- Calgary, Canada
- 8254314256
Ranjan Datta
Mount Royal University, Humanities, Department Member
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Environmental Sustainability, Post-Colonialism, Participatory Action Research, Indigenous Research Methodologies, Relationality, Qualitative methodology, and 24 moreQualitative Research, Indigenous Studies, Critical Race Theory, Intersectionality, Indigenous or Aboriginal Studies, Intersectionality and Social Inequality, Transnational Feminism, Stuart Hall, Indigenous Research, Indigenous research methodology, Indigenous Social Work Theory and Practice, Social Sciences, Sociology, Anthropology, Climate Change, Research Methodology, Sustainable Development, Development Studies, Education, Cultural Studies, International Relations, Public Policy, Geography, and Renewable Energy edit
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Dr. Ranjan Datta is Canada Research Chair in Community Disaster Research at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada... moreDr. Ranjan Datta is Canada Research Chair in Community Disaster Research at Mount Royal University in Calgary, Canada. His research interests include community disaster research, community-led climate change solutions, Indigenous well-being, Community-based Environmental Sustainability, Indigenous Environmental Justice, Inuit land-water rights in the Canadian Arctic, and cross-cultural research Methodology. edit
This article explores my relational learning reflections with the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh, focusing on Indigenous perspectives on climate change education. Implementing a... more
This article explores my relational learning reflections with the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh, focusing on Indigenous perspectives on climate change education. Implementing a relational theoretical framework, I share my reflections on relational learning in this research as part of being accountable to the Indigenous community. Through exploring Indigenous land-based climate change research, five central themes emerge Indigenous land rights, relationship with the environment, community-led relationality as collaboration, intergenerational relational knowledge and relationality as ethical reciprocity. The findings explore the intrinsic connection between Indigenous communities and their ancestral territories, emphasising the significance of upholding Indigenous sovereignty over land for sustainable adaptation to climate change. In this article, I highlight the importance of relational learning as a form of education, fostering resilience rooted in preserving traditional practices and spaces. Relationality with the environment is central to Indigenous climate education, promoting understanding and reciprocity with the land. In my learning, I learned that community dynamics and collaborative learning are essential for effective climate education, emphasising collective action and diverse perspectives. In relational learning, inter-generational knowledge transmission ensures the preservation and sharing of traditional land-based knowledge across generations, forming the foundation for sustainable adaptation strategies. Ethical engagement and reciprocity guide research interactions, emphasising mutual respect and cultural sensitivity. By centring Indigenous perspectives and knowledge systems, this study advocates for community-led approaches to climate change education, fostering resilience and environmental stewardship within Indigenous communities.
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Analysis of Compositions Written by a Chinese Child in Japan 31 How to Practice Posthumanism in Environmental Learning: 52 Experiences with North American and South Asian Indigenous Communities and Technology Students Towards the Environment Understanding Student Attitudes about Distance Educatio...more
Eddy Li received his teacher education from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Cambridge. His research interests include Chinese learners, inclusive pedagogy in Confucian-heritage Cultures, professional craft... more
Eddy Li received his teacher education from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the University of Cambridge. His research interests include Chinese learners, inclusive pedagogy in Confucian-heritage Cultures, professional craft knowledge and eLearning strategies. He is particularly interested in constructing/deconstructing the cultural model of inclusion, and exploring how quality education for all could be facilitated in Chinese communities. Jennifer Bunk is an Associate Professor of Psychology at West Chester University. She teaches online and hybrid courses in industrial/organizational psychology and research methods. She is interested in understanding distance education through a psychological lens and also researches workplace stress, workplace incivility and work-family conflict. Rui Li is the Executive Director of Distance Education and Instructional Design at West Chester University. She has taught online/blended courses both nationally and internationally and her resear...
This paper represents Youth's involvement in land-based learning in Indigenous culture camps (LLICP) in a powerful and innovative approach to addressing the pressing global issue of climate change. Following Indigenist and relational... more
This paper represents Youth's involvement in land-based learning in Indigenous culture camps (LLICP) in a powerful and innovative approach to addressing the pressing global issue of climate change. Following Indigenist and relational approaches, we (Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth and educators) explore the critical aspects of this initiative, highlighting its significance and potential impact. Indigenous communities have long held a deep connection with the land and possess traditional knowledge that is invaluable in combating climate change. The LLICP initiative involves organizing cultural camps designed for youth from diverse backgrounds to learn from Indigenous elders and community leaders about the vital relationship between the environment and Indigenous cultures. The LLICP provides a unique opportunity for young people to engage with Indigenous wisdom, traditional practices, and land-based teachings. Through Indigenous elders and knowledge-keepers guidelines, we learned a holistic understanding of sustainable living, biodiversity conservation, and the importance of preserving ecosystems. Our learning helped us, particularly our youths, to become proactive stewards of the environment and advocates for climate action. The LLICP fosters cross-cultural understanding and collaboration, encouraging a sense of unity among youths. The LLICP inspires innovative solutions to climate-related challenges and empowers youth to take leadership roles in their communities, advocating for sustainable policies and practices. The LLICP offers a powerful means of engaging young people in the fight against climate change while respecting and honoring Indigenous knowledge and heritage. It is a promising step towards a more sustainable and resilient future for all.
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Traditional cultural camps are distinctive and transformative spaces where Indigenous and Western knowledge systems intersect and exchange. These camps represent experiential programs deeply rooted in Indigenous land-based practices,... more
Traditional cultural camps are distinctive and transformative spaces where Indigenous and Western knowledge systems intersect and exchange. These camps represent experiential programs deeply rooted in Indigenous land-based practices, emphasizing traditional teachings, skills, and connections to community learning and cultural preservation. As crucial grounds for fostering mutual understanding, intercultural dialogue, and revitalizing Indigenous cultures, these camps bring together Indigenous land-based knowledge and practices, community members, and Western researchers. In this collaborative setting, ancestral knowledge, cultural practices, and wisdom are transmitted from one generation to another. Integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems within these camps opens avenues for bridging gaps, dispelling stereotypes, and building respectful partnerships grounded in reciprocity and trust. This collaborative process transforms traditional cultural camps into powerful catalysts for cultural pride, community resilience, and the co-creation of knowledge, contributing to broader decolonization and cultural revitalization goals. Following our decolonial learning conversation, we, an Indigenous woman land-based educator and a racialized academic scholar, delve into the transformative potential and synergies achieved by integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems within the context of traditional cultural camps.
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This study explores the imperative need for decolonizing climate change adaptation strategies by focusing on Indigenous knowledge and perspectives. Focusing on the Munda Indigenous communities residing in the coastal areas of Bangladesh,... more
This study explores the imperative need for decolonizing climate change adaptation strategies by focusing on Indigenous knowledge and perspectives. Focusing on the Munda Indigenous communities residing in the coastal areas of Bangladesh, the research offers critical insights into the intricate relationship between Indigenous wisdom and sustainable climate adaptation. By engaging with the Munda Indigenous people and their traditions, this study explores how traditional ecological knowledge and practices can inform and enhance contemporary climate adaptation efforts. Following the decolonial theoretical research framework, this research used participatory research methods and collaboration with the Munda Indigenous community. In this study, we shared our learning reflections to uncover unique approaches to climate resilience, including traditional community-based disaster risk reduction and cultural practices that foster social cohesion. These insights challenge the prevailing Western-centric climate adaptation paradigms, emphasizing recognizing and valuing Indigenous voices in climate discourse. The research underscores the significance of empowering Indigenous communities as key stakeholders in climate adaptation policy and decision-making. It calls for shifting from top-down, colonial approaches towards more inclusive, culturally sensitive strategies. The Munda Indigenous communities’ experiences offer valuable lessons that can inform broader efforts to address climate change, fostering resilience and harmonious coexistence between people and their environment. This study advocates for integrating Indigenous knowledge, practices, and worldviews into climate adaptation frameworks to create more effective, equitable, and sustainable solutions for the challenges posed by climate change.
