Traditional knowledge policy co-production in Colombia and Ecuador

ABSTRACT

This paper opens the black box of policy co-production processes presented by the Colombian and Ecuadorian governments, regarding the traditional knowledge associated with genetic resources, in keeping with the necessities of Indigenous peoples. The purpose of this paper is to analyze what similarities and differences there exist in the role of the Ecuadorian and Colombian States as organizers, guarantors of plural expression, and facilitators of public deliberation, and how policymakers have opened the space for Indigenous peoples for producing traditional knowledge policy. The paper turns to qualitative research focused on collecting information from public actors. The data obtained assesses our working hypothesis that the role of the State in the production of traditional knowledge policy has been more democratic in Ecuador than in Colombia.

RESUMO

Este trabalho abre a caixa preta dos processos de coprodução de políticas públicas nos governos da Colômbia e do Equador, em torno do conhecimento tradicional associado aos recursos genéticos de acordo com as necessidades dos povos indígenas. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar quais semelhanças e diferenças existem no papel dos Estados equatoriano e colombiano como organizadores, garantes da expressão plural e facilitadores da deliberação pública e como essas instituições abriram espaço para que os povos indígenas produzam políticas de conhecimento tradicional. O artigo concentrou-se na pesquisa qualitativa, com foco na coleta de informações dos formuladores de políticas. Os dados obtidos avaliam a hipótese de trabalho: o papel do Estado na produção do conhecimento tradicional tem sido mais democrático no Equador do que na Colômbia.

RESUMEN

Este trabajo abre la caja negra de los procesos de coproducción de políticas presentados al interior de los gobiernos de Colombia y Ecuador, en torno a los conocimientos tradicionales asociados a los recursos genéticos de acuerdo con las necesidades de los pueblos indígenas. El propósito de este trabajo es analizar qué similitudes y diferencias existen en el papel de los Estados ecuatoriano y colombiano como organizadores, garantes de la expresión plural y facilitadores de la deliberación pública, y cómo los tomadores de decisiones han abierto el espacio para que los pueblos indígenas produzcan políticas de conocimiento tradicional. El documento se enfocó en investigación cualitativa, centrándose en la recopilación de información de los actores públicos. Los datos obtenidos se usan para evaluar la hipótesis de trabajo: el papel del Estado en producción de la política de conocimientos tradicionales ha sido más democrático en Ecuador que en Colombia.

KEYWORDS:

• Policy co-production
• traditional knowledge
• indigenous peoples
• policymakers

PALAVRAS-CHAVE:

• Coprodução de políticas públicas
• conhecimento tradicional
• povos indígenas
• formuladores de políticas

PALABRAS CLAVE:

• Coproducción de políticas públicas
• conocimiento tradicional
• pueblos indígenas
• hacedores de políticas

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Ethnicity and “traditional knowledge” are on the center of the analysis, both are subjects of controversy in Ecuador and Colombia.

2 Special thanks to Santiago I Gómez R, International Relations student, for his help in this literature review.

3 In Colombia, citizens have the constitutional right to inquire about a fact, act or administrative situation that corresponds to the nature and purpose of public administration. This type of request (Derecho de petición) must be resolved within ten days following its reception.

4 CODENPE, established in 1988, is a national deliberative body composed of representatives of Indigenous communities, Afro-descendants, other traditional peoples of Ecuador, and the State.

5 As of May 2022, there still hasn't been any publication.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Martha Isabel Gómez Lee

Martha Isabel Gómez Lee holds a PhD in Political Studies from the Universidad Externado de Colombia with doctoral (2009–2012) and postdoctoral (2023) research stays at the Free University of Berlin. She is an environmental lawyer and a postdoctoral researcher at the Ibero-American Institute of Berlin. Since 2004, she has been a researcher at the Center for Research and Special Projects (CIPE) of the Externado University of Colombia, where she has worked as a professor since 2000. She has been the author of 3 books, over 15 book chapters, research and popularization articles. She has served as a member of the International Council of Environmental Law, Bonn, Germany, is a member of the Technical Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources of the Colombian Foreign Ministry, and a senior consultant for a capstone project for the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of Colombia (ONIC). She is currently a founding member of the Colombian Public Policy Network (REGOPP), a member of the Comparative Public Policy Group of the Latin American Association of Political Sciences (ALACIP), the Alliance for Agrobiodiversity, the Research Network for the defense of Agrobiodiversity (RIDABI), and the International Political Science Association (IPSA). Recently, she participated as an accredited member of the Network of Indigenous Women of Latin America and the Caribbean.

André-Noël Roth Deubel

André-Noël Roth Deubel is a Doctor in Economic and Social Sciences, with a Master’s in Political Sciences from the University of Geneva-Switzerland. Since 2006, he has been Research Professor attached to the Department of Political Science and Director of the Research Group “Analysis of public policies and public management” (APPGP) of the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences of the National University of Colombia (UNAL) in Bogotá. He was Director of the PhD program in Political Studies and International Relations, Director of the Political Science Review, and Vice Dean of Research of the Faculty of Law, Political and Social Sciences of the UNAL. He is the co-editor of Mundos Plurales Review (FLACSO-Ecuador). He is Visiting Professor of Public Policy graduate programs in Colombia and various Latin American countries. He is a member of ASSP (Switzerland), REGOPP (Colombia), and ALACIP and LAGPA.