Land Education Program Incubator

View a video introduction to the Land Education Dreambook Overview

Co-PIs Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang

Years active

2020-2022

Abstract

This project engages an existing network of community organizations, the Land Relationships Super Collective, to support them in growing their activities into more formalized land education programs for youth and communities. The objectives of the Land Education Program Incubator project are to provide workshops and resources to community organizations creating their own land education programs for youth and communities; to create the conditions for knowledge exchange between Indigenous and non-Indigenous land-based education organizations; and to prepare the next generation of scholars who study land education.

Methods

Focus Groups

Mapping – concept mapping, resource mapping

Ethical Framework

The incubator combines the expertise of the Land Relationships Super Collective organizations with training, skills, and resources to build out their respective land education programs for youth and community. The ethical framework that shapes this work is collaboration between community organizations and researchers. This collaboration is a commitment to advance scholarly conversations about land education, while also supporting community organizations to grow this work outside of the academy.

Theories of Change

Offering support to these organizations doing important environmental knowledge-based work while also bringing students into relation with some of the most active theorists and practitioners working outside of the academy in this field, allows (1) these organizations to offer more formalized land education programming in their respective communities, and (2) emerging scholars to strengthen their understanding land education in practice. The theory of change is that land education – as both formal and informal learning that occurs while deeply situated in place – is a way to circumvent destructive, exploitative, and alienating relationships to land.

Kinds of Evidence

Focus group transcripts

Knowledge Mobilization 

The outcomes of this study will be program materials for each community organization, such as plans, curriculum, program designs. Additionally a web-based toolkit of materials will be created to prompt planning of future land education programs, and there will be publications on land education research.

Keywords

Land education; community program; youth program; Indigenous research

Disciplines

Indigenous research; qualitative research; education

Project funded by

The Spencer Foundation