From 17-20 May, Holly Shrumm and Harry Jonas (Natural Justice) attended the 2nd Workshop for Emerging Ethnobiologists in Gites-de-Briandes, France, which took place ahead of the 13th Congress of the International Society of Ethnobiology. As part of the 3-day workshop, they presented on a number of legal and policy frameworks relevant to ethnobiology and facilitated a group role play that explored the relationships and dynamics between communities and researchers. In the discussion, participants largely agreed that there is a lack of knowledge among researchers about the laws and voluntary codes that regulate research, as well as about appropriate ways to engage communities according to their values, customary laws, and priorities. After the role play, it was felt that community protocols may be one useful method to improve the dialogue and help ensure that research is conducted and used in fair and equitable ways. For more information, please see: www.community-protocols.org.
Thanks to the Shuttleworth Foundation for their support to attend the Congress.
