Thursday, October 19
3:00 PM-4:00 PM
PDT
Grand Ballroom A+B

Creating Sustainability Through Indigenous Food Security - An Online Educational Approach

Roundtable ID: 51555
  1. aaa
    Linda Robinson
    SCcyber ELearning Community

Abstract: Indigenous cultures of our global community have lagged behind the non-indigenous, which has contributed to marginalization in our world In order to rectify this situation it is important to deliver culturally sensitive education and skills training that will ensure these individuals have the opportunity to become prosperous contributing members of society while advancing their inclusion into the global and local economy Creating food security, bringing people together to create sustainability, and reconnecting to traditional food sources, helps students to be successful in their thinking and understanding of their role in the global community, and helps them apply that confidence to any area of life successfully This project will create a sense of pride and investment, as it will incorporate a Teaching Garden, along with Community Gardens, that can be populated with indigenous medicines and plants, which can be used to identify them on an ongoing basis

Objectives

In Canada, Aboriginal people have a lower high school completion rate than the completion rate for non-aboriginals. This can lead to unemployment, poverty and unrealized potential in Canada's fastest-growing demographic. As a result, many Aboriginal and Indigenous people in our global community have economic insecurity which can impact their health, welfare, and future. As a result, SCCyber has been focusing on creating solid teaching strategies that will focus on educating students in how to be sustainable, how to create food security for themselves, their families, and communities, and how to take control of their futures as sovereign beings, capable of determining the course of their own lives. While SCCyber has been providing quality education to Aboriginal students since early 2000, it has always been on top of the wave of progressive teaching practices for their unique clientele. Adding this project to course offerings, and assisting communities to move towards self-sufficiency, will create a more sustainable future for Urban Aboriginal peoples. The Sustainability Project is a program that focuses on education in seeding, sprouting, growing, harvesting, and preserving of healthy produce, while recognizing and modeling that Aboriginal worldviews address the whole person, encompassing their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual capabilities in relation to all living things. This project will be a part of the creation of Community Garden boxes, which can provide CTS credits to students, investing the younger generation in the sustainability of their communities. It will provide learning opportunities to students, and community members while the plants are growing, investing the Urban Aboriginal community in the creation of food security. Part of the focus of The Sustainability Project is reconnecting Aboriginal People to their traditional diets, while providing a teaching opportunity for the Elders to grow, describe, and show traditional medicines, so the teachings are not lost.

Topical Outline

We will discuss The Sustainability Project program that we are launching in September 2017, to address the growing concern for sustainability in our world, while giving individuals and students the opportunity to learn valuable skills that could be used towards their High School Diploma, in the form of CTS Credits (15 possible credits per year).

Experience Level

Intermediate

Qualifications

B.Ed., Community Garden Coordinator/Creator

Presider: Naomi Wahls, University of Colorado Denver

Topic

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