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The decolonial meaning of transformation is to rethink Research as Action, to reclaim research tools for the community to solve its everyday challenges
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While there are many studies about the environmental impacts of climate change, the role of cross-cultural children and their activities for climate change solutions has been a lesser focus of inquiry on climate change resiliency... more
While there are many studies about the environmental impacts of climate change, the role of cross-cultural children and their activities for climate change solutions has been a lesser focus of inquiry on climate change resiliency research. This paper discusses learning from reflective learning, Indigenous Elders land-based teaching, and music and arts learnings and positive interactions with cross-cultural children in a cross-cultural community garden. It is essential to know who we are as a colour settler family on Indigenous land (i.e., treaties six and seven territories known as Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada). Our family has been involved with various cross-cultural children's activities in the community garden for over eight years. Learning together with cross-cultural children in a community garden assisted us in creating our belonging with land and people, building a cross-cultural community, and taking responsibility for climate change solutions. Following Indigenist research methodology, we used non-traditional stories such as growing foods, learning through Indigenous and intergenerational stories, father and daughter conversations, music, dance, and artwork. We hope learning about climate change solutions through cross-cultural children's activities in a community garden may inspire others to understand the importance of building a cross-cultural children's community for climate change solutions from and within everyday learning and practice.
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UNSTRUCTURED The COVID-19 pandemic, like a natural disaster, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on the vulnerable portion of society, particularly on Indigenous and visible minority immigrants in Canada. While Indigenous... more
UNSTRUCTURED The COVID-19 pandemic, like a natural disaster, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on the vulnerable portion of society, particularly on Indigenous and visible minority immigrants in Canada. While Indigenous and visible minority people are very diverse and experienced the impact of Covid-19 very differently, both groups have a significant lack of equal access to pandemic resiliency. As a visible minority immigrant family in Indigenous land in Treaty 6 territory, we (as a colour settler family in Indigenous land known as Canada) learned Indigenous land-based education (ILBE) from Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-keeper's land-based stories, traditional knowledge, resiliency, and practice. We have been learning and practicing ILBE to develop resiliency during a natural disaster, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. We used a land-based learning as a research methodology for learning health wellness from land. We discussed why ILBE matters for building ...
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Many visible minority immigrants and refugee communities are already experiencing inadequate access to education, and healthcare, lack of sufficient food, significantly higher rates of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and lack... more
Many visible minority immigrants and refugee communities are already experiencing inadequate access to education, and healthcare, lack of sufficient food, significantly higher rates of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and lack of access to essential services. Even when vulnerable communities can access healthcare services, they face stigma and discrimination. There is limited cross-cultural research examining the lived experiences of immigrant communities. Following a relational research framework, this study explores how learning and practicing Indigenous land-based practices were critical in building resilience for many racialized immigrant families during the pandemic. Our study shows Indigenous Land-based Mental Health Resiliency from Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-keeper’s land-based stories, traditional knowledge, resiliency, and practice may have many health benefits and positive outcomes in response to mental health disaster resiliency. Hope this study helps deco...
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While there are many studies about the environmental impacts of climate change, the role of cross-cultural children and their activities for climate change solutions has been a lesser focus of inquiry on climate change resiliency... more
While there are many studies about the environmental impacts of climate change, the role of cross-cultural children and their activities for climate change solutions has been a lesser focus of inquiry on climate change resiliency research. This paper discusses learning from reflective learning, Indigenous Elders land-based teaching, and music and arts learnings and positive interactions with cross-cultural children in a cross-cultural community garden. It is essential to know who we are as a colour settler family on Indigenous land (i.e., treaties six and seven territories known as Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada). Our family has been involved with various cross-cultural children's activities in the community garden for over eight years. Learning together with cross-cultural children in a community garden assisted us in creating our belonging with land and people, building a cross-cultural community, and taking responsibility for climate change solutions. Following Indigenist research methodology, we used non-traditional stories such as growing foods, learning through Indigenous and intergenerational stories, father and daughter conversations, music, dance, and artwork. We hope learning about climate change solutions through cross-cultural children's activities in a community garden may inspire others to understand the importance of building a cross-cultural children's community for climate change solutions from and within everyday learning and practice.
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This Special Issue centers on anti-racist and decolonial perspectives of sustainability [...]
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Despite significant research in environmental sociology, environmental sustainability, and cultural geography, the following questions remain ambiguous for many Indigenous communities: What constitutes land-based research and what is its... more
Despite significant research in environmental sociology, environmental sustainability, and cultural geography, the following questions remain ambiguous for many Indigenous communities: What constitutes land-based research and what is its purpose? How are researcher and
participants situated in land-based research? Who has the power to select the research topic, research objectives, and research site? Who has the power to determine research protocols, data analysis and dissemination procedures? What can be learned from land-based research? Focusing on a relational participatory action research (PAR) project with the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh, this paper addresses the above questions
as a means of advocating for land-based research. My learning journey in land-based research is a relational ceremony that not only reinforces my desire to create a bridge between researcher and participant needs but also serves as inspiration in rethinking the meaning of research from
the participants’ perspectives.
participants situated in land-based research? Who has the power to select the research topic, research objectives, and research site? Who has the power to determine research protocols, data analysis and dissemination procedures? What can be learned from land-based research? Focusing on a relational participatory action research (PAR) project with the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh, this paper addresses the above questions
as a means of advocating for land-based research. My learning journey in land-based research is a relational ceremony that not only reinforces my desire to create a bridge between researcher and participant needs but also serves as inspiration in rethinking the meaning of research from
the participants’ perspectives.
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This paper outlines an ongoing unlearning and relearning journey: my lifelong transformation from a Western scientific researcher to a relational and participant-oriented researcher. This transformation has made me aware of my... more
This paper outlines an ongoing unlearning and relearning journey: my lifelong transformation from a Western scientific researcher to a relational and participant-oriented researcher. This transformation has made me aware of my responsibility to share my stories about how I have changed. In this commentary I situate my lifelong research training as a metaphor for unlearning, learning, situating, and reclaiming my research methodologies and methods. Specifically, this commentary poses and answers questions such as, “how has my Western science-oriented research training been challenged through my relationships with research participant communities? How did my methodological transformation (decolonizing and reclaiming of relational/participant orientation) start? And, how did my transformation empower me and create my sense of belonging in regards to who I am and what I should do?” I conclude by outlining the implications of my methodological transformation processes for future research.
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This chapter traces a model of epistemic empowerment of Indigenous youth through their hopes, dreams, and responsibilities for sustainability. This chapter is organized across eight categories: (i) meanings of sustainability to youth,... more
This chapter traces a model of epistemic empowerment of Indigenous youth through their hopes, dreams, and responsibilities for sustainability. This chapter is organized across eight categories: (i) meanings of sustainability to youth, (ii) youth’s hopes and dreams for building sustainability, (iii) fostering critical imagination and analytical skills, (iv) strengthening connections with local culture, (v) learning Indigenous cultivations skills, (vi) breaking the culture of silence, (vii) embracing ethically and socially responsible educational knowledge, and (viii) encountering resistance in applying emancipatory ideas.
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Indigenous Knowledge, Indigenous ecological knowledges and practices, Environmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection, and Indigneous Studies
This chapter examines how an Indigenous community understands sustainability and analyzes these understandings in relation to the literature on the politics of nature as well as Indigenous and postcolonial studies. Particular emphasis is... more
This chapter examines how an Indigenous community understands sustainability and analyzes these understandings in relation to the literature on the politics of nature as well as Indigenous and postcolonial studies. Particular emphasis is given to Indigenous world views, spiritual and relational practices, culture, lands, and revitalization.
Despite significant research in environmental sociology, environmental sustainability, and cultural geography, the following questions remain ambiguous for many Indigenous communities: What constitutes land-based research and what is its... more
Despite significant research in environmental sociology, environmental sustainability, and cultural geography, the following questions remain ambiguous for many Indigenous communities: What constitutes land-based research and what is its purpose? How are researcher and participants situated in land-based research? Who has the power to select the research topic, research objectives, and research site? Who has the power to determine research protocols, data analysis and dissemination procedures? What can be learned from land-based research? Focusing on a relational participatory action research (PAR) project with the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh, this paper addresses the above questions as a means of advocating for land-based research. My learning journey in land-based research is a relational ceremony that not only reinforces my desire to create a bridge between researcher and participant needs but also serves as inspiration in rethinking the meaning of research from the participants’ perspectives.
