The University of Guelph offers a new Bachelor’s degree in Environment and Aboriginal Knowledge

We wanted students to take a critical, non-colonial perspective on the current approach to environmental science and practice in Canada., immediately introduces John Warland, Vice DeanOACOntario Agricultural College.

The four-year interdisciplinary program seeks to reconcile indigenous and non-indigenous approaches to environmental protection by training students in First Nations knowledge systems combined with Western environmental sciences.

By organizing field research, training courses adapted to indigenous realities and culture or even panel discussions with holders of traditional knowledge, the course invites Fine Students are to carry out their internship in the fourth year within the societies, according to the needs of the latter.

Questions about water, whether we are thinking about water protection, water resources or water management, can be found in the final projects, Mr. Warland anticipates, specifying that the research should be in line with the directions conveyed by the partner communities.

The courses will also include a legal component on the inherent rights of indigenous peoples, those protected by treaties and the constitution, or on the duty to consult with local communities in the management of projects related to them.

In short, it is about training the scientists who will demonstrate Of moral maturity and intercultural competence In their future professional responsibilities, advocate forOACOntario Agricultural College.

Therefore, the Bachelor of Science and Indigenous Environmental Practice seeks to attract science students who want to Addressing the most pressing issues facing Canada: reconciliation with indigenous peoples and the environmental crisis unfolding all around us, summarizes the Vice Dean.

Get out of the grooves

With the climate crisis approaching, so was it time for To change the way we teach the environment, insists John Warland.

Western traditions tend to be reductive, trying to isolate and study elements of the environment in isolation.

The relational path is essential when it comes to [d’aborder] Our environmental issues, because so many things are interconnected and intertwined, continues John Warland. Western science is beginning to take this into account, as has the last generation of scientists, but our methods still focus on isolating individual elements.

Hence, being open to other modes of knowledge would bring a more holistic approach that would better suit the environmental sciences. I think it will be very powerful, he rejoices in this paradigm shift in science education.

Expanded team

Dozens of professors will accompany the first batch of students who will be welcomed to campus this fall.

The creation of the new Bachelor’s degree also led to the appointment of two new Aboriginal faculty members, Jesse Pope, a member of the unaccredited Wiikwemkoong Territory on Manitolin Island, the first Aboriginal woman to complete a PhD in Natural Sciences at Laurentian University. , in Greater Sudbury.

She will be joined in November by Susan Chiplow of Ontario’s Garden River First Nation, who has worked with Ontario presidents as environmental coordinator.