GS7* | Beyond Knowledge Sharing: Ethical and Reciprocal Engagement for Co-developed Geohazard and Geoheritage Solutions
GS7
Beyond Knowledge Sharing: Ethical and Reciprocal Engagement for Co-developed Geohazard and Geoheritage Solutions
Co-organized by GM4/NH
Convener: Lucy Kaiser | Co-conveners: Jonathan Procter, Kristie-Lee Thomas, Rebecca Fitzgerald

Indigenous Peoples have lived with active landscapes and environmental change for millennia, developing sophisticated knowledge systems grounded in long-term observation, oral traditions, cultural practices, and enduring relationships with place. These knowledge systems provide important insights into Earth surface processes, including volcanic activity, earthquakes, landslides, floods, coastal hazards, environmental change, and the stewardship of culturally significant landscapes.

Addressing complex geohazard and geoheritage challenges increasingly requires approaches that move beyond knowledge sharing towards ethical, reciprocal, and sustained partnerships. This session explores how Indigenous communities, researchers, practitioners, and decision-makers can work together to co-produce knowledge and co-develop solutions that are meaningful, locally relevant, and respectful of Indigenous rights, values, governance, and data sovereignty.

We invite contributions that examine ethical engagement practices at the interface of Indigenous knowledge and geoscience, including collaborative research design, community-led monitoring, participatory hazard assessment, geoheritage stewardship, Indigenous governance, and approaches that foster mutual learning and benefit. We particularly welcome case studies that highlight how equitable partnerships and the respectful weaving of Indigenous and scientific knowledge systems can strengthen understanding of dynamic Earth processes, support disaster risk reduction, enhance geoheritage outcomes, and build trust across knowledge communities.

By focusing on ethical and reciprocal engagement, this session aims to advance more inclusive geoscience practices and showcase pathways for co-developed geohazard and geoheritage solutions that are scientifically robust, culturally appropriate, and socially just.