Contemporary Indigenous Knowledge and Governance (CIKG)

Capability

The Contemporary Indigenous Knowledge & Governance (CIKG) team has been working closely with Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge and governance authorities from Northern Territory communities for over 30 years.

Collaborating with both civil society and government organisations, the CIKG theme examines organisational knowledge and culture practices during the process of designing new institutions and governance practices. Team members have many years experience working with Aboriginal knowledge and cultural authorities and have great respect for their philosophies, knowledge practices and languages. Collaborators include Indigenous enterprises and Aboriginal organisations and corporations.

Language and cultural renewal in intergenerational passage (often exploring the potential of digital technologies) is of particular interest for the CIKG theme. The cross-generational renewal can allow multiple generations to maintain and revitalise languages and cultures, both formally and informally, through consultation and collaborative design (facilitated by CIKG team members).

The CIKG team work collaboratively with Indigenous knowledge authorities (including internationally in Europe and Africa) facilitating the building of governance and leadership capacities in remote communities. The team work through the specific local issues, respecting community knowledge and cultural practices as they work in engagement and agreement making practices. They engage with people on the ground in urban and remote communities, and across all levels of government, to identify and support successful and productive local practices which are often invisible in mainstream policy research.

CIKG also acknowledges NI’s location within the northern region provides a further focus for their knowledge and cultural collaborations. Members foster and strengthen national and international strategic links between people, ideas, institutions, places and contexts; seeking to understand how research and service delivery work can be embedded as they are in changing political economies and policy areas in the northern region.