Transmission
Elders and holders teaching the next generation.
Focus — Education, Knowledge & Human Capability — Indigenous and local knowledge
INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
IDEAS WE SUPPORT.
World Seed Fund supports people whose ideas improve how local and Indigenous knowledge stays in use for the knowledge holders and their communities.
Why this area
INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
IN CONTEXT.
Local and Indigenous knowledge is often precise where external data is thin. Ideas qualify when the community holds authority over how that knowledge is used.
Scope of the area
WHAT THIS AREA
INCLUDES.
Illustrations of scope, not a fixed list. If your idea belongs here but is not described below, introduce it anyway.
Application
Knowledge used in land, water, health, and building decisions.
Consent & rights
Community control over recording and use.
Recognition
Standing alongside formal knowledge systems.
Criteria to qualify
WHAT A INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE
IDEA MUST SHOW.
All five criteria apply. An idea does not need to be complete or proven — it needs to be specific enough that we can judge it, and grounded enough that a next step is possible.
A defined problem, in a defined place
We need to understand exactly who is affected, where, and how they cope today. General statements about a global challenge are not enough to qualify.
- Names the place, community, or system where how local and Indigenous knowledge stays in use fall short.
- States the situation today in plain terms — knowledge transmitted, applications made, or agreements secured.
- Explains what the knowledge holders and their communities do now, and what it costs them.
Human insight behind the idea
The idea should come from knowledge of the situation — technical, scientific, operational, cultural, or lived — rather than from an assumption about it.
- Draws on direct knowledge of how local and Indigenous knowledge stays in use in that place.
- Accounts for why earlier documentation projects did not hold here.
- Was shaped with the knowledge holders and their communities, not only for them.
A credible next step
There must be a specific thing that can be attempted next, at a scale that can be observed honestly, with a stated way of judging whether it worked.
- A defined pilot with a stated size — holders, learners, or documented practices.
- A stated measure of success — knowledge transmitted, applications made, or agreements secured.
- A timeframe within which the result can be judged honestly.
Value for people and place
The benefit should be meaningful to the community or system the idea serves, and describable in terms they would recognise.
- Improves continuity, authority, and practical decisions for the knowledge holders and their communities.
- The benefit is described in words the community itself would use.
- Does not shift cost, risk, or harm onto neighbouring people or systems.
A path to keep working
Ideas qualify when someone can plausibly own, operate, fund, and repair the result after the first phase of support ends.
- A named community body, council of elders, or institution able to carry the work after the first phase.
- Running costs, materials, and skills obtainable near the work.
- Ownership, permission, or agreement that lets the work continue.
Evidence & boundaries
WHAT HELPS,
AND WHAT DOES NOT.
Evidence can be modest. A careful account of a small trial is worth more than a projection.
Evidence we look for
- Any observation, record, or measurement of how local and Indigenous knowledge stays in use in that place.
- Costs, materials, or time recorded from a small trial, however modest.
- Notes, letters, or agreements from the knowledge holders and their communities or the community body, council of elders, or institution.
Usually outside this area
- Broad proposals about indigenous and local knowledge with no named place and no named people.
- Equipment or funding requests with no operator and no running cost.
- Work that transfers cost, risk, or harm to neighbouring people or systems.
Submit an idea
INTRODUCE YOUR
INDIGENOUS AND LOCAL KNOWLEDGE IDEA.
There is no application window and no required format. Answer these four questions in your own words and we will read them.
Who is affected, where, and how do they manage today?
What do you know about how local and Indigenous knowledge stays in use that others working on it may not?
What could you attempt next, and how would you judge whether it worked?
Who continues the work afterwards, and what keeps it running?
Human potential is everywhere. Opportunity should be too.