ACDI Deputy Director partner in Canadian led UNSECO Chair initiative on Biocultural Diversity, Sustainability, Reconciliation, and Renewal

ACDI Deputy Director, Prof Sheona Shackleton, has been building relationships with the University of Saskatchewan (UofS) through a partnership in a UNESCO chair in “Biocultural Diversity, Sustainability, Reconciliation and Renewal”. The primary aim of the Chair is to promote biocultural diversity and sustainability through community-based, participatory action research and knowledge exchange. It includes community, NGO, and university partners in Canada, Latin America, and South Africa. The Chair’s work looks to co-produce, exchange, and mobilize knowledge in support of Indigenous and rural livelihoods, economies, and governance arrangements. There is a strong focus on youth participation and the changing roles of men and women. One of the key objectives is to demonstrate how Indigenous/local and Western knowledges and institutions can work together to promote productive and biodiverse landscapes - doing so through the use of common learning platforms, international exchanges, and by sharing innovative ideas across networks of knowledge and practice.

Already three exchange visits have taken place between South Africa and Canada. Sheona Shackleton visited Canada in 2018 to join the inception workshop for the Chair, funded through a UofS Global Ambassador grant that allowed her to do some joint teaching and a public talk. Maureen Reed has visited South Africa twice to participate and teach in two PhD summer schools on transdisciplinary climate change and development research. UCT supported part of her second visit which included a session with early career researchers and a public talk. Both exchanges have had a strong focus on how to promote and support transdisciplinary learning and research; the sharing of experiences and ideas has been exciting and extremely valuable.  More about this exciting initiative can be learned on the website and in the video below.