Partners in Indigenous Conservation and Environmental Futures (PICEF)

We are members of the PICEF research group based in the Department of Geography, Planning and Environment.  Under the leadership of Dr. Monica Mulrennan, our group is comprised of MSc and doctoral student researchers working with Indigenous community partners. Our work focuses on themes and topics related to Indigenous land and water stewardship and sustainability, as defined and prioritized by our partners. PICEF has a long-standing partnership with the Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee and with Torres Strait Islanders in northern Australia, in addition to partnerships with other Indigenous nations in Canada and Australia.

Following the guidance of Algonquin Anishinaabe-kwe author and activist Dr Lynn Gehl, as a group of non-Indigenous researchers, we strive to be “Responsible Allies”, engaging in projects with open minds and hearts. In this hour-long panel, we will bring attention to how we interpret what these responsibilities entail, in the specific context of doing research related to sustainability. As broader context for this work, we will begin with a high-level overview of the scholarship on sustainability (using Web of Science and Scopus keyword searches) to reveal the nature and extent to which it has engaged Indigenous expertise, perspectives or interests over the past few decades. We will then illustrate and ground this analysis by drawing on experiences from the community-led research we are doing. By showing photos, short videos, and sharing stories, we will offer our reflections and perceptions related to Indigenous expertise in land and water stewardship, and sustainability.

The links to two short films will be made available in advance on the main conference website.