permaculture

[Lawrence London <lfljvenaura@gmail.com>]

http://nikeprogramme.org/

WHAT IS NIKE?
------------------------------

NIKE is a joint collaborative programme that works on the transfer of
indigenous knowledge (IK) from the old folks to the younger generation of
Ifugaos through formal and informal means.  It envisions that IK systems and
its principles are carried on and applied in every development intervention
on the Ifugao landscape by the emerging generation of Ifugao leaders and
professionals.



Funded by the National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan (NFUAJ),
this is implemented by a consortium of non-government and government
agencies: the Department of Education (Dep-Ed Ifugao), the Ifugao State
University (IfSU), the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), the
Save the Ifugao Terraces Movement (SITMo), and the Provincial Government of
Ifugao, which serves as the coordinating institution.


  Project Background


 The revitalization of indigenous knowledge transmission had been identified
as one of the most critical interventions needed for the continued existence
of the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras, a World Heritage Site
that had been placed on the World Heritage List in Danger in 2001.  When the
provincial government took responsibility  of managing the  Site from the
national government, several on-site community consultations and two major
stakeholders' workshops have been conducted to assess issues and review the
old management plan.  The result was a 10-year Masterplan that underscored
the importance of maintaining the application of indigenous knowledge
systems in the plan's three areas:  Bio-physical, Socio-cultural, and
Support Systems.  The first two areas focus on conservation programmes while
the third area defines infrastructure and tourism action plans.



NIKE cuts across conservation and development programmes defined in the
Masterplan by reinventing and strengthening the traditional knowledge
transmission lines that were undermined by four main factors:
modernization, poor economic conditions, formal education policies, and
christianization. The strategy is to utilize these factors to direct the
continuity of the rice culture through the application of available modern
communications tools, social enterprise development, institutionalization of
knowledge transfer, and collaborative implementation. This is done through a
four-phased action plan beginning with the mobilization of indigenous
knowledge resources and finishing with the reproduction of indigenous
knowledge products.


 Four-Phased Plan


 Phase1- Mapping of knowledge sources implemented by SITMo in 2006.


Phase 2- Development of both oral and written knowledge bases through a
pilot school in IfSU and a database list in SITMo.


Phase 3- Development of knowledge transmission systems through curricula
development in the formal levels of education and the establishment of
community learning centers to support informal education.


Phase 4- Production of knowledge resources by increasing the number of
knowledge holders/teachers and further developing appropriate teaching
tools.


 Now on its third phase, each partner agency is moving toward mainstreaming
IK education to sustain today’s initiatives in the years to come.




 Agencies and Areas of Concern


 · *SITMo*:   Non-Formal Education thru the Development of the Community IK
Learning Centers

· *Department of Education*:   Formal Education thru Curricula Development
at the Elementary and Secondary levels

· *Ifugao State University*:   Formal Education thru the Integration of IK
in Tertiary Education

· *National Commission on Indigenous Peoples*: Intellectual Property RIghts,
IK Management and Documentation

· *Provincial Local Government*: Coordination, Collaboration, and Advocacy