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' == Title of Session == Knowledge as a Right

== Convenor == Vijaya Venkataraman

== Participants == Marc, Jane, Sabrina, Dorine, Kate, Juliette, Anne, Nadia , Jess and Vijaya

== Key Discussion Points ==

We tried to navigate the terrain of knowledge as a right and looked at its various dimensions:

- People's right to access and use information and knowledge -disclosure mechanisms to strengthen accountability and transparency

- People's right to protect their knowledge esp indigenous and traditional knowledge - legal instruments to protect against exploitation eg biopiracy

- Mechanisms for benefit sharing of such knowledge

- Copyright and Copy left

- Accountability issues in knowledge generation - extractive vs participatory method

- Knowledge as a right anchored in the larger group of human rights e.g livelihoods, access to basic services

- Right to knowledge seems to be a negotiated process

- Promoting right to knowledge can start with one self, one's organization , empowering ones constituency and then the larger context progressively

- Tools, techniques and legal instruments including international conventions to promote knowledge as a right - both for access/ use and protection