Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 17:14:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Spoon Collective <spoons-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu>
Subject: SPOON-ANN: Protecting Knowled Conference


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Date: Tue, 19 Oct 1999 14:36:25 EDT
From: Aqiimuk-AT-aol.com
Subject: Protecting Knowledge Conferece

Sender: Public Policy and First 
Nations Relations <FNR_PUBPOL-AT-YorkU.CA>
From: Donald Bain <logoston-AT-smartt.com>
Organization: Union of BC Indian Chiefs 


Hello all,

I have been asked to organize the Union of British Columbia Indian
Chiefs' conference, titled "Protecting Knowledge: Traditional Resource
Rights in the New Millenium."  The conference will be held at the
University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) from February 24th to
February 26th, 2000.

The attached is a draft of the session themes for your review.  We will
keep those who are interested informed as the agenda firms up.

Thank you

Don Bain

--
Email: research-AT-ubcic.bc.ca
Phone: (604) 684-0231
Fax: (604) 684-5726

----------------------------------------
Protecting Knowledge
Traditional Resource Rights in the New Millenium
Thursday, February 24th to Saturday, February 26th, 2000

Hosted by the Union of BC Indian Chiefs with support from the
Law Foundation of British Columbia and
Legal Services Society of British Columbia

First Nations House of Learning
University of British Columbia
Vancouver British Columbia, Canada


The Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) is hosting a three-day 
legal conference exploring traditional resource rights, or cultural and 
intellectual property rights issues affecting all Indigenous Peoples.  The 
target audience will be BC First Nation community members and workers, 
representatives from Indigenous Peoples from around the world as well as the 
traditional resource rights and academic communities.

The conference is tentatively focused on exploring and clarifying the 
following three questions within an international context:

What is indigenous cultural and intellectual property? What rights do BC 
First Nations want recognized? Can BC First Nations communities develop their 
own system(s) for protecting traditional resource rights?

This is a new and developing area of law that is not widely understood yet it 
affects Indigenous Peoples where they live and on a daily basis. The World 
Intellectual Property Organization and the World Trade Organization hope to 
introduce draft amendments on Indigenous Peoples' knowledge during the TRIPs 
review in 2000.

The following is a tentative outline of session themes.  We are working hard 
on providing concurrent sessions which will allow the conference to explore 
different issues in more detail.  The concurrent sessions are dependent on 
space availability.

The conference format will consist of an international level overview, an 
exploration of how such issues are being dealt within different jurisdictions 
by using three-member panels and an attempt to demonstrate how different 
issues are experienced at the community level with case studies.


Wednesday, February 23rd, 2000

6:00  p.m. Pre-registration
10:00 p.m. Welcoming Ceremonies


Thursday, February 24th, 2000

9:00  a.m. Keynote Address
10:00 a.m. TBA

10:00 a.m. BREAK
10:30 a.m.

10:30 a.m.
12.00 p.m.
Ecotourism Panel
Does ecotourism benefit local communities?  Does it benefit the environment?  
Or does it perpetuate patterns of power and dominance that are destructive of 
the environment and of the people?

Art Panel
The cultural designs and motifs of our communities communicate our ideas and 
beliefs. Can such images be "owned" by a community or by an artist? What are 
the consequences when they are expropriated and mass-produced? Can the 
current legal tools of copyrights, patents and trademarks protect the 
cultural integrity of such images?

12:00 p.m. LUNCH
1:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.
2:30 p.m.
Forest Resources Panel
What are Forest Resources?  How can Forest Resources be protected?  Does such 
protection afford "sustainable management"?

Repatriation Panel
The repatriation of cultural objects is important to many communities. This 
session will ask how are different communities dealing with repatriation?  
What are the obstacles?  What are the strategies?

2:30 p.m. BREAK
3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
Nonlegal Instruments Panel
Are there alternatives to the legal system that communities can use to 
protect their territories?  Alternatives include non-legal, market-related 
measures.  This session will introduce such measures like investment screens, 
shareholder advocacy, consumer action and product certification.

Oral History Panel
Songs, dances, names and stories tell us who we are.  What happens when oral 
history is shared?  What happens when there is a breach of confidentiality?  
Should there be more community control of research projects?  What are the 
ways to protect oral history?


Friday, February 25th, 2000

9:00  a.m.
10:00 a.m.
International Human Rights Overview
A brief look at international human rights and the effectiveness of 
international efforts like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 
International Convenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

International Biodiversity Overview
What do international efforts like The Convention of Biological Diversity and 
the Rio Declaration mean at the community level?  This is meant to be an 
overview of what is happening on the international level.

10:00 a.m. BREAK
10:30 a.m.

