Statement of Conclusions of the Jubilee of Knowledge Workshop on Braiding Scientific and Indigenous Knowledge in Support of Current Youth and Future Generations in Our Common Home

This conference gathered scientists, social scientists, Indigenous knowledge holders, educators, and youth from many regions of the world. Together we examined how braiding scientific and Indigenous knowledge can advance integral human development and societal transformation, especially through education for climate resilience. Our common reference point throughout the dialogue was the MAST framework – Mitigation, Adaptation, and Societal Transformation – as a holistic method for climate resilience.

1. Protecting the freedom required for braiding knowledge systems

Braiding scientific and Indigenous knowledge requires intellectual freedom, respect for diverse sources of wisdom, and protection of those who produce knowledge in different ways. These freedoms are increasingly under pressure around the world. As noted in our June statement, resilience requires resistance to these threats. Safeguarding scientific inquiry and Indigenous cultural expression is fundamental to any authentic partnership.

2. Conceptual clarity and shared understanding

Our discussions were guided by theory, philosophy, faith traditions, and conceptual clarity. We recognized the need for more precise definitions of local and Indigenous knowledge systems to improve dialogue and collaboration. The workshop surfaced many actionable pathways – grounded both in IK and contemporary sciences – that can serve people and planet in the Anthropocene.

3. Addressing structural inequalities between knowledge communities

Braiding traditions cannot succeed without acknowledging the deep asymmetries between scientific institutions and Indigenous communities. Humility is required from the scientific world, as is a concrete commitment to strengthening the capacities of Indigenous Peoples. This includes equitable access to the best scientific tools, laboratories, and research infrastructures – necessitating new, justice-oriented science policies.

4. The MAST framework as shared ground

The MAST concept provides a common framework for integrating IK and scientific expertise. Our deliberations emphasized that the world is currently underinvesting in mitigation, adaptation, and social transformation alike. Adaptation – particularly for the health, nutrition, and safety of the most vulnerable – remains severely underfunded. Investment in science and knowledge is also insufficient, and must rise substantially to meet the scale of crises.

5. Recognizing resilience without romanticizing suffering

While the scientific community greatly admires the resilience of Indigenous communities, it must never overlook the suffering that has often accompanied it. Local and regional climate summits should expand the inclusion of Indigenous leaders, ensuring that their perspectives shape solutions rather than simply inform them.

6. Youth as protagonists of transformation

Young people are not passive recipients of decisions made by older generations; they are already protagonists of societal transformation. Youth must be engaged as co-creators, not only learners. Education for climate resilience must therefore equip youth with three pillars of agency:

• scientific understanding of climate systems and solutions;
• ethical formation, rooted in solidarity and responsibility;
• community-rooted wisdom, including Indigenous knowledge systems that teach reciprocity with nature.

7. Higher education and emerging sciences

Advanced college and university education has a crucial role in exploring how emerging scientific breakthroughs – across disciplines – can contribute to braiding. The right to science includes the right of all peoples to benefit from new knowledge and technologies. Our institutions must take this responsibility more seriously.

8. Addressing emerging issues and opportunities across disciplines

The conference highlighted several cross-cutting areas in which IK and scientific knowledge can be braided for societal transformation:

(1) Societal Transformation

Ethical, scientific, religious, Indigenous, philosophical, and evolutionary perspectives offer complementary insights. Opportunities are emerging at the intersection of ancestral wisdom and artificial intelligence, which must be ethically guided and inclusive.

(2) Adaptation and Resilience

Braiding Indigenous and scientific knowledge can strengthen responses to habitat change, biodiversity loss, and resource pressures. Both knowledge systems contribute essential tools for local and regional resilience.

(3) Connecting Basic Science to the Issues of Braiding

Digitization of Indigenous languages will soon allow modern AI systems to learn from a greater diversity of linguistic and cultural traditions. This creates opportunities for preservation and empowerment – but also new risks of cultural extraction and exploitation. Ethical cooperation between scientists and Indigenous communities is imperative. Quantum sensing may complement Indigenous experiential knowledge, expanding capabilities in environmental and health monitoring.

(4) Earth Sciences, Food and Water Systems

Earth sciences increasingly rely on satellite data, open global datasets, climate models, and regional adaptation research. Indigenous Peoples must have full access to these resources – and representation in leadership roles within such programs. Food loss and waste can be reduced through scientific advances and behavioral transformation. Innovations in plant science and climate-adaptive agronomy must be accessible to all. Nature-based solutions need accelerated implementation.

(5) Health and Trauma

Climate-related stresses – including heat, floods, and deteriorating air quality – pose major health burdens. Neuroscience sheds light on the impacts of climate trauma, potentially extending across generations through epigenetics. Indigenous knowledge offers valuable insights into community-based healing and trauma resilience.

Closing Call: Educational Renewal for Our Common Home

Education emerged as a central theme across all sessions. We identified key priorities:

• Climate literacy for all, integrating both scientific and Indigenous knowledge.
• Teacher training that equips educators to teach climate resilience holistically.
• Student empowerment, enabling youth to speak, lead, and innovate in a time of crisis.
• Whole-curriculum transformation toward sustainability, systems thinking, and cultural understanding.
• Community-engaged learning, where students learn from local ecosystems, Indigenous traditions, and lived experiences.
• Intergenerational learning, connecting elders, scientists, teachers, and youth as co-educators.

These educational pathways form the backbone of societal transformation.

We call for an Educational Renewal that draws upon all sources of human knowledge – scientific, Indigenous, philosophical, ethical, and spiritual. This renewal should shape curricula at all levels, from primary school to university, and empower learners to become agents of climate resilience and social transformation.

The Jubilee of Knowledge renews our shared commitment to weave together: faith and reason, tradition and innovation, youth and experience, Indigenous knowledge and scientific discovery – all in service of people and planet, and for the flourishing of present and future generations in our common home.

List of participants