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WE EXPLORE THE WAYS Indigenous identity and practice were framed in relation to the politics of environmental resource management.1 We have examined two main questions: (1) How do Indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in... more
WE EXPLORE THE WAYS Indigenous identity and practice were framed in relation to the politics of environmental resource management.1 We have examined two main questions: (1) How do Indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh view environmental resource management in relation to their own knowledge and practices? (2) And to what degree were governmental and transnational policies constructed within the contested social and ecological landscapes of the CHT? We applied interdisciplinary approaches in order to understand management in its relation to conceptions and practices, such as how to efficiently address Indigenous ecological, economic, and social challenges to those of us who have invoked this environmental resource management term. In accordance with the research questions specified above, this study was guided by the critical concerns of identifying problems of existing environmental management. Our focus related to everyday practices and traditional experiences within Indigenous regions. This study followed a relational research framing with an emphasis on the researcher’s relational accountability and obligations to the study participants. We concluded by advocating for the Indigenous practice-based management for its effectiveness in guiding policy makers and researchers to develop robust governance for Indigenous knowledge integration in forest and land management.
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Using traditional Western research methods to explore Indigenous perspectives has often been felt by the Indigenous people themselves to be inappropriate and ineffective in gathering information and promoting discussion. On the contrary,... more
Using traditional Western research methods to explore Indigenous perspectives has often been felt by the Indigenous people themselves to be inappropriate and ineffective in gathering information and promoting discussion. On the contrary, using traditional storytelling as a research method links Indigenous worldviews, shaping the approach of the research; the theoretical and conceptual frameworks; and the epistemology, methodology, and ethics. The aims of this article
are to (a) explore the essential elements and the value of traditional storytelling for culturally appropriate Indigenous research; (b) develop a model of a collaborative community and university research alliance, looking at how to address community concerns and gather data that will inform decision-making and help the community prepare for the future;
(c) build up and strengthen research capacity among Indigenous communities in collaboration with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-holders; and (d) discuss how to more fully engage Indigenous people in the research process. In two case studies with Indigenous and immigrant communities in Canada and Bangladesh that are grounded in the relational ways of participatory action research, the author found that traditional storytelling as a research method could lead to culturally
appropriate research, build trust between participants and researcher, build a bridge between Western and Indigenous research, and deconstruct meanings of research. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of using traditional storytelling in empowering both research participants and researcher.
are to (a) explore the essential elements and the value of traditional storytelling for culturally appropriate Indigenous research; (b) develop a model of a collaborative community and university research alliance, looking at how to address community concerns and gather data that will inform decision-making and help the community prepare for the future;
(c) build up and strengthen research capacity among Indigenous communities in collaboration with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-holders; and (d) discuss how to more fully engage Indigenous people in the research process. In two case studies with Indigenous and immigrant communities in Canada and Bangladesh that are grounded in the relational ways of participatory action research, the author found that traditional storytelling as a research method could lead to culturally
appropriate research, build trust between participants and researcher, build a bridge between Western and Indigenous research, and deconstruct meanings of research. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of using traditional storytelling in empowering both research participants and researcher.
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In this chapter, we are interested in exploring how an Indigenous understanding of sustainability can inform educational reform in the country. In this chapter, we present a range of learning experiences, drawing on everyday practices... more
In this chapter, we are interested in exploring how an Indigenous understanding of sustainability can inform educational reform in the country. In this chapter, we present a range of learning experiences, drawing on everyday practices that collectively establish the kind of capacity we see as potentially creating the conditions to explore the meanings of sustainability in environmental education. To explore the meanings of sustainability in environmental resource management from the perspective of Indigenous communities where diverse concepts such as relationality, hopes, dreams, expectations, and imagination interconnect, we as researchers need to first acknowledge the spirituality and experiences that connect one actor with other actors. For this reason, we employed a PAR approach from a relational ontological perspective to work with Indigenous communities in relation to issues of relationality, dreams, hopes, expectations, and imagination. This research approach suggests that meanings of sustainability are connected to both the material and the spiritual world through everyday interactions with each other. It also takes a significant step in exploring identity and justice in relation to Indigenous understandings of sustainability (McKenzie, Hart, Bai, & Jickling, 2009).
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Educational Experiences at the End of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, edited by Jucker and Mathar, examines how individual countries and the European region as a whole have established teaching and learning methods... more
Educational Experiences at the End of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development, edited by Jucker and Mathar, examines how individual countries and the European region as a whole have established teaching and learning methods to help students develop the skills to contribute to a more sustainable society and education policy discourse. This edited collection consists of contributions from both established and emerging scholars in the interrelated fields of education and learning. It will help readers gain significant transdisciplinary knowledge on teaching, learning, sustainability and the link between them. A diversity of perspectives from institutions across Europe is offered, including from educators, practitioners and policy experts. Consequently, critical readers will most likely experience resonance with some of the contributions and dissonance with others. The contributions describe and analyze current Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) programmes, theories, policies and practice. The book is divided into two sections—theoretical discussion and case studies. The flow and progression of the two parts work well. Part 1 connects readers with cross-national issues and provides contextual frameworks for Part 2, which is a series of national case studies. Part 1 critically discusses various theoretical and
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In this book, we will share our personal journey and stories of inspiration, resistance, unlearning, relearning, and transformation—with influences personal, theoretical, philosophical, and global, which have shaped our thinking and... more
In this book, we will share our personal journey and stories of inspiration, resistance, unlearning, relearning, and transformation—with influences personal, theoretical, philosophical, and global, which have shaped our thinking and being—as empowered Indigenous, immigrants, and refugee making a difference in the reconciliation processes which create all of belongingness with care, respect, and responsibilities towards Indigenous Treaties
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Using traditional Western research methods to explore Indigenous perspectives has often been felt by the Indigenous people themselves to be inappropriate and ineffective in gathering information and promoting discussion. On the other... more
Using traditional Western research methods to explore Indigenous perspectives has often been felt by the Indigenous people themselves to be inappropriate and ineffective in gathering information and promoting discussion. On the other hand, using traditional storytelling as a research method links Indigenous worldviews, shaping the approach of the research, the theoretical and conceptual frameworks, and the epistemology, methodology and ethics. The aims of this paper are to explore the essential elements and the value of traditional storytelling for culturally appropriate Indigenous research: 1) develop a model of a collaborative community/university research alliance looking at how to address community concerns and gather data that will inform decision-making and help the community prepare for the future; 2) build up and strengthen research capacity among Indigenous communities in collaboration with Indigenous Elders and Knowledge-holders; and 3) discuss how to more fully engage Indigenous people in the research process. In two case studies with Indigenous and immigrant communities in Canada and Bangladesh that are grounded in the relational ways of participatory action research (PAR), the author found that traditional storytelling as a research method could lead to culturally appropriate research, build trust between participants and researcher, build a bridge between Western and Indigenous research, and deconstruct meanings of research. The article ends with a discussion of the implications of using traditional storytelling in empowering both research participants and researcher.
