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Short abstract:

This paper reveals the experience of ISSTP Project, and discusses how current governance regime can be changed. By demonstrating the example of establishing cross-cutural database for co-governance, It points out the challenges for collaboration, and the possible way to balance the power relations.

Long abstract:

The “Indigenous Sustainable Science and Technology Platform” (ISSTP) in Taiwan is established to develop the mechanism of multi-cultural collaboration, seek for better governance, and realize transformative justice. The purpose of this paper is to reveal the experience of ISSTP Project, and discuss how current state governance regime sustained by bureaucracy and modern science can be changed. The ISSTP Project includes the researches attempt to dialogue indigenous knowledge and modern science. Furthermore, it organized various meetings and workshops to facilitate the conversations between academic researchers, government officers, and indigenous community members, through which the solutions for certain development problems can be proposed. After reviewing the overall experience of the ISSTP Project, the paper points out the challenges for multi-cultural collaboration, and the possible way to balance the power relations. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates the example of establishing cross-cultural database for natural resources governance in the ISSTP project. In this example, indigenous community members, scholars and administrators are incorporated to conduct both Forest and intertidal zone monitoring. The outcome shows the mediation for the dialogue between different knowledge is important.

Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, Multi-cultural collaboration, Knowledge co-production, Natural resource governance