Indigenous Research Methodology for drought resilience

Indigenous knowledge systems, capability and lived experience offer unique and essential understandings of drought and drought resilience overlooked in mainstream or Western science approaches and institutions. Indigenous Peoples have developed holistic sets of cultural indicators used to understand, care for and manage the diverse Country of the Australian continent. Recognising and embracing Indigenous cultural indicators and ways of knowing, being and doing is crucial for fostering innovative and practical actions that strengthen drought resilience.

This report outlines our Indigenous Research Methodology (IRM). It seeks to gather Indigenous understandings and cultural indicators to measure and provide a baseline of drought resilience in parts of Australia. The methodology is broadly applicable and could be used to better understand other national challenges, such as health and housing, in the future.

Work to date

This research was enabled by critical foundational steps, including funding, ethics and Indigenous recruitment.

Funding and Ethics

This research is funded by CSIRO.

This study has been approved by CSIRO’s Social Science Human Research Ethics Committee in accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023.

Indigenous recruitment

During the early stages of the research, CSIRO project leaders committed to establishing an Indigenous-led team with strong Indigenous representation. CSIRO collaborated with the University of Technology Sydney and recruited Indigenous-identifying scientists internally and externally to form the research project team.

Download the report

• Indigenous Research Methodology for drought resilience
• Indigenous Research Methodology for drought resilience - accessible text only version

Indigenous knowledge systems, capability and lived experience offer unique and essential understandings of drought and drought resilience overlooked in mainstream or Western science approaches and institutions. Indigenous Peoples have developed holistic sets of cultural indicators used to understand, care for and manage the diverse Country of the Australian continent. Recognising and embracing Indigenous cultural indicators and ways of knowing, being and doing is crucial for fostering innovative and practical actions that strengthen drought resilience.

This report outlines our Indigenous Research Methodology (IRM). It seeks to gather Indigenous understandings and cultural indicators to measure and provide a baseline of drought resilience in parts of Australia. The methodology is broadly applicable and could be used to better understand other national challenges, such as health and housing, in the future.

Work to date

This research was enabled by critical foundational steps, including funding, ethics and Indigenous recruitment.

Funding and Ethics

This research is funded by CSIRO.

This study has been approved by CSIRO’s Social Science Human Research Ethics Committee in accordance with the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2023.

Indigenous recruitment

During the early stages of the research, CSIRO project leaders committed to establishing an Indigenous-led team with strong Indigenous representation. CSIRO collaborated with the University of Technology Sydney and recruited Indigenous-identifying scientists internally and externally to form the research project team.

Download the report

• Indigenous Research Methodology for drought resilience PDF (8 MB)
• Indigenous Research Methodology for drought resilience - accessible text only version TXT (30 KB)