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What may be achieved through taking up the complex exploration of nature, land, and sustainability is a growing field of inquiry in both science and social science, particularly for those who are interested in the local environment.... more
What may be achieved through taking up the complex exploration of nature, land, and sustainability is a growing field of inquiry in both science and social science, particularly for those who are interested in the local environment. Meanings of nature, land, and sustainability have been either misunderstood or misrepresented within disciplinary
boundaries in many Indigenous communities. To explore the meanings of things such as nature, land, and sustainability in Indigenous communities, we as researchers had better first acknowledge the spirituality and local experiences that connect one actor
with other actors. A relational ontology is the conceptual framework within which I suggest meanings of traditional land, nature, and sustainability such as traditional
experiences, culture, and customs, are important issues for Indigenous lives and
environment. This framework may potentially guide the researcher through the critical concerns of identifying the problems of existing land, nature, and sustainability management in relation to the everyday land-based practices and traditional experiences in Indigenous regions.
boundaries in many Indigenous communities. To explore the meanings of things such as nature, land, and sustainability in Indigenous communities, we as researchers had better first acknowledge the spirituality and local experiences that connect one actor
with other actors. A relational ontology is the conceptual framework within which I suggest meanings of traditional land, nature, and sustainability such as traditional
experiences, culture, and customs, are important issues for Indigenous lives and
environment. This framework may potentially guide the researcher through the critical concerns of identifying the problems of existing land, nature, and sustainability management in relation to the everyday land-based practices and traditional experiences in Indigenous regions.
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This paper seeks to explore the relational participatory action research (PAR) frameworks that have been developed to allow non-Indigenous researchers, along with Indigenous co-researcher participants, to learn and honour Indigenous... more
This paper seeks to explore the relational participatory action research (PAR) frameworks that have been developed to allow non-Indigenous researchers, along with Indigenous co-researcher participants, to learn and honour Indigenous stories. Specifically, in the context of PAR research in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, we outline: (a) potential challenges between Indigenous research
paradigms and Western research paradigms, (b) the situation of the non-Indigenous researcher in relation to the Indigenous community, (c) challenges associated with the non-Indigenous researcher’s selection of a research site, (d) collaboration throughout the research process and (e) the processes of developing and maintaining responsibilities. The aim is not to offer simple answers to such challenges, but to highlight the manner in which such processes can be addressed.
This research may provide practical insight for future non-Indigenous researchers working with Indigenous communities through a participatory sharing process with Indigenous co-researcher participants, Elders, leaders, knowledge-holders and youths.
paradigms and Western research paradigms, (b) the situation of the non-Indigenous researcher in relation to the Indigenous community, (c) challenges associated with the non-Indigenous researcher’s selection of a research site, (d) collaboration throughout the research process and (e) the processes of developing and maintaining responsibilities. The aim is not to offer simple answers to such challenges, but to highlight the manner in which such processes can be addressed.
This research may provide practical insight for future non-Indigenous researchers working with Indigenous communities through a participatory sharing process with Indigenous co-researcher participants, Elders, leaders, knowledge-holders and youths.
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Sustainability education policies are widely focused on modern technologies, green profits, and development projects in many Indigenous communities. However, there has been minimal attention given to critical areas such as: Indigenous... more
Sustainability education policies are widely focused on modern technologies, green profits, and development projects in many Indigenous communities. However, there has been minimal attention given to critical areas such as: Indigenous world views, spiritual and relational practices, culture, lands, and revitalization. This imbalance, combined with the destruction and lack of recognition to Indigenous knowledge (systems), suggests that Indigenous environmental education policies are still in a state of adolescence as a field of academic inquiry. The present study examines how an Indigenous community understands sustainability and analyzes these understandings in relation to the literature on the politics of nature as well as Indigenous and postcolonial studies. This research followed a relational Participatory Action Research (PAR) research approach with a focus on the researchers’ relational accountabilities and obligations to study participants and site.
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As scholars working both individually and collectively, we are interested in exploring what may be achieved through taking up the complex notion of culture in sustainability education research. In this article, we present a bricolage of... more
As scholars working both individually and collectively, we are interested in
exploring what may be achieved through taking up the complex notion of
culture in sustainability education research. In this article, we present a
bricolage of research, drawing on empirical and theoretical sources that
collectively establish the kind of capacity we see as potentially creating the conditions for cultural change. We draw from cultural and environmental education theories. The three empirical examples explore the role of community and family, Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge, and personal change through social and ecological justice teaching. The studies demonstrate ways sustainability education research can create the conditions to engage and cultivate communities—both previously
established or newly formed—to respond to the pervasiveness and influence
of culture as an always/already obstacle to ecologically and socially sound patterns of thought and behavior. Indeed, it seems clear that research and practice must be directed toward cultivating a collective capacity and movement that creates spaces for renewed thinking and action—in other words, for renewed being.
exploring what may be achieved through taking up the complex notion of
culture in sustainability education research. In this article, we present a
bricolage of research, drawing on empirical and theoretical sources that
collectively establish the kind of capacity we see as potentially creating the conditions for cultural change. We draw from cultural and environmental education theories. The three empirical examples explore the role of community and family, Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge, and personal change through social and ecological justice teaching. The studies demonstrate ways sustainability education research can create the conditions to engage and cultivate communities—both previously
established or newly formed—to respond to the pervasiveness and influence
of culture as an always/already obstacle to ecologically and socially sound patterns of thought and behavior. Indeed, it seems clear that research and practice must be directed toward cultivating a collective capacity and movement that creates spaces for renewed thinking and action—in other words, for renewed being.
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This paper explores how to practice posthumanism in everyday life. This idea has increasingly come under scrutiny by posthumanist theorists, who are addressing fundamental ontological and epistemological questions in regard to defining an... more
This paper explores how to practice posthumanism in everyday life. This idea has increasingly come under scrutiny by posthumanist theorists, who are addressing fundamental ontological and epistemological questions in regard to defining an essential ‘human,' as well as the elastic
boundary work between the human and nonhuman subject. Posthumanism is essential for considering today’s environmental problems and environmental science education. This paper
then has three goals: developing posthumanist ontology, exploring methodology, and investigating whether environmental science education and practices can help students, teachers, and community in learning, teaching, and practicing processes. I demonstrate the
complementary contributions from two Indigenous communities’ field studies that can be made when a researcher moves beyond an exclusive focus on western interests and considers participants as co-researchers. This paper concludes with a discussion of implications for this field.
boundary work between the human and nonhuman subject. Posthumanism is essential for considering today’s environmental problems and environmental science education. This paper
then has three goals: developing posthumanist ontology, exploring methodology, and investigating whether environmental science education and practices can help students, teachers, and community in learning, teaching, and practicing processes. I demonstrate the
complementary contributions from two Indigenous communities’ field studies that can be made when a researcher moves beyond an exclusive focus on western interests and considers participants as co-researchers. This paper concludes with a discussion of implications for this field.
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Community garden activities can play a significant role in bridging formal and informal learning, particularly in urban children’s science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods of learning, discussing, and practicing... more
Community garden activities can play a significant role in bridging formal
and informal learning, particularly in urban children’s science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods of learning, discussing, and practicing that will integrate food security, social interactions, community development, environmental
activism, and cultural integration. Throughout the last five years of my
community garden activities, I have learned that community garden-based practices adhere to particular forms of agency: embracing diversity, sharing power, and trust building as a part of everyday learning. My auto-ethnographic study provides valuable insights for environmental educators whose goals include, incorporating
ethnic diversity as well as engaging children in research, ultimately leading to community
action.
and informal learning, particularly in urban children’s science and environmental education. It promotes relational methods of learning, discussing, and practicing that will integrate food security, social interactions, community development, environmental
activism, and cultural integration. Throughout the last five years of my
community garden activities, I have learned that community garden-based practices adhere to particular forms of agency: embracing diversity, sharing power, and trust building as a part of everyday learning. My auto-ethnographic study provides valuable insights for environmental educators whose goals include, incorporating
ethnic diversity as well as engaging children in research, ultimately leading to community
action.
