Interest in the issues and cultures of Indigenous Peoples of the world has grown exponentially in the last 5 years. Human rights conventions, multilateral agreements on the environment as well as domestic legislation and policy demonstrate that Indigenous Peoples' voices must have a place in the development agenda. Of particular interest in this regard are the traditional knowledge systems and practices that Indigenous Peoples hold. This knowledge has sustained and nourished cultures for generations. Only recently have many stakeholders in this issue, such as the public, governments, the private sector and nongovernment organizations fully realized that this knowledge has tremendous value for efforts related to sustainable development, medical research, governance and civil society. Indigenous cultures have always demonstrated a willingness to share their knowledge, but only if this is done in a respectful way. All too often though governments and companies have engaged Indigenous groups in ways that has done more harm than good, even if the original intent of collaboration was legitimate. This handbook is designed in such a way to assist governments, industry, nongovernment organizations and Indigenous groups to work better with each other when traditional knowledge is central to the development objective. The guidelines are not meant to be prescriptive, rather they should be seen as a template from which various stakeholders can develop their own collaborative partnerships. This set of guidelines was developed through a partnership with the International Labour Organization, the World Bank, Kivu Nature Inc and CIDA.