804 - Worldview Bridging: Improving Indigenous Engagement

October 20, 2021

1:00PM - 2:00PM

Fishbowl

Western land use practices lead to Indigenous separation from land and compromised ecosystem health, even when best management strategies are used. Planners also lack an understanding of essential actions necessary to honour Treaty relationships in formal planning processes, required to make effective land use decisions. This session invites participants to join in an interactive conversation grounded in two questions: How can planners work better with Indigenous Peoples? How can this be done through the environmental assessment (EA) process?
 
Before engaging in dialogue, speakers will set out contextual factors that shape the work of engagement with Indigenous Rights Holders, including: Crown processes related to Duty to Consult, Accommodate, and Consent; the interplay of governance; issues and constraints within the EA process; OPPI functional and enabling core competencies to support this work; and the evolving role of technology in practice, and how it might be used productively or problematically in engagement.
 
This session focuses on praxis to inform practical steps for planners to improve their approach to Indigenous engagement, particularly as technology is increasingly relied on for engagement processes. Some work is independent, most is to be done in conversations throughout a planner’s career. Following ethical space principles, the session explores the notion of Indigenous and Western worldviews, how they inform participation in existing processes and how they work to bridge worldviews, critical for planners to walk alongside Indigenous Peoples. The suggestions put forward will draw on real-life experiences as well as cross-cultural research and theory. Participants will be invited to share their successes and challenges within the mandated role of a professional planner and are encouraged to consider how planning can institutionalize improved Indigenous engagement.
 

Speakers