Research Interests:
This auto-ethnographic article explores how land-based education might challenge western environmental science education (ESE) in an Indigenous community. This learning experience was developed from two perspectives: first, land-based... more
This auto-ethnographic article explores how land-based education
might challenge western environmental science education (ESE) in an
Indigenous community. This learning experience was developed from two
perspectives: first, land-based educational stories from Dene First Nation
community Elders, knowledge holders, teachers, and students; and second,the author’s critical self‐reflections focusing on how land-based education
could offer unlearning, rethinking, relearning, and reclaiming ESE. This autoethnography
provides particular insights into who we are as environmental
educators, the challenges in western ESE, why land-based education matters, why and how a significant move should be made from western ESE to landbased ESE, and how land-based education offers a bridge between western and Indigenous education.
might challenge western environmental science education (ESE) in an
Indigenous community. This learning experience was developed from two
perspectives: first, land-based educational stories from Dene First Nation
community Elders, knowledge holders, teachers, and students; and second,the author’s critical self‐reflections focusing on how land-based education
could offer unlearning, rethinking, relearning, and reclaiming ESE. This autoethnography
provides particular insights into who we are as environmental
educators, the challenges in western ESE, why land-based education matters, why and how a significant move should be made from western ESE to landbased ESE, and how land-based education offers a bridge between western and Indigenous education.
Research Interests:
Interdisciplinary researchers and educators, as community members, creators of knowledge, and environmental activists and practitioners, have a responsibility to build a bridge between community practice, academic scholarship, and... more
Interdisciplinary researchers and educators, as community members, creators of knowledge, and environmental activists and practitioners, have a responsibility to build a bridge between community practice, academic scholarship, and professional contributions aimed at establishing environmental sustainability. In this paper, I focus on an undervalued area of environmental politics, practices, and often unarticulated assumptions which underlie human–environmental relations. This article challenges interdisciplinary studies that are not connected with practice by reconfiguring the meaning of a community-based, interdisciplinary approach. Drawing from works by Foucault, Latour, and Haraway, this paper first shows how to reconfigure the meaning of an interdisciplinary approach. Second, using Bourdieu and Brightman's ethnographic studies as a framework, the paper situates practice as central to our efforts to deconstruct and replace current interdisciplinary initiatives with a practice-based approach. Through a practice-based interdisciplinary approach (PIA), environmental educators and researchers gain an awareness of and learn to make an investment in sustainable communities. As teams of environmental researchers practising in the local community, they are meaningfully involved with the community, with each other, and with the environment.
Research Interests:
What may be achieved through taking up the complex exploration of nature, land, and sustainability is a growing field of inquiry in both science and social science, particularly for those who are interested in the local environment.... more
What may be achieved through taking up the complex exploration of nature, land, and sustainability is a growing field of inquiry in both science and social science, particularly for those who are interested in the local environment. Meanings of nature, land, and sustainability have been either misunderstood or misrepresented within disciplinary boundaries in many Indigenous communities. To explore the meanings of things such as nature, land, and sustainability in Indigenous communities, we as researchers had better first acknowledge the spirituality and local experiences that connect one actor with other actors. A relational ontology is the conceptual framework within which I suggest meanings of traditional land, nature, and sustainability such as traditional experiences, culture, and customs, are important issues for Indigenous lives and environment. This framework may potentially guide the researcher through the critical concerns of identifying the problems of existing land, nature, and sustainability management in relation to the everyday land-based practices and traditional experiences in Indigenous regions.
Research Interests:
The inventor of the term "action research," social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1946, 1952), described action research as proceeding in a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of planning, acting, observing, and... more
The inventor of the term "action research," social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1946, 1952), described action research as proceeding in a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of planning, acting, observing, and evaluating the result of the action. Lewin's deliberate overlapping of action and reflection was designed to allow changes in plans for action as people learned from their own experiences. However, ...
Research Interests:
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the vulnerable portion of society, particularly Indigenous, immigrant, homeless people. This article shared Indigenous ways of resiliency, resistance, and reconnection through family-based... more
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the vulnerable portion of society, particularly Indigenous, immigrant, homeless people. This article shared Indigenous ways of resiliency, resistance, and reconnection through family-based critical autoethnography stories during the COVID-19 pandemic. We, as a minority family from Bangladesh who are current immigrants on another Indigenous land (i.e., Treaty 6 Territory) in Saskatchewan, Canada, explore Indigenous frameworks of pandemic resiliency, mainly focusing on the impact of engaging with Indigenous notions of resistance and reconnection. This article highlights how our Indigenous Elders, Knowledge-keepers, ancestors’ stories, and their guidelines help us build our resistance and reconnection to be active, hopeful, and joyful during the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a relational theoretical framework, we, as a family, shared our three months' stories, journal writings, and interactive conversations for exploring three goals: 1) What are the cultural and social impacts as an Indigenous-immigrant family during the COVID-19 pandemic?; 2) How can we increase our self-resistance and resiliency while we are maintaining social isolation?; and 3) Can the Covid-19 pandemic educate us to understand and take more responsibility for the climate change disaster? Coming from Indigenous culture and resistance within on-going colonial legacy, we know that Indigenous people have a long history of resiliency and resistance from either human-created disasters (i.e., colonial) or natural disasters. We present a critical co-constructed autoethnography, which offers a critical analysis of our efforts at building our family-based resiliency. Our critical autoethnography model provides a relational framework for reflecting that we, as humans have a vital responsibility to protect our environment, particularly in the sociology of disaster research.
Research Interests:
This chapter situated itself within this context and took a significant step in exploring identity and justice in relation to immigrant responsibilities for meaningful implications of reconciliation. This chapter also an invitation for... more
This chapter situated itself within this context and took a significant step in exploring identity and justice in relation to immigrant responsibilities for meaningful implications of reconciliation. This chapter also an invitation for all of us to work together—as Indigenist, to build relational networks to the important work of inter-cultural bridge, moving beyond cultural awareness and inclusion—challenging racist ideology as we rethink and re-imagine ourselves in relationship with one another sharing place—mother land.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This chapter outlines my lifelong decolonizing ceremony as a form of reconciliation, which involves an ongoing unlearning and relearning research journey. My ceremony is significant for me as it makes me responsible for sharing my stories... more
This chapter outlines my lifelong decolonizing ceremony as a form of reconciliation, which involves an ongoing unlearning and relearning research journey. My ceremony is significant for me as it makes me responsible for sharing my stories regarding how my transformation has changed me from a Western scientific researcher to a relational and participant-oriented researcher. To do this, I situate my lifelong research training as a metaphor for unlearning, learning, situating, and reclaiming my research methodologies and methods. This chapter answers the following questions: How has my Western science-oriented research training been challenged through my relationships with research participant communities? How did my methodological transformation (decolonizing and reclaiming of relational/participant orientation) start? And, how did my ceremony empower me and create my sense of belonging in regards to who I am and what I should do? Finally, I outline the implications of my methodological transformation processes for future research.
Research Interests:
Indigenous Research Methodologies, Social Responsibility, Transitional justice and reconciliation processes, and Environmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection
Indigenous people, international students, immigrants, and refugee families are particularly vulnerable populations that experience lack of empowerment for various reasons including lack of belonging and networks, low income, mental... more
Indigenous people, international students, immigrants, and refugee families are particularly vulnerable populations that experience lack of empowerment for various reasons including lack of belonging and networks, low income, mental stress, and discrimination. Following a relational participatory action research (PAR) project, this study explores the concept of empowerment among First Nations, visible minorities, and non-visible minorities through intercultural activities, such as dance and music, children’s art activities, anti-racist workshops, traditional story-sharing, land-based learning, and cross-cultural food sharing. This paper argues that intercultural activities among First Nations, visible and non-visible minorities in a community garden can create positive change in an urban environment by empowering communities through intercultural bridging. Throughout the last six years of my participation in various intercultural activities, I have learned that empowerment through intercultural activities adheres to particular forms of agency: interspecies communication, community belonging, and learning about decolonization and reconciliation. This study provides valuable insights for educators whose goals include incorporating land-based learning as well as creating belongingness among cross-cultural communities, ultimately leading to community empowerment.
