On July 21st, Digital Democracy, Natural Justice and Oxfam hosted the Africa Forum for Earth Defenders. This two-hour virtual event brought together over 120 participants, primarily earth defenders from across the African continent, to share stories of work they are doing on the frontlines, and highlight new tools and strategies that help put power in the hands of local communities.

We recently shared an overview of the global launch event for Earth Defenders Toolkit which happened on July 14th. This week, we’re diving into some of the testimonies shared at the event by our partners.

On July 14, 2021, Digital Democracy along with co-hosts […]

By Caitlin Looby on 2 August 2021. Crossposte […]

Across the African continent, local communities are wor […]

Across the planet, Indigenous peoples and local communi […]

Today is the full launch of Earth Defenders Toolkit, a […]

To remedy the high learning curve that comes with understanding information technology, trainings focused on using a digital tool should be accompanied by training in basic tech literacy focused on components of this broader ecosystem in which the tool lives.

A common theme that has come out of conversations with partners about earth defender needs is figuring out where and how to get started. Many earth defender communities are aware of the emerging threats or problems within their community or their lands, but are less sure about what kind of actions to take, and rarely start directly from the point of view of wanting to make a map or conducting monitoring. Instead, it may be necessary to start thinking more broadly and to ground the conversation in something central to the lifeworld of the community: the territory.

In our research and years of accompanying partner communities in using digital technologies, we have found that mapping can be one of the most effective ways of building skills in using technology, because mapping already involves something that community members already have quite a lot of knowledge about: the territory, lands, and waters.