UNESCO Chair - DECODE Engagement Conference 2025

The DECODE team convened for a 5-day intensive reflection and analysis process, reaffirming the transformative potential of knowledge democracy when practiced in community. As part of the gathering, the team also met with colleagues at PRIA, who shared an overview of PRIA’s beginnings, the challenges it faced, key achievements over the years, and its growing work on climate justice — from early efforts on occupational health to recent initiatives focused on restoring water bodies and improving local ecosystems.

Throughout the week, partners from ten case study sites engaged in sustained dialogue on their contexts, methodologies, and the community and Indigenous knowledge systems informing their work. Representing Inuit-Nunangat (Arctic), Tŝilhqot’in territories (Canada), Putumayo (Colombia), Kaleshwar (India), Sarawak (Malaysia), Gulu (Uganda), São Paulo (Brazil), the Bolivian Altiplano (Bolivia), Tunis (Tunisia), and Bliéron (Côte d’Ivoire), the cases brought forth a diverse set of lived experiences. These narratives were shared directly by those whose histories, lands, and epistemologies shape the work, cultivating a space of mutual respect, deep listening, and recognition—core to the DECODE approach of decolonial co-construction.

The team undertook a structured participatory case study analysis to map similarities and differences across the ten sites, focusing on how community-based participatory research (CBPR) methodologies contribute to climate resilience and how the project’s emerging learnings should be communicated. Discussions highlighted the plurality of knowledge systems and the need for methodological sensitivity rooted in local epistemologies. The central role of women knowledge holders emerged strongly, underscoring their leadership and often-unacknowledged labour in sustaining knowledge ecosystems.

To support deeper engagement, linguistically grounded groups were formed, enabling participants to reflect and exchange in their own languages. A collaborative physical activity facilitated by PSD created additional space for embodied connection and opened conversations on Sport for Development, illustrating how structured play can foster inclusion, agency, and social transformation.

The week’s collective work strengthened the shared commitment to keeping communities at the centre of knowledge creation. It reinforced that co-construction is not solely methodological but also relational and ethical. As the DECODE project advances, partners carry forward renewed clarity and purpose in nurturing community knowledge cultures and elevating local wisdom in shaping pathways toward just and sustainable futures.