Research Interests:
This book centers Indigenous knowledge and practice in community-led climate change solutions. This book will be one of the first academic books to use the consciousness framework to examine and explain humans' situatedness and role in... more
This book centers Indigenous knowledge and practice in community-led climate change solutions. This book will be one of the first academic books to use the consciousness framework to examine and explain humans' situatedness and role in maintaining ecosystems' health. Drawing on teachings from the Indigenous Adi-Shaiva community, the authors present up-to-date research on meanings and implications of South Asian traditional cosmic knowledge, which focuses on relationality and spirituality connected to climate change. This knowledge can create innovative climate change solutions in areas including land, water, traditional management, sustainability goals and expectations, and state development projects. Overall, this book provides an innovative framework for nonviolent climate solutions, which has its foundations in a traditional cosmic and consciousness-based context. This book, which aims to bridge the gap between Indigenous and Western perspectives by re-educating researchers and decolonizing popular climate change solutions, will be of great interest to students and scholars studying climate change, conservation, environmental anthropology, and Indigenous studies on a broader scale.
Research Interests:
This Special Issue aims to highlight the building of sustainabilities from anti-racist perspectives as a form of resilience, particularly from Indigenous, Black, transnational immigrant, refugee, and settler communities in Canada and... more
This Special Issue aims to highlight the building of sustainabilities from anti-racist perspectives as a form of resilience, particularly from Indigenous, Black, transnational immigrant, refugee, and settler communities in Canada and beyond. Although a great number of academic researchers have introduced anti-racism in their work, they have not explained what it means to think of anti-racism as a source of knowledge and understanding for transnational Indigenous, Black, immigrant and refugee communities. How can the responsibilities of anti-racism bring resilience to the communities? Why should immigrant, Black, and refugee communities practice land-based anti-racist learning for building sustainabilities? What does it mean to understand "anti-racist practice" as a system of reciprocal social relations and ethical practices and as a framework for sustainabilities? How can the Western concept of sustainability from and within cross-cultural perspectives be decolonized? This Special Issue will discuss these transdisciplinary questions that have not only challenged our static science and social science mindsets, but have also acknowledged the responsibilities of anti-racism—including building respectful relationships with Indigenous, Black, or immigrant people, respecting Indigenous Treaties, taking actions decolonizing our ways, learning the role of the colonized education processes, protecting our land and environment, creating food security, fulfilling food nutrition, creating an intercultural space for social interactions, and developing transnational solidarity.
Research Interests:
This book centers Indigenous knowledge and practice in community-led climate change solutions. This book will be one of the first academic books to use the consciousness framework to examine and explain humans' situatedness and role in... more
This book centers Indigenous knowledge and practice in community-led climate change solutions.
This book will be one of the first academic books to use the consciousness framework to examine and explain humans' situatedness and role in maintaining ecosystems' health. Drawing on teachings from the Indigenous Adi-Shaiva community, the authors present up-to-date research on meanings and implications of South Asian traditional cosmic knowledge, which focuses on relationality and spirituality connected to climate change. This knowledge can create climate change solutions in areas including land, water, traditional management, sustainability goals and expectations, and state development projects. Overall, this book provides an innovative framework for non-violent climate solutions, which has its foundations in a traditional cosmic and consciousness-based context.
Bridging the gap between Indigenous and Western perspectives by re-educating researchers and decolonizing popular climate change solutions, this book will be of great interest students and scholars of climate change, conservation, environmental anthropology, and Indigenous studies more broadly.
This book will be one of the first academic books to use the consciousness framework to examine and explain humans' situatedness and role in maintaining ecosystems' health. Drawing on teachings from the Indigenous Adi-Shaiva community, the authors present up-to-date research on meanings and implications of South Asian traditional cosmic knowledge, which focuses on relationality and spirituality connected to climate change. This knowledge can create climate change solutions in areas including land, water, traditional management, sustainability goals and expectations, and state development projects. Overall, this book provides an innovative framework for non-violent climate solutions, which has its foundations in a traditional cosmic and consciousness-based context.
Bridging the gap between Indigenous and Western perspectives by re-educating researchers and decolonizing popular climate change solutions, this book will be of great interest students and scholars of climate change, conservation, environmental anthropology, and Indigenous studies more broadly.
Research Interests:
Decolonization in Practice speaks to the practical work of dismantling colonial ideologies and features contributions from Indigenous, Black, racialized immigrant, refugee, and ally scholars, researchers, and practitioners who share their... more
Decolonization in Practice speaks to the practical work of dismantling colonial ideologies and features contributions from Indigenous, Black, racialized immigrant, refugee, and ally scholars, researchers, and practitioners who share their experiences enacting decolonizing work in their communities. Each chapter presents stories of inspiration, resistance, unlearning, relearning, and transformation on the journey towards reconciliation. This edited collection asks, "How do we understand anti-racist practice as a framework for reconciliation?" "How can we identify areas of obstacle and opportunity?" and "How can we take responsibility for decolonizing our ways of knowing and acting?" These questions are asked in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's assertion that meaningful engagement among Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous people will be key in advancing reconciliation through anti-racist solidarity. Contributors share personal decolonial stories and explore taking responsibility for building a decolonial community from and within everyday practice for transforming our learning into action to achieve social and environmental justice goals.
Research Interests:
In this chapter, the author examines a largely neglected area of environmental science education (ESE); that is, a land-based approach with Indigenous Elders, Knowledge-keepers, and education. The author focuses specifically on 1) why and... more
In this chapter, the author examines a largely neglected area of environmental science education (ESE); that is, a land-based approach with Indigenous Elders, Knowledge-keepers, and education. The author focuses specifically on 1) why and how Indigenous land-based learning is an essential research method in ESE, and 2) the challenges in Indigenous land-based learning and how to overcome those challenges from and within community-engaged perspectives. He argues that Indigenous land-based education creates many opportunities for the community, including: bringing together Elders and young people to provide the opportunity for intergenerational transfer of knowledge; empowering youth to develop their connection to the land, protect their land, and to fight for their rights; addressing the need for culturally relevant education for youth; and developing a safe space for healing and learning that can help build community resilience.
Research Interests:
Despite its obvious significance, a land-based approach remains a neglected environmental science education (ESE) area. Following decolonial land-based learning as researcher responsibility, this decolonial auto-ethnography focuses on... more
Despite its obvious significance, a land-based approach remains a neglected environmental science education (ESE) area. Following decolonial land-based learning as researcher responsibility, this decolonial auto-ethnography focuses on learning experiences:1) why and how are Indigenous land-based learning an essential research method in ESE?; 2) what are the challenges in Indigenous land-based learning and how to overcome those challenges from and within community-engaged perspectives?. I hope my decolonial auto-ethnographic learning journey inspires researchers and educators to rethink the meaning of ESE and transform education into action for the benefit of the community.
Research Interests:
The inventor of the term "action research," social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1946, 1952), described action research as proceeding in a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of planning, acting, observing, and evaluating the result of... more
The inventor of the term "action research," social psychologist Kurt Lewin (1946, 1952), described action research as proceeding in a spiral of steps, each of which is composed of planning, acting, observing, and evaluating the result of the action. Lewin's deliberate overlapping of action and reflection was designed to allow changes in plans for action as people learned from their own experiences. However, ...
Research Interests:
Even though autoethnography’s intent is to provide scholarly space to the lived experiences of the underrepresented, oppressed, and marginalized, academic publishing within this tradition remains limited to the white majority group in... more
Even though autoethnography’s intent is to provide scholarly space to the lived experiences of the underrepresented, oppressed, and marginalized, academic publishing within this tradition remains limited to the white majority group in North America. However, decolonizing autoethnography illustrates the form that emerges when the colonial and postcolonial (both past and present) are taken as central concerns in autoethnographic writing. For instance, as a method of inquiry, autoethnography emerged in the 1990s parallel to the critical turn in ethnographic research. As both process and product, this approach was a reaction to social-scientific research and the dominance of white/Western voices within the social inquiry.
Research Interests:
Uses of feminist autoethnography as a research methodology and method started in the late 1980s, and early 1990s, particularly in feminist sociology.
