This introductory essay to the special issue, "The Future of Traditional Knowledge Research: Building Partnership and Capacity," discusses some of the fundamental issues about what researchers and Indigenous peoples face in collaborating research. It also discusses how contributing authors have dealt with these problems in the past.
The United Nations' agencies and many scholars have regarded traditional knowledge as an alternative to science for the purposes of managing the environment. Many countries have adopted this line of approach and formulated some policy strategies. A number of scholars also have engaged in traditional knowledge research and published their works. Despite a large number of publications on traditional knowledge, there seems to be little consensus about the definition of what traditional knowledge is and how it can be useful for environmental management. This article first approaches this definition problem within a historical context in order to clarify the core issues surrounding the definition of traditional knowledge. It then discusses how traditional knowledge can be validated among parties with different interests so that traditional knowledge research and policy can be more effectively implemented in policy-making arenas.
The increasing division of academic disciplines and bureaucracy has led to the compartmentalization of knowledge on water security, biodiversity, Indigenous rights, and traditional ecological knowledge policy. The attempt to re-establish links among these issues in academic studies can shed light on integrated water governance and the establishment of water ethics. In order to facilitate this effort, this paper discusses three propositions: (1) the establishment of strong legal and ethical frameworks is needed; (2) policymakers and scientists alike need to recognize links between biodiversity and water security; and (3) they need to improve cross-cultural understanding and communication in using the traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local people. This article examines these issues in Western Canada (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba) because this region has invited cross-cultural and inter-jurisdictional conflicts since the twentieth century.
Due to overpopulation and haphazard growth, Ulaanbaatar City, the capital of Mongolia, faces environmental degradation and the shortage of green space. Green space, especially urban park, plays an important role in alleviating the environmental pollution. Today, Ulaanbaatar has only about 6.3 m2 of green space per person, which is much smaller than that in other major cities in the world, although the City government has attempted to increase green space. The main purpose of this paper is to examine the importance of urban parks' accessibility and their availability in the City. The research is mainly based on a literature review and our questionnaire survey. In order to better understand people's perceptions about urban parks, we conducted the survey among 301 people. The result shows that 78% of them were willing to visit National Garden Park (N.G.P.), which is the largest park in Ulaanbaatar. The most visitors came from the area within a 2km radius. This means that the distance plays some important roles for visitors in deciding to visit parks.Keywords: urban parks planning, park accessibility and equitable distribution of parks
