Living Knowledge Network Delegation to Girona, Spain June 26-29 2024

Exciting news! From June 26-29, a 12-person team from the Living Lab Network will present at the biannual European-based Living Knowledge Network (LKN) community-campus conference in Girona,

Spain. The team includes members from the Songhees, Tsartlip, Tsawout, Tseycum, Kwikwasut’inuxw, and Pauquachin Nations, the Métis Nation, staff, youth, and students from the W̱SÁNEĆ School Board, PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ Foundation, SD#61 Indigenous Education, Living Lab staff, Raincoast Conservation Foundation, Camosun College’s Centre for Indigenous Education & Community Connections and UVic faculty. The Office of the Vice President of Indigenous and the Centre for Indigenous Research and Community-Led Engagement from the UVic provided core funding for Indigenous team members to present.

The delegation includes PENAC Underwood, SX̱ EDŦELISIYE (Renee Sampson), Desiree Jones, Jessica Joseph, Ruth Lyall, Judith Lyn Arney, Alex Harris, Kyle Clarke, Sarah Jim, Maeve Lydon, UVic Associate Professor Darcy Mathews, and Professor Heather Castleden.

LKN is a European-based and globally-connected network of individuals and organizations involved in Science Shops and similar entities. These organizations focus on public engagement and the involvement of Civil Society Organizations in Research & Innovation. Budd Hall, UVic Professor Emeritus with the School of Public Administration, Living Lab Advisor, and UNESCO Co-Chair in Community-Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, is a long-time active member and supporter of LKN. This network also supports the work of the UNESCO Chair. More information can be found on the UNESCO Chair’s website.

The Living Lab Network partners’ presentation titles include:

  • ĆELÁṈEN TŦE ṮEṮÁĆES, the European premiere of a new feature film produced and narrated by W̱SÁNEĆ community members. (Premiered at UVic on December 11th; see the story in the Living Lab Newsletter)
  • Relational Restoration: Healing Ourselves and the Land
  • Archaeology and Indigenous Knowledge: Transformative and Decolonizing Science and Practice
  • In-Spiring Citizen Science Supporting Ecosystem Restoration and Resurgence on the West Coast of Canada/Turtle Island: The Living Lab Network’s Indigenous Youth Stewardship Program

Our common goal for the Living Lab Network and this trip is to create long-term community-driven research, program partnerships, and youth-community-campus exchanges with European and global partners. We aim to represent a community-based Indigenous worldview of so-called “Canada” in Europe, led and spoken by community voices and priorities. Next-generation engagement, the conference theme, is at the heart of our everyday work.

Discover, participate in, and engage in immersive nature experiences, cultural workshops, and educational initiatives with HAT, PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ Award, and Oak Haven Park. Explore indigenous markets, traditional cedar weaving, plant walks, and ongoing educational resources like The Cedar Box Experience. Read below to find out more about these events and how to join.

Restoration Opportunities with HAT with PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ and friends of Oak Haven Park. 
Mar 27th with PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱, located at  SṈIDȻEȽ
April 26th at Tseycum
For more information, https://hat.bc.ca/volunteer.SI SEJ

SI SEJ Volunteer Restoration Day
March 28th with PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ see poster for information.

Indigenous PopUp Shop YYJ Spring Artist Market
April 6th
– Over 25 Indigenous artists gather to sell their creations at this handmade artists’ market.  More information located here. 

 

NEW,SLEWI, Cedar weaving workshop
April 27th
: An immersive Cedar weaving workshop with facilitator, MENETIYE Elisha Elliott see poster below for information.

Indigenous Plant Walk
May 25th:
 Indigenous Plant Walk with the Compost Education Centre. Tickets can be booked here. 

Ongoing: The Cedar Box Experience — an interactive educational resource which draws from the Tend, Gather and Grow Teaching Toolkit

Community Celebration on Monday, April 17, 2023

Living Lab celebrated its Community Celebration on Monday, April 17, 2023, with around 50 network partners attending the First People’s House at the University of Victoria. The event marked the first in-person gathering since February 2020, where attendees were welcomed with tea, snacks, and an opening speech by Butch Dick, an Indigenous Elder and education leader from the Songhees Nation. He spoke about returning to outdoor and land-marine-based learning and creating positive community and climate action-accredited programs rooted in awareness and respect for Indigenous stewardship, knowledge, laws, and sovereignty. 

     

Other speakers and visual presentations shared updates and priorities, including Living Lab’s commitment to supporting front-line land-based learning practices in regional communities and schools, collaboration with ṮEṮÁĆES/The Salish Sea, and a new community-led research and policy program to support community supports and system changes. In addition, the Living Lab’s umbrella regional partners from PEPÁḴEṈ HÁUTW̱, W̱SÁNEĆ School Board and SD # 61 Indigenous Education shared their visions and upcoming projects.

Click on the Report for a more detailed list of speakers, pictures, and update on our partner’s programs.

Thank you to all of our supporters and funders.

 

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