Climate Action 150 and Connected North collaborated to bring the perspectives of Indigenous youth on climate change to students across Canada — exploring Indigenous peoples connections to the land and the significant impacts that climate change is having on their communities. Issues of climate justice and the role of allyship also emerged as key pieces to this conversation, inviting students to examine inequalities in which communities views and experiences are being heard and how young people can support Indigenous rights and environmental movements.
What is Connected North?
Connected North is a national education program led by TakingITGlobal. The program serves a group of schools in Northern and remote parts of Canada through video conferencing technology. Dedicated bandwidth allows the schools to participate in sessions like virtual field trips and visits with guest speakers, classroom exchanges and teacher professional development. The goal of the program is to provide students and teachers with access to content that is engaging and innovative, with the hope of increasing feelings of empowerment in school and in life.
Virtual Panels with Indigenous Youth Leaders
On February 28th and March 7th, two virtual panel sessions took place connecting classes with Indigenous youth leaders from different parts of Canada. They shared about how climate change is negatively impacting their livelihoods and cultures, and why the land is so important to their identities. The concept of worldview was also explored, introducing students to how cultural views on relationship and responsibilities to the land affect the way we interact with the environment and understand climate change. Each participating school was given the opportunity to ask several questions and were encouraged to think about actions they can take to support Indigenous peoples in protecting the land and fighting climate change. Recordings for these panels can be found at:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8m_C3vN4QgURHRyNjVuejhjVW8
The Mural Project
Together, the schools met a number of Indigenous and non-Indigenous experts who shared knowledge with them on climate change and the importance of taking care of the land; they were sent art materials and asked to represent what they learned in a mural which they presented to each other.
Children’s Book: Sila and the Land
As a result of Climate Action 150, three young Indigenous women collaborated to write a children’s book called “Sila and The Land” that could help share perspectives on the land common across First Nations, Métis and Inuit communities.
Connected North Resources
In order to support educators to continue learning and exploring these perspectives with their students, this document provides a number of session summaries, stories and recommended resources that draw from the voices of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in Canada.
Connected North Follow-up Resources (pdf)
For inquiries related to Connected North, please contact Program Director Derek Lewis by email: derek@takingitglobal.org