Highlighting the Transformative Power of African Indigenous Knowledge
At a time when many of society’s greatest challenges—climate change, biodiversity loss, food insecurity, health disparities demand holistic approaches, African Indigenous Knowledge Systems (AIKS) offer rich and time-tested wisdom. These systems, though often unwritten, have shaped livelihoods, social structures, environmental practices, and belief systems for generations.
Carleton University has taken a bold step with its new formal partnership (MOU signed Sept. 3, 2025) with South Africa’s University of Zululand. Led by Carleton’s Institute of African Studies and the African Indigenous Knowledge Research Network (AIKRN), this collaboration aims to go beyond research for its own sake. Key goals include:
• Developing sustainable employment and entrepreneurship pathways for youth in African communities;
• Merging traditional knowledge with technological innovation and global scientific ideas;
• Strengthening cross-cultural learning—especially on reconciliation and decolonization;
• Embedding African thought more deeply in academic curricula and research output.
The initiative also puts priority on working with communities, respecting indigenous practices, and ensuring that the production of knowledge is equitable and inclusive. The University of Zululand, with its large student body and diverse programs, is embracing its role as a node for “African thought.”
This is more than an academic collaboration—it is a movement toward recognizing that sustainable solutions must draw on multiple ways of knowing. For more on this important partnership and its potential global impact, read the full piece on Carleton Newsroom.
Highlighting the Transformative Power of African Indigenous Knowledge Highlighting the Transformative Power of African Indigenous KnowledgeAt a time when many
The Africa Indigenous Knowledge Research Network was created to undertake research geared towards identifying, re-centering and harnessing Indigenous knowledge in Africa.
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