ST. PAUL – University nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills (UnBQ) has introduced a new community-based environmental program with an emphasis on Indigenous knowledge and worldviews earlier this year in January.
The Community Based Environmental Monitoring Training Program (CEMT) is a 10-month classroom and field study program.
When asked about the integration of Indigenous knowledge and worldviews in the program, Kuni Albert with UnBQ stated, “We have practiced science as our ancestors have and continue to... It’s the documentation of this that has been westernized through the English language.”
She noted, “there are no disadvantages in the integration of Indigenous and western science,” adding, “The design of the program is to create environmental policy and accord for the environment and our people.”
Indigenous ecological, cultural and spiritual knowledge is central to the program, according to information from UnBQ, and can be utilized in efforts with environmental integrity and conservation.
“These goals will be achieved through immersion programming and application of practical and task-based learning,” according to the university.
The CEMT program is made possible through a partnership between Tribal Chiefs Education and Training Services Association (TCETSA).
Albert said TCETSA has been “instrumental in the success and vision of the CEMT program,” adding TCETSA will be funding the program until December 2026, “based on enrollment and employment statistics.”
According to Albert, the program lasts for 10 months in addition to two months of “paid work placement with Nations, non-profits, industry and consulting groups.” Students are also given the opportunity to choose their placement.
Graduates of the program have the option to transfer their credits to post-secondary institutions for a “diploma program in the environmental sciences,” or enter the workforce, according to Albert. She said employers of environmental technicians include “Nations, non-profits, municipalities, governments, or industry.”
Albert also said there is a demand for environmental technicians in the community, with the number of employers outnumbering the number of trained technicians “in the environmental sector.”
The program accepts 15 students for every cohort, according to Albert, with the first batch of the program graduating on Dec. 16, while the registration for the second batch for 2022 also ended on the same day. Meanwhile, a third intake of applicants will be October of 2023.
The next batch of students will begin studying after the holiday break, on Jan. 9, 2023.