Research Interests:
While Indigenous peoples have been using research for centuries, Western research has colonized the meanings of research and its purposes (Kovach, 2021; Smith, 2019, 2012). The only Western research perspective1 has been challenging to... more
While Indigenous peoples have been using research for centuries, Western research has colonized the meanings of research and its purposes (Kovach, 2021; Smith, 2019, 2012). The only Western research perspective1 has been challenging to many Indigenous and
minority communities in various parts of the world. Many see the Western perspective as a colonial tool for reinforcing stereotypes, creating distress, or contributing to further bad press...
minority communities in various parts of the world. Many see the Western perspective as a colonial tool for reinforcing stereotypes, creating distress, or contributing to further bad press...
Research Interests:
This chapter is responding to food security in Indigenous communities in Canada. Using an autoethnography research framework, Indigenous meaning was explored in view of community-based food security and why it became a challenging issue... more
This chapter is responding to food security in Indigenous communities in Canada. Using an autoethnography research framework, Indigenous meaning was explored in view of community-based food security and why it became a challenging issue for many northern Indigenous communities. The ways of Indigenous knowledge have much to offer in support of resilience against food insecurity, considering intercultural reconceptualization of research methodologies with environmental sustainability and educational programs that support Indigenous communities. The goal of this contribution is to enhance the capacities of Indigenous communities to make informed decisions about their food security short-to-long term by developing new ways of food sovereignty.
Research Interests:
Land-based learning is an integral part of environmental education, particularly for cross-cultural climate change resilience. It typically uses a cross-cultural and environmentally focused approach to education by recognizing the deep... more
Land-based learning is an integral part of environmental education, particularly for cross-cultural climate change resilience. It typically uses a cross-cultural and environmentally focused approach to education by recognizing the deep physical, mental, and spiritual connection to the land. Land-based environmental education provides the opportunity to learn that each culture is unique, and it can build community connectedness and revitalize cross-cultural knowledge, languages, and practices. This chapter focuses on how land-based environmental learning is useful for developing cross-cultural community-led climate change resilience, particularly for children and youth. Focusing on a relational approach in a cross-cultural community garden setting, the authors wanted to learn from each other how their land-based environmental education had become an opportunity to build community-led climate change resilience, celebrating different cultures, nations, ages, knowledge systems, and practices. To achieve their goal, they first situated themselves as to whom they were as researchers, where they came from, for whom they were doing this research, and how they were responsible for the land on which they lived and the people they lived with. Their positionality helped them understand cross-cultural land-based environmental education as an inter-cultural and intergenerational space to overcome climate change challenges and celebrate successes as resilience.
Research Interests:
Environmental Education, Climate Change, Environmental Sustainability, Youth, Environmental justice, global sustainability, Environmental Politics and Governance, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Education for Sustainable Development, Environmental Sustainability. Global Development and Environmental Protection, and Land based learning
This chapter engages with and widens Lorraine Code’s ecological thinking epistemological approach by using an Indigenous relational framework. It offers a bridge between Indigenous and Western-situated relational ways of knowing and doing... more
This chapter engages with and widens Lorraine Code’s ecological thinking epistemological approach by using an Indigenous relational framework. It offers a bridge between Indigenous and Western-situated relational ways of knowing and doing environmental sustainability.
Research Interests:
Strong local communities are the foundation of a healthy, participatory, and resilient society. Rather than looking to national governments, corporations, or new technologies to solve environmental and social problems, we can learn and... more
Strong local communities are the foundation of a healthy, participatory, and resilient society. Rather than looking to national governments, corporations, or new technologies to solve environmental and social problems, we can learn and apply the successes of thriving communities to protect the environment, enhance local livelihood, and grow social vitality.
Building Community is an easy-to-use guidebook that distills the success of healthy thriving communities from around the world into twelve universally applicable principles that transcend cultures and locations.
Exploring how community building can be approached by local citizens and their local leaders, Building Community features:
A chapter on each of the 12 Guiding Principles, based on research in 27 countries
Over 30 knowledgeable contributing author-practitioners
Critical practical leadership tools
Notes from the field – with practical dos and don'ts
A wealth of 25 case studies of communities that have learned to thrive, including towns and villages, inner-city neighborhoods, indigenous groups, nonprofits, women's empowerment groups, and a school, business, and faith community
This is essential reading for community leaders, activists, planners, policy makers, and students looking to help their communities thrive.
Building Community is an easy-to-use guidebook that distills the success of healthy thriving communities from around the world into twelve universally applicable principles that transcend cultures and locations.
Exploring how community building can be approached by local citizens and their local leaders, Building Community features:
A chapter on each of the 12 Guiding Principles, based on research in 27 countries
Over 30 knowledgeable contributing author-practitioners
Critical practical leadership tools
Notes from the field – with practical dos and don'ts
A wealth of 25 case studies of communities that have learned to thrive, including towns and villages, inner-city neighborhoods, indigenous groups, nonprofits, women's empowerment groups, and a school, business, and faith community
This is essential reading for community leaders, activists, planners, policy makers, and students looking to help their communities thrive.
Research Interests:
Chapter Four Traditional storytelling: An effective Indigenous research methodology and its implications for environmental research The chapters in this volume collect together perspectives on Indigenous epistemologies. These Indigenous... more
Chapter Four
Traditional storytelling: An effective Indigenous research methodology and its implications for environmental research
The chapters in this volume collect together perspectives on Indigenous epistemologies. These Indigenous ways of knowing pay particular attention to the relational aspects of language, culture, and place. They are not identified as specific themes, but as integrated parts of a philosophy, for Indigenous epistemologies think within a relational framework, so that all aspects are best understood from this perspective. Indigenous ways of knowing have resisted colonization and oppression, and as such, Indigenous research perspectives exemplify a commitment to social justice, one that recovers knowledges that have been silenced or subjugated. When such knowledge is shared, we can see how to challenge oppressive regimes. We can see how to seek truth in a relational way that’s attendant to being together. Indigenous Research takes up issues of social justice in a way that is informed by Indigenous epistemologies, an important practice in contemporary research, particularly qualitative inquiry.
Traditional storytelling: An effective Indigenous research methodology and its implications for environmental research
The chapters in this volume collect together perspectives on Indigenous epistemologies. These Indigenous ways of knowing pay particular attention to the relational aspects of language, culture, and place. They are not identified as specific themes, but as integrated parts of a philosophy, for Indigenous epistemologies think within a relational framework, so that all aspects are best understood from this perspective. Indigenous ways of knowing have resisted colonization and oppression, and as such, Indigenous research perspectives exemplify a commitment to social justice, one that recovers knowledges that have been silenced or subjugated. When such knowledge is shared, we can see how to challenge oppressive regimes. We can see how to seek truth in a relational way that’s attendant to being together. Indigenous Research takes up issues of social justice in a way that is informed by Indigenous epistemologies, an important practice in contemporary research, particularly qualitative inquiry.
Research Interests:
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a report designed to facilitate reconciliation between the Canadian State and Indigenous peoples. Among it’s recommendations was the reminder that “We are all Treaty People” -... more
In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission released a report designed to facilitate reconciliation between the Canadian State and Indigenous peoples. Among it’s recommendations was the reminder that “We are all Treaty People” - including immigrants and refugees living in Canada. The contributors to this volume, many of whom are themselves immigrants and refugees, take up the challenge of imagining what it means for immigrants and refugees to live as Treaty people. Through essays, personal reflections and poetry the contributors to this volume explore what reconciliation is and what it means to live in relationship with Indigenous peoples.
Speaking from their personal experience—whether from the education and health care systems, through research and a community garden, or from experiences of discrimination and marginalization—contributors share their stories of what it means to live Reconciliation in Practice. They write about building respectful relationships with Indigenous people, respecting Indigenous Treaties, decolonizing our ways of knowing and acting, learning the role of colonized education processes, protecting our land and environment, creating food security, and creating an intercultural space for social interactions.
Perhaps most importantly, Reconciliation in Practice reminds us that reconciliation is an ongoing process, not an event, and that decolonizing our relationships and building new ones based on understanding and respect is empowering for all of us, Indigenous, settler, immigrant and refugee, alike.
