Communities decide
Indigenous Peoples are rights holders, not stakeholders. They set the terms, the pace and the limits of any work involving their knowledge, territories and heritage, through their own governance.
ReferencesUN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Art. 3 and 31
Free, prior and informed consent
Consent is sought before anything starts, through each community's own processes. It is ongoing and can be withdrawn at any time. Silence or financial dependency never counts as consent.
ReferencesUNDRIP, Art. 19 and 32 · ILO Convention 169 · Nagoya Protocol, Art. 7
Fair sharing of benefits
Benefits go back to the communities whose knowledge creates them: income, but also training, health services, language revitalisation, legal support and land protection. Every agreement is written and binding.
ReferencesNagoya Protocol, Art. 5 · Convention on Biological Diversity, Art. 8(j) · Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 13
Sacred knowledge stays protected
Protecting knowledge can mean not sharing it. Sacred, clan-restricted or identity-defining knowledge is never patented or appropriated, and the same rules apply to its digital sequence data.
ReferencesUNDRIP, Art. 31 · WIPO Treaty on Intellectual Property, Genetic Resources and Associated Traditional Knowledge (2024)
Communities own their data
Communities control archives, recordings, transcriptions and digital data about their knowledge, including the right to restrict, redact or destroy them. This also applies to the use of AI.
ReferencesCARE Principles for Indigenous Data Governance · UNDRIP, Art. 31
Research as equal partners
Research answers needs the communities identify themselves. It goes through both institutional and community ethics review. Communities are co-authors, co-own the results and can approve or refuse any publication.
ReferencesWHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 and its research agenda
Equal dignity of knowledge systems
Traditional and conventional medicine are complementary. Neither is ranked above the other. Bringing them together must keep patients safe and enrich both, without absorbing one into the other.
ReferencesWHO Global Traditional Medicine Strategy 2025–2034 · One Health approach
No appropriation, no greenwashing
We refuse cultural appropriation and any partnership that seeks only a better image. Journeys to communities are designed and led by the host communities. We decline funding that conflicts with their wishes.
ReferencesUN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights · Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Target 15
Every voice is heard
Women, youth, elders, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse persons and marginalised groups take part in decisions, as each community defines. Communities choose their own representatives.
ReferencesUNDRIP, Art. 22 · Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, Targets 22 and 23
