A transforming world invites us to change our mindset and consider more innovation, more collaboration, and greater co-creation. Ecosystems of innovators, technical specialists, and humanitarians are growing to help find solutions to global challenges. Deanna Burgart, indigeneer, believes that greater incorporation of diverse perspectives, including indigenous perspectives and worldviews, can be a catalyst to finding solutions in a more meaningful, long-term way.
As indigenous perspectives are sought, and indigenous knowledge is captured, the importance of creating an ethical understanding on how to do this in a good way is imperative. Deanna will introduce participants to:
- Indigenous Ways of Knowing, Being, and Doing
This section will describe the results of a two-day retreat held for indigenous and non-indigenous STEM professionals, educators, and community members exploring the best ways to support and inspire Indigenous youth to pursue STEM careers.
- Cultural Appropriation and Commodification of Indigenous Ways of Knowing
This section will define sacred indigenous knowledge and illustrate the difference between sacred indigenous knowledge and personal knowledge. We will summarize a literature review and examine incidents of cultural appropriation as a means to inform.
- Introduction to Indigenous Self-determination with Respect to Knowledge and Data Protection
A look at how to protect indigenous knowledge going forward. Participants will be called on in a discussion activity on how to best do this in any work seeking to include indigenous perspectives as a response to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Deanna will use her own stories and examples of initiatives of indigenous inclusion in innovation to invite and inspire participants to join her in seeing a future that invites more indigenous voices to engineering education and solutions for all. She will invite all to explore how we can bring indigenous perspectives to the engineering education landscape in an ethical space of cultural safety that protects the integrity of Indigenous beliefs and worldviews.
Participants will leave feeling empowered to listen, learn, and grow with the wisdom of indigenous peoples they are fortunate to meet on their journey.
Deanna Burgart, P.Eng, CET, is both an engineer and a technologist who began her career in 1998 as a technician analyzing oil sands in a Calgary laboratory. She brings over 20 years of experience and education in energy and pipelines, and is passionate about global energy transitions, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and United Nations Declaration of Rights of Indigenous Peoples. She helps STEM-focused organizations move forward in increasing inclusion of Indigenous people, knowledge, and perspectives. She recently joined the University of Calgary's Schulich School of Engineering as a senior instructor in chemical and petroleum engineering and is the first teaching chair focused on integrating Indigenous knowledge into engineering.
2019-20 chair of ASEE's Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion