In today’s fast-paced professional landscape, short-term profits are often prioritised over long-term sustainability and community impact.
As an Aboriginal-owned consultancy, we’ve witnessed firsthand how integrating Indigenous ways of thinking, doing and being can drive meaningful change, foster innovation, and build stronger relationships with communities. At Murawin, we use our Country-centric methodology Barri Marruma across all our business which helps guide our work and embed these principles from the outset of the projects we work on. Barri Marruma is built on Indigenous Knowledge Systems and using this methodology in our work offers a transformative process for our clients seeking to make sustainable, responsible and culturally appropriate impact.
Indigenous knowledge systems are deeply rooted in connection: connection to the land, people, and the past.
These systems emphasise sustainability, adaptability, and collective well-being and prioritise the context of any given issue as opposed to the issue itself. Unlike conventional business models that focus on individual gain, Aboriginal approaches prioritise long-term thinking, shared success and contextual problem solving. It is a different value structure that places focus on different areas than the current Western systems that dominate business spaces.
There are many principles of Indigenous knowledge but some of the key principles we weave through our work are:
Connection to Country
Embedding genuine care for Country (land, water, sky, plants, animals and people) and our custodial role into decision-making processes from the outset.
What this does is prioritise long-term sustainability and big picture thinking that considers the interrelated nature of all things. Many businesses operate with a quarterly mindset, but Aboriginal cultures think in generations. By adopting a long-term approach, we can help our clients:
- Improve their ESG targets through long term sustainable care for Country
- Build lasting relationships with community leading to sustained outcomes
- Future-proof their strategies by learning from the processes of Country to take inspiration for new ways of working and operating.
For example, Aboriginal land management practices, such as cultural burning, have been used for thousands of years to sustain ecosystems. In a Western context, fire is often something to be afraid of, to fight. Whereas in Indigenous Knowledge Systems, fire is not feared but respected. It is understood that when used in the right way, fire heals Country and brings about the natural and needed conditions for the land to thrive. At Murawin, we take inspiration from this in our Barri Marruma methodology, using fire as a metaphor for transformation and the spark of new ideas that can sustain change.
Kinship and Collaboration
Recognising the value of partnerships, shared responsibilities and shared decision making.
In First Nations communities, decisions are often made collectively, considering the voices of Elders, youth, and other community members. This inclusive model of decision making often takes longer but the process fosters trust and innovation and means the solutions provided will be community led, therefore have more success in the long run.
At Murawin, this is the core of our services in community engagement. We yarn with community around the issues of relevance to our clients. We listen to all community opinions, concerns and ideas and report those to the clients with recommendations of courses of action.
We also take this thinking into our operations by:
- Involving diverse teams in strategic planning, projects and communications.
- Actively seeking input from communities affected by our operations and the operations of our clients’ projects.
- Prioritising ethical supply chains that support other Indigenous and local businesses.
The Power of Storytelling
Using narrative and metaphor to teach and learn and to convey values, build trust, and solve problems.
Storytelling is a powerful tool for teaching, connecting, and inspiring action. In First Nations communities it is how deep knowledge has been transferred for thousands of years. It’s how all people make meaning of the world, and it is how we can shape the future we want, by telling stories of what we want it to be.
At Murawin, storytelling is vitally important as it helps us be a conduit between our clients and community and helps us convey meaning, knowledge and stories in creative, expressive and engaging ways. Our in-house creative team are the custodians of not only Murawin’s story and how that is communicated, but can also help our clients:
- Strengthen their brand identity in creative, Country-centric ways
- Engage employees, stakeholders and their own clients through compelling, creative and collaborative narratives.
- Drive change by illustrating the impact of their work through stories that evoke empathy and inspire change.
There is always a story behind the numbers in a business and stories resonate far deeper than numbers ever could.
By working with Aboriginal-owned consultancies like ours, our clients can gain access to a wealth of knowledge and thinking, while supporting Indigenous entrepreneurship which directly contributes to reconciliation. We specialise in helping our clients:
- Build meaningful partnerships with Indigenous communities.
- Develop culturally sensitive strategies that resonate with diverse audiences.
- Implement sustainable practices inspired by Country, culture and Indigenous knowledge
“Start your knowledge base beyond 1788, because that’s where the knowledge first existed in Australia”
Chels Marshall, Indigenous Knowledge Systems Lab – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfiPJ13nEAk&ab_channel=IntegrationandImplementationSciences%28i2S%29
As we face local and global challenges like climate change, social inequality, and economic uncertainty, the wisdom of Indigenous knowledge systems is more relevant than ever.
We need to shift from tacking Indigenous thinking on to the side of projects, to looking through a holistic Indigenous lens at the entire project and integrate and embed that wisdom, knowledge and way of being directly into every aspect to prioritse sustainable and just Country centred change.
This is what we have done with Barri Marruma and this is what we can offer our clients. So, reach out to us today to learn how we can help your organisation integrate and embed these transformative practices into your projects, operations and cultures.