10:30 am.
12:00 p.m.
What is Article 8(j)?
Article 8(j) of The Convention of Biological Diversity obliges the 
signatories to essentially acknowledge the importance of Traditional 
Ecological Knowledge (TEK), traditional lifestyles and sustainability, the 
promotion of the idea of consent in the use of TEK and the idea of benefit 
sharing and customary use.  This is a closer look of what Article 8(j) means 
at the community level.

Medicinal Plants Panel
The value of medicinal plants go beyond health.  The cultural and spiritual 
values of the knowledge of medicinal plants cannot be discounted.  What 
happens when medicinal plant knowledge is shared?  Is it ethnobotany?  Can 
one simply separate the medicinal qualities from the cultural context?

12:00 p.m. LUNCH
1:00  p.m.

1:00 p.m.
2:30 p.m.
Sacred Sites Panel The major issues for Sacred Sites include unrestricted 
access; site protection; privacy; and the integrity of the ecosystem.  What 
strategies can we learn from those communities who are willing to share their 
experiences?

Biopiracy Case Study
What is biopiracy or biodiversity prospecting?  How does it impact Indigenous 
Peoples' rights in terms of Intellectual Property Rights laws?  Are such laws 
adequate or appropriate?  What examples or instances can we learn from?

2:30 p.m. BREAK
3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m.
4:30 p.m.
Biodiversity Panel
Biodiversity conservation is becoming more and more difficult. Technological 
change and the commercialization of biological resources have raised 
fundamental scientific, economic, socio-political and ethical questions.  
This panel will discuss their experiences and answer questions based on their 
experiences.

Declarations
How can communities respond to the growing concerns regarding Intellectual 
Property?  One way is through the use of Indigenous Peoples' declarations.  
This proposed session will help those who are interested, considering and/or 
planning on drafting such a declaration.


Saturday, February 26th, 2000

9:00  a.m.
10:00 a.m.
International Legal Review
A review of the importance and relevance to communities of legally binding 
international agreements like the International Covenant on Economic, Social 
and Cultural Rights; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; 
The World Heritage Convention; and the Rome Convention.

TRIPs Review
An examination of the Gatt Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual 
Property Rights (TRIPs).  Why is this important at the community level?

10:00 a.m. BREAK
10:30 a.m.

10:30 a.m.
12.00 p.m.
Repatriation Case Study
This proposed session is meant to be a follow-up to the Repatriation Panel 
discussion and will look in detail how one community has dealt with 
repatriation.  What did they do in order to be successful in the repatriation 
of their community objects? What are the problems that they are encountering?

Drafting a Community Intellectual Rights Act
In 1994, a Third World Network discussion paper (Nijar 1994) suggested the 
concept of a community intellectual rights act.  The idea of the act would be 
to prevent the "privatisation and usurpation of community rights and 
knowledge through existing definitions of innovations."  This proposed 
session will look at the purpose and the thinking of how such an act would 
work at the community level.

12:00 p.m. LUNCH
1:00 p.m.

1:00 p.m.
2:30 p.m.
Nonlegal Instruments Case Study
This proposed session will explore how nonlegal instruments have been used at 
the community level.  Did the community use investment screens, shareholder 
advocacy, consumer action or product certification to protect their 
territory?  What were the considerations?  What were the benefits?  What were 
the costs?

Do Pharmaceutical Agreements work?
There are several companies who have embarked on extensive bioprospecting 
expedition programs.  Some have signed Pharmaceutical Agreements with 
Indigenous communities.  Some of these agreements are made under the auspices 
of The International Cooperative Biodiversity Groups (ICBG) Program which is 
a U.S. Government funded effort to promote equitable sharing of biodiversity 
benefits in the context of integrated research and development toward drug 
discovery, biodiversity, conservation and economic development.  Do these 
type of agreements work?

2:30 p.m. BREAK
3:00 p.m.

3:00 p.m. Wrap up
4:30 p.m. TBA

We invite you to forward any suggestions you may have about the proposed 
sessions, possible panel speakers, resource people or appropriate papers and 
documents that would be suitable for inclusion in the conference kit.

We will be updating our website (http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/protect.htm) with 
links to sites and papers related to the conference theme.  As well, we will 
be using an email list to keep those who wish to be kept informed. To 
subscribe to the list send an email to research-AT-ubcic.bc.ca with the words 
"Subscribe Protect" in the subject line.

The resources of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs are limited but we are 
committed to delivering this conference as a public service to all Indigenous 
Peoples.  If you are in a position to contribute to or support this timely 
initiative in any way, we look forward to hearing from you.
Thank you in advance for your assistance.

Donald Bain
Conference Coordinator

Phone:  (604) 684-0231
Fax:    (604) 684-5726
Email:  research-AT-ubcic.bc.ca
URL:    http://www.ubcic.bc.ca/protect.htm