Contents
Reconciliation: Challenges and Possibilities (Ranjan Datta)
• Sámi Reconciliation in Practice: A Long and Ongoing Process (Irja Seurujärvi-Kari and Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen)
Reconciliation: A White Settler Learning from the Land (Janet McVittie) • Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in Practice and Research: A New Way Forward for the Immigrant Health Professionals (Farzana Ali) • Reconciliation Through Transnational Lenses: An Immigrant Women’s Learning Journey (Jebunnessa Chapola)
• Letter to John A. MacDonald (Chris Scribe) • Reconciliation as Ceremonial Responsibility: An Immigrant’s Story (Ranjan Datta) • Reconciliation via Building Respectful Relationships and Community Engagement in Indigenous Research (Valerie Onyinyechi Umaefulam) Reconciliation and New Canadians (Ali Abukar)
• Holes and Gray (Khodi Dill) • Refernces
Speaking from their personal experience—whether from the education and health care systems, through research and a community garden, or from experiences of discrimination and marginalization—contributors share their stories of what it means to live Reconciliation in Practice. They write about building respectful relationships with Indigenous people, respecting Indigenous Treaties, decolonizing our ways of knowing and acting, learning the role of colonized education processes, protecting our land and environment, creating food security, and creating an intercultural space for social interactions.
Perhaps most importantly, Reconciliation in Practice reminds us that reconciliation is an ongoing process, not an event, and that decolonizing our relationships and building new ones based on understanding and respect is empowering for all of us, Indigenous, settler, immigrant and refugee, alike.
Contents
Reconciliation: Challenges and Possibilities (Ranjan Datta)
• Sámi Reconciliation in Practice: A Long and Ongoing Process (Irja Seurujärvi-Kari and Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen)
Reconciliation: A White Settler Learning from the Land (Janet McVittie) • Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in Practice and Research: A New Way Forward for the Immigrant Health Professionals (Farzana Ali) • Reconciliation Through Transnational Lenses: An Immigrant Women’s Learning Journey (Jebunnessa Chapola)
• Letter to John A. MacDonald (Chris Scribe) • Reconciliation as Ceremonial Responsibility: An Immigrant’s Story (Ranjan Datta) • Reconciliation via Building Respectful Relationships and Community Engagement in Indigenous Research (Valerie Onyinyechi Umaefulam) Reconciliation and New Canadians (Ali Abukar)
• Holes and Gray (Khodi Dill) • Refernces
Research Interests:
This book will response to the call of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Canada that meaningful engagement among Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians will be key in advancing reconciliation. Various cross-cultural... more
This book will response to the call of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Canada that meaningful engagement among Indigenous Peoples and non-Indigenous Canadians will be key in advancing reconciliation. Various cross-cultural community-oriented activities will represent to showcase how to understand and take the responsibilities, we can begin to identify areas of opportunity as well as current obstacles to progress.
Research Interests:
This chapter discusses Indigenous sustainability perspectives by focusing on policy and practice. This chapter’s discussion is centred on four main topics in relation to the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community’s natural resource management... more
This chapter discusses Indigenous sustainability perspectives by focusing on policy and practice. This chapter’s discussion is centred on four main topics in relation to the Laitu Khyeng Indigenous community’s natural resource management and sustainability: the meaning of land and water, the understanding and practices of management, the impact of colonialism, and the community’s imagined goals in pursuit of sustainability. This chapter includes a commentary on the implications of the research for policy and practice and suggestions for future research. This chapter ends with the researcher’s personal reflections on the process of conducting this collective study.
This chapter answers some key challenges that face us today: What can Western science learn from traditional land-water management? How can we bridge between Western and Indigenous land-water management? Do we have within us the necessary... more
This chapter answers some key challenges that face us today: What can Western science learn from traditional land-water management? How can we bridge between Western and Indigenous land-water management? Do we have within us the necessary wisdom and knowledge to make this happen? To answer these questions, this chapter focuses on exploring the meanings of land-water and management from Indigenous people’s everyday lives and their natural resource embodiment.
Research Interests:
Amidst ongoing, contemporary colonialism, this chapter discusses the important of Indigenous perspectives on traditional land-water customs and practices in their sustainabilitties. The purpose of this chapter is to find ways to protect... more
Amidst ongoing, contemporary colonialism, this chapter discusses the important of Indigenous perspectives on traditional land-water customs and practices in their sustainabilitties. The purpose of this chapter is to find ways to protect land-water, encourage the sharing of traditional knowledge when appropriate, enhance community education and assist in land-water management and policy development. I conclude this chapter by advocating for Indigenous meanings of land-water due to its effectiveness in guiding policymakers and researchers to develop robust governance for Indigenous knowledge integration in land-water management.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This book explores the ways one Indigenous community, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, has reinvented the meanings of sustainability using traditional knowledge to blend traditional sentiment with large-scale dislocations... more
This book explores the ways one Indigenous community, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh, has reinvented the meanings of sustainability using traditional knowledge to blend traditional sentiment with large-scale dislocations within their own communities and international economy. This book includes up-to-date research on meanings and implications of Bangladeshi Indigenous sustainability which focus on relationality, traditional knowledge, spirituality and hybridity. Environmental protection and Indigenous land-water rights have been ignored in the region and there has been minimal research on these intersecting issues locally or internationally.
Research Interests:
This chapter endeavors to illuminate why and how the community’s youth wish to protect traditional land and water management practices in order to achieve environmental sustainability. Indigenous people of the community invited us all to... more
This chapter endeavors to illuminate why and how the community’s youth wish to protect traditional land and water management practices in order to achieve environmental sustainability. Indigenous people of the community invited us all to understand the root causes of past and present problems and to take an active role in the healing process. They also defined what should be a caring youth based on the principles of collective ownership and sharing, mutual respect and helping within the extended family system and community, the acceptance of diversity, and collective responsibility for the well-being of all members of society, of future generations, and for the maintenance of all parts of Creation. The original law passed down from their ancestors crystallizes the sacred responsibility of Indigenous people to be the caretakers of all that is on Mother Earth; therefore, youth are responsible and are able to build new forms of environmental sustainability for all. The responsibilities of the community’s youth are the driving force behind the development of Indigenous culture being reflected in the institutions and systems of Indigenous people: uplifting traditional cultivation culture, decision-making through consensus, division of labor respecting the respective roles of the clans and based upon need, survival and family structure contributing to sharing, social cohesion, and respect for life. Respect for people and for Mother Earth is linked together in order for people to survive and care for future generations.
Research Interests:
The observance of human rights, including land-water and natural resource management rights, participation rights, and non-discrimination rights, is critical to Indigenous environmental sustainability. Secure Indigenous land-water rights... more
The observance of human rights, including land-water and natural resource management rights, participation rights, and non-discrimination rights, is critical to Indigenous environmental sustainability. Secure Indigenous land-water rights not only bring environmental benefits, they can also foster economic development (Corntassel, 2012; McGregor, 2012; McCoy, Tuck, & McKenzie, 2016; Tuck & McKenzie, 2016). Pursuing Indigenous perspectives on land-water management today means struggling to reclaim and reconnect one’s relational, land-based existence by challenging the ongoing, destructive forces of colonization. Whether through traditional land-water practices, ceremonies, or other ways that Indigenous peoples (re)connect to the traditional meanings of sustainability, processes of resurgence are often contentious and reflect the spiritual, cultural, economic, social, and political scope of the struggle.
Research Interests:
Speaking from my personal experience — whether from the education and activities, through research and a community garden, or from experiences of discrimination and marginalization — contributors share my stories of what reconciliation... more
Speaking from my personal experience — whether from the education and activities, through research and a community garden, or from experiences of discrimination and marginalization — contributors share my stories of what reconciliation means in practice. My presentation focuses on building respectful relationships with Indigenous Peoples, respecting Indigenous Treaties, decolonizing our ways of knowing and acting, learning the role of colonized education processes, protecting our land and environment, creating food security and creating an intercultural space for social interactions. Perhaps most importantly, Reconciliation in Practice reminds us that reconciliation is an ongoing process, not an event, and that decolonizing our relationships and building new ones based on understanding and respect is empowering for all of us — Indigenous, settler, immigrant and refugee alike.