UNESCO has recognized that to participate more actively in the development of society indigenous communities, including tribal people and ethnic groups in the Asia-Pacific region have to make the transition from oral literacy traditions to cultures that combine oral and written literacy. The manual has been conceived to support interactive literacy training programmes where trainers are actively engaged in the learning process. In this sense. it adopts a learner-centred approach to training and functional content areas.

IK systems are also dynamic: new knowledge is continuously added. Such systems do innovate from within and also will internalize, use, and adapt external knowledge to suit the local situation.

This manual aims to overcome this constraint. It provides government and non-government rural development workers with the information and tools they need to integrate IK into their development work. The design of the manual allows for easy copying and use of the materials in training. We hope that this manual will facilitate the use and conservation of indigenous knowledge for the benefit of people and their communities.