Geographic and Thematic Priority Focus

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Geographic Focus

• The Greater American Southwest, the US Four Corners region and Northwest Mexico covering the Colorado Plateau and Delta, the Pueblo and Hispanic Communities of the Rio Arriba/Rio Grande, the Sonoran Desert on both sides of the Mexican-US border (east of the Colorado River), and the Sierra Tarahumara.
• Central Asia and Turkey, focusing on the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, and the mountains and associated valleys of Northeast Turkey.
• The African Rift Valley, focusing on southwest Ethiopia, and borderlands of Northern Kenya.
• Northern Australia, focusing on Arnhem Land, Far Northern Queensland, the Kimberley and the Torres Strait Islands.
• Melanesia, initial focus Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu, with some regional networking and collaborations.

Thematic Interests in the Geographic Priority Regions

• Lanscapes, Livelihood and Foodways
  • the persistence and adaptation of indigenous systems for managing landscapes that sustain cultural and biological value and diversity;
  • maintaining the diverse agricultural, hunting, gathering and cooking traditions that sustain community foodways, diets, livelihoods and wellbeing; including the traditional varieties of crops first domesticated in our geographic regions essential for the future of agriculture globally;
• Cultural Expression and Land
  • artistic and cultural expression—both traditional and contemporary—to maintain continuities of relationship with place and the experience of the natural world, including music, dance and associated expression;
• Education/Leadership/Networking
• "bothways" education in indigenous societies that better enables people to access and value both heritage and innovation within their own societies, as well as engage richly with the rest of the world.