International Know How Conference 2006. Weaving the information society: a multicultural and gender perspective

International Know How Conference 2006. Weaving the information society: a multicultural and gender perspective. Mexico City, Palacio de Minería. August 21st to 25th 2006

The Know How Conference is hosted by Programa Universitario de Estudios de Género (PUEG) and UNAM, in cooperation with the Know How Secretariat, and it is an initiative of the Know How Community, held once every four years.

The Know How Community includes librarians, journalists, Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) experts, researchers, indigenous and rural women’s information workers, publishers, information activists representing excluded communities of women, from all parts of the world.

The mission of the Know How Conference 2006 is to advance gender justice and respect for every nation's cultural diversity within the information society, and promote access to information and communication as a fundamental women’s and human right.

Know How 2006 has the following objectives:

To found a Latin American Network of Information Centers and Libraries on Women's and Gender Studies.
The program of the Know How Conference Mexico will include training and updating workshops, known as Know How Academy. These workshops will be in August 21st and 22nd, 2006, as two days of academic training and the Conference will take place from August 23rd to 25th. Besides, the event will consist of a Book Fair and a Feminist Films Festival from August 21st to 25th 2006.

The Know How Conference Mexico will highlight the following themes:

1) Globalization, culture, information and gender

- Library, culture and women
- Writers, researchers and publishers: packaging knowledge to address the needs of women
- Storytellers and webmakers: the changing nature of creating and disseminating information
- Culturally and socially disadvantaged groups in the information society

2) Media, gender and communication

-The role of media in in making women’s information visible
-Experiences related to the use of media by women
-Women's access to communication in disaster situations

3) The digital gap, gender and development

-Review, criticise and give recommendations in relation to WSIS
-Mapping the digital gap in different regions of the world

4) Development of policies for libraries and library professionals

-Networking for professional development
-Developing digital libraries
-Tools to promote access to and enable exchange of information
- Developing a regional thesaurus for Latin America

5) Strategies and alternatives for financing gender and women's information initiatives

-Strategies for the formulation of projects and their funding
-Successful experiences with fund-raising
-Management and tracking of projects
-Alternative funding for libraries and information centers.

6) Policies for the development of the structure and legal status of the Know How Community

-Know How and its future
-Regional networks within the Know How Community

Indigenous Themes

1. Analysis and diagnosis of the conditions that indigenous women face and the use of ICTs
-Indigenous women and the right to information: analysis and diagnosis of the environment that surrounds the right to information

2. Rural and indigenous communities and the information society
-Indigenous women and media: image and representation. Stereotypes.
-Public policies on communication and information: where are the indigenous women?
-Respect to intellectual property of indigenous women's traditional knowledge: what to do?
-Tradicional types of communication and information vs ITCs

3. Work experiences with information access and appropriation
-Indigenous women use and access to ITCs: what are the main barriers? And what are the utilities? (at different levels: economic, social, technological, linguistic, educational)
-Media and ITCs as instrument for indigenous women's development: concrete applications in education, health, defense and rights (defense of natural resources, territory), creation of new enterprises, politics, defense of the tradicional knowledge, environment, biodiversity

4. Human rights violations and and peace construction: use of ITCs

Inscription and register will be online only. Last day for inscription to Workshops and Conference will be on August 14th, 2006.

For additional information : http://knowhow-pueg.unam.mx/english_site/index_eng.html

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