DIP and CWE, an indigenous multimedia campaign, collaborate for COP15
Development in Practice is supporting Conversations with the Earth, by making the recent journal issue on Citizens' Media free to download until May 2010, and a print version available at a reduced cost.
Conversations with the Earth (CWE) is an indigenous-led multimedia campaign to amplify indigenous voices on Climate Change. A collaboration between indigenous communities, journalists, photographers, designers, and participatory video (PV) facilitators. CWE is initially present as an exhibition in Copenhagen, supporting live presentations by representatives of several indigenous communities as delegates gather for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties meeting (COP15).
See below for a list of links to watch participatory videos made by indigenous videographers, further information about the CWE exhibition, and media hub network.
Conversations with the Earth participatory videos
Title: Baka Peoples - Facing Changes in African Forests
Location: Mayos Village, near Bertoua, Eastern Cameroon
The Baka hunter-gatherers near Bertoua, Eastern Cameroon, record the impacts of climate change on their community. Their film shows examples of the harsh consequences drought has on fishing and harvests. Young people reflect on the necessity to learn from the elders, preserve traditions and protect the forest as it is strongly tied to the Baka’s identity.
Title: Kuna Conversations with Mother Earth
Location: Ustupa, Kuna Yala, Panama
Kuna Indians use PV in their struggle to conserve their forests, which are their main source of food and medicine. As their traditional island territories are threatened by rising sea levels, they use their film to ask indigenous youth to reconnect to agriculture and invite industrial countries to cooperate in the conservation of biodiversity.
Title: Eng'eno Eishoi Ng'ejuk (Knowledge for the Young Generation)
Location: Kiserian, Oltopesi, Central Rift Valley, Kenya
The Maasai community in the Rift Valley of Kenya documents the difficulties children, women, men and animals experience because of the water shortage, the ways they found to cope and the alternative livelihoods they envisage for the future. Their film shares testimonies from the group and their family and friends as visual evidence of the impacts of the extreme drought.
Title: Indigenous Communities of the Peruvian Andes and Climate Change
Location(s): Vilccacota, Valle del Mantaro-Cochas, Huancavelica, Cuso-Karlui, the Andes, Peru
Through their film, three Indigenous communities of the Peruvian Andes show the perceptible effects of climate change on their environment. Diverse members of the community discuss and agree on the importance of reviving and celebrating their traditional rituals to respect Mother Earth.
Title: Es-esel Ja Eparas
Location: Itogon communities, Benguet, Cordillera, Philippines
Indigenous communities from the Cordillera region record the impacts of large-scale mining and deforestation on their environment. Their film also show their fears vis-à-vis the effects of climate change, and consequently, a strong will to strengthen their solidarity and assert their rights to their land and its resources.
Title: Tofiga O Pili Aau
Location(s): Upolu and Savai-i islands, Samoa
Documenting the impacts of climate change on the coastal communities in Samoa, 'Tofiga O Pili Aau' was created by representatives from eight villages on Savai-i and Upolu islands, during a workshop held in the villages of Fasito'otai and Fagamalo.
Title: Cambridge Bay Youth and Climate Change
Location: Cambridge Bay (Nunavut), Canada
From throat signing to break dancing and artic games, the film gives a great feeling of what it is like to be a youth in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. Through their pictures and words, the youth reveal the importance of keeping alive their traditional culture and discuss some impacts climate change already had in their lives.
Information Links
Full-text access to articles
in the Citizens' Media 2009 journal issue
Summaries of the articles
in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish
Contribute to discussion
by visiting the Development in Practice Discussion Group hosted by ELDIS
Indigenous Peoples' Issues website
Positions on climate change negotiation, from the International Indigenous Peoples Forum On Climate Change
CWE website
More information on the communities involved and activities at COP15.
Media Hubs Newsletter
(PDF 831Kb)
Development of media hubs using participatory media
InsightShare website
Participatory video and media hub facilitators
