Abstract
Existing ICT implementation are largely top-down in their information flow: from experts to target groups. Merely incorporating indigenous knowledge within this structure places it at a considerable disadvantage.
A wealth of knowledge is already available within the developing world, particularly with regard to health and agriculture, two spheres of great impact on their populations. This knowledge is by definition, culturally sensitive and context-specific. It needs to be acknowledged, validated, reinforced, disseminated, innovated upon and preserved through practice. A bottom-up approach may provide a more realistic opportunity to capture the ideals of people-centred, need-based sustainable development.
This paper argues the need for a bottom-up process in which indigenous knowledge systems are placed at the heart of the process of education for sustainable development. It also indicates how ICT may be used to facilitate such an approach.
