As part of the open programming at Congress 2023, the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change (EUC) is hosting  a keynote panel titled "Indigenous Knowing and Climate Futures" on May 31st from 3-5pm at the Tribute Communities Recital Hall, Accolade East Building.

Co-sponsored by UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice, and the Environmental Studies Association of Canada, this event inaugurates a new Climate Seminar series at EUC for 2023-24. The climate crisis—especially when broadly conceived—is undoubtedly the most urgent issue of our times. Universities are often slow to respond to such urgencies, but they have a critical role to play in addressing climate crisis as both sites of knowledge production and spaces where multiple constituencies can meet to imagine and make change together. EUC hopes to do its part in this process by bringing scholars and activists working on this critical problem to York on a regular basis.

This event will be held both in person and on Zoom. Candis Callison and Deborah McGregor, two distinguished Indigenous researchers and communicators, will speak about how Indigenous knowledges can make the threat of climate change and strategies of confronting it matter to broader publics. Award-winning author and activist Naomi Klein will respond.

Candis Callison is the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous journalism, media, and public discourse and an Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia, jointly appointed in the School of Journalism, Writing, and Media and the Institute for Critical Indigenous Studies. Her work focuses on changes to media practices, the rise and persistence of Indigenous journalism on digital platforms, journalism ethics, the role of Indigenous and environment-focused social movements in public discourse, and understanding how climate change becomes meaningful for diverse publics. She is the author of How Climate Change Comes to Matter: The Communal Life of Facts (Duke University Press, 2014) and co-author of Reckoning: Journalism’s Limits and Possibilities (Oxford University Press, 2020). Candis is a citizen of the Tahltan Nation (an Indigenous people located in what is now known as Northern British Columbia), an award-winning former journalist, a Trudeau Foundation Fellow, a member of The American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a regular contributor to the podcast, Media Indigena.

Deborah B. McGregor is an associate professor and the Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Justice at Osgoode Hall Law School, cross-appointed with the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University. Her research has focused on Indigenous knowledge systems and their various applications in diverse contexts including environmental and water governance, environmental justice, health and environment, climate change and Indigenous legal traditions. She remains actively involved in a variety of Indigenous communities, serving as an advisor and continuing to engage in community-based research and initiatives, and her innovative approach to knowledge mobilization engaging Indigenous communities and the interested public can be seen on the Indigenous Environmental Justice Project website and the UKRI International Collaboration on Indigenous Research. She is the author of numerous articles and book chapters co-editor of Indigenous research: Theories, practices, and relationships, Indigenous Peoples and Autonomy: Insights for a Global Age. Deborah is Anishinaabe from Whitefish River First Nation, Ontario.

Naomi Klein is Co-Director of the Centre for Climate Justice, and Associate Professor of Climate Justice at the University of British Columbia. She is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author of 8 books including No Logo, The Shock Doctrine, This Changes Everything, and On Fire which have been translated into multiple languages. At UBC, her primary focus is on how the climate emergency can and must act as a catalyst for bold, justice-based transformation.

A reception will follow from 5-6:30pm (in person).

All are welcome!