The 2026 GYA Sasha Kagansky Interdisciplinary Grant has been awarded to Dr.rer.nat. Yolanda López-Maldonado (Indigenous Science), Dr Branislav Pantović (DiploCientifica), and Dr Cristian Ruben Juárez (Independent Researcher) for their project, “Whose Knowledge Shapes Environmental Decisions? Operationalization of the Indigenous Science Diplomacy (ISD) Approach.”
Whose Knowledge Shapes Environmental Decisions? Operationalisation of the Indigenous Science Diplomacy (ISD) Approach
The project will develop and evaluate a protocol for Indigenous-led engagement in international biodiversity governance, strengthening the role of Indigenous science and diplomacy in global decision-making.
Indigenous Peoples have developed sophisticated, place-based and intergenerational knowledge systems that are essential to addressing biodiversity loss, climate change and water insecurity. Their holistic understandings of ecosystems and governance practices grounded in responsibility and reciprocity can improve the quality, relevance and legitimacy of global science and policy.
The project will investigate how the Indigenous Science Diplomacy (ISD) protocol can enable Indigenous environmental knowledge to inform science-policy processes while preserving Indigenous authority, linguistic integrity and control over knowledge use. It will also examine institutional barriers, including unequal representation, hierarchies and language barriers, and identify ways for policy institutions to engage with Indigenous evidence without forcing it into dominant scientific frameworks.
Activities will include engagement with biodiversity governance processes at the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Armenia, an Indigenous-led webinar in 2027, and a roundtable at the Global Young Academy’s 2027 Annual General Meeting in Indonesia. These activities will test the protocol in practice and assess how Indigenous-led engagement can influence international decisions. Anticipated outputs include a tested protocol, an institutional mapping of barriers and opportunities, a research report and an Indigenous-led policy brief based on messages authorised by Indigenous partners and reflecting their priorities.
Read more about the project and its objectives here.
About the GYA Sasha Kagansky Interdisciplinary Grant
The GYA includes a diverse membership of scientists and scholars, in many disciplines, based in low/middle-income countries and high-income countries. This grant scheme was initiated in 2014, aiming to foster collaboration across the lines that often separate researchers and limit possibilities. The scheme facilitates the development of small-scale, innovative, curiosity-driven, blue-sky, exploratory research pilots or prototypes that unite researchers in low and middle-income countries and high-income countries and cross disciplinary boundaries. The Sasha Kagansky Interdisciplinary Grant, awarded annually, was re-named in 2021 in honor of late GYA member Alexander (Sasha) Kagansky.
Past GYA Interdisciplinary Grant projects
2025/26: Global Science Talent Index (GSTI)
2024/25: Scientific Thinking in Pre-Schoolers: A Regional Challenge
2023/24: An interdisciplinary database of ethics dumping cases
2022/23: Tracking Technology and Mealtime Conversations in Families
2021/22: Young Researchers and the COVID-19 Pandemic
2020/21: The COVID-19 pandemic and art
2019/20: Citizen Science for Reducing Exposure to Urban Air Pollution
2018/19: Can Digital Storytelling be used as a Tool for Countering Language Endangerment?
2017/18: Biochar for food security and sustainable ecosystem services
2016: Ethics in environmental decision-making: From individual acts to global outcomes
2015/16: Connecting epigenetics and natural resources
2014/15: One-dimensional molecular current wires using tailored-to-the-purpose chemistry