On April 9, a course for representatives of the Dukha reindeer herding people was launched in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The course was developed by the Reindeer Herding and Resilience project (Component 3 of the Managing Peatlands in Mongolia and Enhancing the Resilience of Pastoral Ecosystems and Livelihoods of Nomadic Herders project).
The primary goal of the course is to help students understand the fundamental concepts of traditional knowledge and guide them in initiating their own documentation project.
The course consists of several modules, assignments, including reading materials, and video resources from important scholars and knowledge holders. It is delivered through the Google Classroom platform.
After completing the course, students will be able to explain core concepts of traditional knowledge and related terms, describe why traditional knowledge is important for culture, identity, ecology, governance, and sustainability, understand ethical principles relevant to the documentation, gain knowledge of methods for documenting traditional knowledge, and understand its importance in sustainable development.
In terms of skills, students will be able to plan a case for documentation and conduct interviews as part of traditional knowledge documentation. They will apply appropriate methods and use different tools and technologies for documenting traditional knowledge in practice, carry out a documentation process, and produce a communication product based on the documented knowledge.
The course will also cover ethical dilemmas related to the documentation of traditional knowledge. The significance of Indigenous languages as carriers of traditional knowledge and understanding the role of traditional knowledge in sustainability and long-term ecological relations will be addressed. During the course, students will present and justify an independent documentation project.
The course consists of several modules, including reading materials and video resources from important scholars and knowledge holders. It is delivered through the Google Classroom platform.
The course launch was attended by representatives of the Dukha people residing in Ulaanbaatar, as well as representatives of NGOs in Tsagaannuur and a representative of a tourist travel organization. Among the attendees was Mr. Ersin Esen, Coordinator a.i. of the Global Environment Facility Coordination Office at UNEP/GEF. The RHR project team included Marina Tonkopeeva, RHR Project Leader at ICR; Anders Oskal, Executive Director of ICR and Secretary General of WRH; as well as Binderiya Dondov and Svetlana Avelova from ICR.
We wish the students good luck and a fruitful traditional knowledge documentation process ahead!
