Indigenous women play a key and powerful role in the experiences of Earth Defense around the world and are therefore key in the protection of the world’s biodiversity. Last May in Tena, Ecuador,  during the Earth Defenders Toolkit Gathering organized by Digital Democracy, women from diverse Indigenous territories reminded us all of the importance of […]

In May 2023, forty participants from eleven countries came together in the Ecuadorian Amazon to share strategies and build connections, at the “Earth Defenders Toolkit Gathering” convened by Digital Democracy. . Our original dream for this event was to create an opportunity for our local partners to meet each other and share their experiences of […]

Welcome Ben Tairea, the new Earth Defenders Toolkit  (EDT) Community Steward! We are thrilled to welcome Ben Tairea as the EDT Community Steward. Ben is Maori from the Cook Islands and has been a long-time inspiration to us. In 2018 he co-founded the Āhau tool, a tribal management and cultural archiving platform (a featured tool […]

There’s a lot happening with the Earth Defenders Toolkit (EDT), and we will soon be announcing new guides and case studies. Stay tuned! 2023 is also bringing some changes to the Earth Defenders Toolkit family, and we would like to use this blog post both to welcome Ben Tairea as the EDT Community steward and […]

One of Mapeo’s greatest features is having custom configurations, which gives the mapping project focus, identity and acessibility, as many community members are from oral-first cultures and literacy isn’t part of their daily lives. But creating a custom configuration for Mapeo isn’t as acessible an experience as we’d wish, requiring some design and research skills […]

Digital Democracy is looking for an Earth Defenders Toolkit Community Steward for a 12-month contract (with potential long-term), starting as soon as possible. You will steward community engagement for the Earth Defenders Toolkit, and crosscutting outreach projects by Digital Democracy’s Programs team. Your role will be to expand community engagement with the Earth Defenders Toolkit, building […]

After some months of visioning, we are excited to share the first EDT quarterly newsletter! We are entering the next phase of the Earth Defenders Toolkit initiative! Thanks to the generous support of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, we are moving into the 2nd phase of the Earth Defenders Toolkit Initiative! The toolkit was first […]

The Earth Defenders Toolkit is a collection of apps that support local autonomy of Indigenous lands, giving communities ownership of critical data and reducing the need for outside support.  The toolkit, which includes mapping apps like ‘Mapeo,’ keep the needs of Indigenous communities at the forefront, overcoming barriers inherent to technology, like participation and security.  […]

Dawn Martin-Hill, a professor at McMaster University, introduced Terrastories, a geo-based storytelling app, to the Haudenosaunee people of the Great Lakes to help them protect their land and water as well as safeguard invaluable knowledge. A main goal of her work is to empower and support Indigenous youths, and she has also helped create a […]

Since the launch of the Earth Defenders Toolkit, a number of people have suggested that it would be nice to have a space for us to regularly share about work being done across the globe. We have our forum, but folks are also interested in having a regularly scheduled phone call, where we could have […]