Culture, indigenous knowledge systems and sustainable development: A critical view of education in an African context

The article's focus is the relationship between culture, indigenous knowledge systems (IKS), sustainable development and education in Africa. It analyzes the concept of sustainability with particular reference to education and indigenous knowledge systems. In particular the article analyzes the documents from the World Summit in Johannesburg in 2002 as well as from the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. Moreover, the article discusses South Africa's Curriculum 2005 (C 2005) launched by the African National Congress (ANC) by focusing on the dilemmas of exclusively introducing Western-based scientific knowledge in a cultural context based on indigenous epistemology. The article concludes by calling for more research into the viability of indigenous knowledge systems as a potential tool in sustainable development. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.