For three weeks in April & May, the Northern Latitudes Partnerships team, in partnership with US Fish & Wildlife Service and the University of Alaska Fairbanks Tribal Governance Program, offered a 6-part virtual course on “Indigenous-Led Land Planning”. The course, which drew in over 250 registered participants, featured distinguished speakers from Alaska and western Canada and included small group breakout discussions. Topics included Indigenous Worldview, the context for land management in Alaska & Canada, successful case studies and models for Indignenous-led land planning, and ways for various partners including government agencies, conservation organizations, and academia to effectively collaborate with Indigenous groups on land stewardship and planning.
The course was co-facilitated and co-organized by Crystal Leonetti (USFWS Alaska Native Affairs Specialist), Carrie Stevens (UAF Tribal Governance Program), Leanna Heffner (Northwest Boreal Partnership Director), and Hannah-Marie Garcia (Alaska Sea Grant Fellow for the NLP).
The series was a resounding success, with calls for more in-depth courses and gatherings focused on this topic. An example of praise from an anonymous participant: “The facilitators and instructors were excellent, kind, intelligent and respectful. The speakers were amazing. The best class I have had in a long time. Being able to listen and learn from Indigenous program leaders and workers on what works for them and what and how they made it through or around barriers was priceless.”
The recordings from the course are available on our YouTube page. The full syllabus for the series is below, and includes links to many useful resources discussed in the course.