Local Knowledge: Global Goals

  • Sustainable Development Goal :4 - Quality Education
  • Gender Equality Marker :Gender Transformative (GE3)
  • Testing Country :Nicaragua
  • Testing Period :15 months
  • Amount :$175,000

Improving the sustainable management of the BOSAWAS Biosphere Reserve is essential to the survival of Indigenous peoples in the face of climate change. This innovative solution will test the impact of prioritizing local Indigenous knowledge and gender equality while strengthening the three pillars of comprehensive community planning (CCP): Sustainability, Self-Sufficiency, and Improved Governance Capacity. 

This testing project will evaluate strategies for improving the local population’s conservation capacity to protect traditional territories and mitigate vulnerabilities. Sustainability efforts will focus on implementing Citizen Science as a conduit for Indigenous and local knowledge in ecosystem stewardship and conservation. Women students will gain experience in conservation activities, previously offered only to men. Change for Children will implement strategies to improve self-sufficiency by supporting local Indigenous agricultural innovators and natural medicine practitioners and measuring the change in their ability to apply local knowledge in field-testing drought-resistant hearty seeds, collecting and cultivating natural medicines, and operating “living pharmacies.” The testing project also includes the introduction of a process focused on institutional strengthening of the Indigenous government, with activities focused on gender equality, community planning and risk management in an effort to localize and decolonize Indigenous governance. 

Innovator Video

Canadian SMO : Change for Children Association
Local Partner(s) : University of the Autonomous Regions of the Nicaraguan Caribbean Coast (URACCAN) and the Territorial Indigenous Government of the Miskito Indian Taisbaika Kum (GTI-MITK)
Region : Latin America
Theme : Climate Change and the Environment

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