Collaborating (Not Consulting) to Care for Country: Kwodjet Goorliny Symposium, Kinjaarliny/Albany, Western Australia, May 2024

Abstract

The Kwodjet Goorliny symposium in Kinjaarliny/Albany, Western Australia, Menang/Merningar Boodja was attended by 191 people in May 2024. The three-day symposium prioritised Indigenous voices and brought together all collaborators on the two-way science research project, Walking Together, as well as other cross-cultural ecology researchers, educators and practitioners from across Australia. Presenters included Noongar, Martu, Gamilaroi, Kaurareg and Yamaji traditional custodians, Indigenous rangers and representatives of research, education, health, local government, emergency management, conservation, Native Title and not-for-profit organisations. It was an opportunity to learn from and inspire one another, to celebrate achievements, and to collectively workshop next steps in cross-cultural approaches to care for Country, culture and people. Strong themes of the workshop were that successful two-way caring for Country requires robust collaborative relationships and is usually highly place-based in nature, neither of which are well-supported by short-term and scarce funding programmes. New approaches to supporting Indigenous-led, collaborative conservation work are required.