"Exchanging of ideas, getting together, talking - gathering together is really important. Innovation happens when you exchange, particularly across communities. And this should not just happen at points of crisis and difficulty."

Professor Ian Scoones of the UK Institute for Development Studies, summing up examples of pastoralist innovation during a "University of the Bush" seminar in March 2009.

The University of the Bush is a series of seminars where pastoralists from across Ethiopia and Kenya are able to come together with leading academics to discuss and debate issues pertinent to them. So far two seminars have been held, the first on mobility and land tenure, and the second on pastoralist innovation. The seminars take place in the pastoralist rangelands. As the host of the first seminar, Nura Dida, put it, "This is an appropriate place to discuss pastoralism. The people gathered here are those who practise pastoralism and those who study pastoralism. The object of this event is for these two groups to exchange views and learn from each other." So far two seminars have been held, the first on mobility and land tenure, led by Prof Katherine Homewood of University College London. Prof Ian Scoones led the second seminar on Pastoralist Innovation.

You can download the transcripts from the seminars and read an article about them by visiting our news page.

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