receive your information pack, please email: salala@paradise.net.nz (put the words “Peace Congress” in the subject line).

The Congress will focus on indigenous peace-making traditions. Session proposals are invited on the following strands:

• Peace and ethics
• Eradication of weapons and instruments of aggression
• Peaceful conflict resolution
• Peace education

Read the full invitation for more information.

The 2nd Earth Summit, known as Rio+20 or Rio 2012, will be held June 4-5-6, 2012 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

An expert workshop on Indigenous Peoples, Marginalized Populations and Climate Change – Vulnerability, Adaptation and Traditional Knowledge will be held from 19-21 July 2011 in Mexico City, Mexico.

United Nations University (UNU), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) are co-organising two workshops on “Indigenous Peoples, Marginalized Populations and Climate Change.” The workshops will bring together representatives of Indigenous peoples and marginalized populations, natural and social scientists, and other experts in relevant domains. This workshop will be held in collaboration with the Mexican National Institute of Ecology (INE)

The aim of the workshops is to identify, compile and analyse relevant indigenous and local observations, knowledge and practices related to understanding climate change impacts, adaptation and mitigation. The workshops will provide a key opportunity to ensure that experience, sources of information and knowledge (scientific, indigenous and local), along with data and literature (scientific and grey), focusing on vulnerable and marginalized regions of the world are made available to the authors of the IPCC 5th Assessment Report and the global community.

A second workshop on “Adaptation, Mitigation and Traditional Knowledge” is planned for Cairns, Australia in late 2011. The call for submissions for the second workshop will be opened in March 2011. The workshops will be held in English. Subject to demand and availability of funds, Spanish and/or French translation may be made available. A limited number of travel grants will be made available for selected participants.

Please see the Conference website for more information.