Steps for validation of
local and indigenous
knowledge
Integrating local and indigenous knowledge with
science and technology involves a participatory
process. The community organizing processes
adopted in Community-Based Disaster Risk
Management (CBDRM) can be used in the integration
process with the community, by mobilizing
community leaders, implementing awareness-raising
activities, strengthening local organizations, and
establishing linkages with local government officials.
Integration entails taking a LINK inventory, assessing
and validating LINK, and coming up with measures
to integrate LINK into policies. Because the scientific
community has very strict protocols on its processes,
scientific validation of local and indigenous
knowledge enhances its credibility vis-à-vis scientists.
On the other hand, LINK with little or no scientific
basis should be assessed in terms of how it increased
a communities’ resilience against hazards.
3.2.1 Community validation
Integration of local and indigenous knowledge
with science and technology starts with an initial
assessment and validation of the knowledge by the
community itself. The documented LINKs need to
be presented to the community to determine which
ones are considered effective and most commonly
used. This can be done through FGDs and key
informant interviews. In the Philippines, a one-page
FGD guide was used to ask farmers, the elderly,
fisherfolk, and women’s groups to assess whether
the LINK identified in their community was still being
used and effective (i.e., whether or not the expected
outcome from the LINK actually takes place). A scale
of 1 to 10 was used where 1 is not effective, with
10 as most effective. In Indonesia, validation with
the communities involved (a) confirmation that
knowledge was widely held in the study area (e.g.,
by fisherfolk in Aceh) and not just by one or two
individuals; (b) existence of proof that the belief,
knowledge, or practice has existed in the community
for more than one generation; (c) relevance to
anticipate or to cope with hydro-meteorological
hazards and climate change adaptation.
3.2.2 Validation or scientific explanation
by scientists
The next step is presenting the outcome of the
community validation to a group of scientists
and experts. In the Philippines, this was done in a
workshop that gathered scientists, with doctorate
degrees in their own area of specialization, from
both natural and social sciences, such as marine
science, meteorology, biology, anthropology and
development studies.