UBC Vancouver: Multiple Indigenous-focused initiatives receive UBC funding to help advance rights of Indigenous peoples
Adiverse range of Indigenous-focused projects will receive a significant funding boost this month to help transform innovative and impactful ideas into reality. Through the Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Fund (ISI Fund), UBC has committed a total of $4 million this academic year to helping advance the rights of Indigenous peoples as well as the crucial journey towards meaningful reconciliation.
The ISI Fund is a cross-campus initiative at the UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses that directly supports the implementation of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP). The announcement of successfully funded initiatives coincides with the two-year anniversary of UBC’s ISP launch.
There are three funding streams: Innovative (Stream One), Transformative (Stream Two) and Student-led (Stream Three), the latter being announced last month. Successful Stream One Innovative projects will receive between $30,000 – $100,000 for one or two years. Successful Stream Two Transformative projects will receive between $50,000 – $250,000 for one to three years. The initiatives have been developed by faculty, staff and post-doctoral students/fellows at the UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses and many involve collaborations with community partners. Of the 30 projects granted funding, examples include:
Advancing the Faculty of Medicine’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action and its strategic plan. Redressing the harms of colonialism and Indigenous racism in health care and research spaces by bringing together young Indigenous scholars and health care providers, First Nations and Indigenous leadership, experts in anti-racism and Indigenous rights, Elders, knowledge holders, Indigenous faculty and staff
Creating systemic change for Indigenous students through increasing awareness and knowledge of how colonization impacts campus counselling systems
Improving health outcomes for Indigenous Peoples across Canada through nursing, via a cross-university partnership
Establishing a self-sustainable micro-forest on the UBC Okanagan campus, guided by traditional ecological knowledge
Supporting the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation meet ambitious climate emissions targets through learning about respectful and reciprocal partnerships pertaining to Indigenous-led climate action
Developing new platforms for reciprocal training between Musqueam (xwməθkwəy̓əm) Indian Band and the UBC Laboratory of Archeology to improve employment opportunities in the cultural resource management sector
“We are thrilled to see these innovative and transformative projects be awarded funding that will help the project teams bring their ideas to life,” says Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot, senior advisor to the president on Indigenous Affairs, Canada Research Chair of Global Indigenous Rights and Politics, and associate professor in political science and the UBC school of public policy and global affairs.
“We’re extremely encouraged by the thoughtful, collaborative and meaningful initiatives that have been submitted this year, from all corners of both campuses. This paves the way for future years where we hope to see even more cross-campus and cross-faculty collaborations that will have a crucial impact on our communities, both within UBC and beyond,” adds Dr. Lightfoot.
In its inaugural year, this year’s ISI Fund amalgamated two years of funding for a total of $4 million. Next year’s ISI Fund, and subsequent funding cycles, will offer $2 million. In addition to the three main streams, there is a one-time-only Special Fund created to fund graduate research, temporarily filling an unmet need associated with the unique costs of Indigenous community-based research.
Applicants of the Innovative and Transformative funding streams had to follow a two-step process, providing a letter of intent for adjudication, followed by submitting a proposal for further adjudication. Adjudication committees included Indigenous and non-Indigenous adjudicators from both UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan. Over 80 per cent of ISI Fund adjudicators self-identified as Indigenous peoples, with strong representation from B.C. First Nations.
The ISI Fund directly supports implementation of projects and initiatives that advance the eight goals and 43 actions of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan. Its advancement has been underway for two years through the ISP Guiding Network, an innovative, networked and Indigenous human-rights based model for implementation. The ISP is the result of more than 2,500 unique engagements and over 15,000 ideas, opinions and comments shared by Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals across both campuses and Indigenous community partners.
The ISI Funding Call was designed and developed with engagement across UBC and final decisions on the guidelines were made by the Indigenous Strategic Plan Executive Advisory Committee (ISPEAC) and supported by the Indigenous Strategic Plan Coordinating Committee (ISPCC).
The Office of Indigenous Strategic Initiatives (OISI) was created in February 2021 to coordinate and support the implementation of the Indigenous Strategic Plan across the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. The OISI is led by Dr. Lightfoot. Over the past year and a half, the OISI team, together with the ISP Executive Advisory Committee, has developed and administered the inaugural ISI Fund.
Adiverse range of Indigenous-focused projects will receive a significant funding boost this month to help transform innovative and impactful ideas into reality. Through the Indigenous Strategic Initiatives Fund (ISI Fund), UBC has committed a total of $4 million this academic year to helping advance the rights of Indigenous peoples as well as the crucial journey towards meaningful reconciliation.
The ISI Fund is a cross-campus initiative at the UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses that directly supports the implementation of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan (ISP). The announcement of successfully funded initiatives coincides with the two-year anniversary of UBC’s ISP launch.
There are three funding streams: Innovative (Stream One), Transformative (Stream Two) and Student-led (Stream Three), the latter being announced last month. Successful Stream One Innovative projects will receive between $30,000 – $100,000 for one or two years. Successful Stream Two Transformative projects will receive between $50,000 – $250,000 for one to three years. The initiatives have been developed by faculty, staff and post-doctoral students/fellows at the UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan campuses and many involve collaborations with community partners. Of the 30 projects granted funding, examples include:
Advancing the Faculty of Medicine’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action and its strategic plan. Redressing the harms of colonialism and Indigenous racism in health care and research spaces by bringing together young Indigenous scholars and health care providers, First Nations and Indigenous leadership, experts in anti-racism and Indigenous rights, Elders, knowledge holders, Indigenous faculty and staff
Creating systemic change for Indigenous students through increasing awareness and knowledge of how colonization impacts campus counselling systems
Improving health outcomes for Indigenous Peoples across Canada through nursing, via a cross-university partnership
Establishing a self-sustainable micro-forest on the UBC Okanagan campus, guided by traditional ecological knowledge
Supporting the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation meet ambitious climate emissions targets through learning about respectful and reciprocal partnerships pertaining to Indigenous-led climate action
Developing new platforms for reciprocal training between Musqueam (xwməθkwəy̓əm) Indian Band and the UBC Laboratory of Archeology to improve employment opportunities in the cultural resource management sector
“We are thrilled to see these innovative and transformative projects be awarded funding that will help the project teams bring their ideas to life,” says Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot, senior advisor to the president on Indigenous Affairs, Canada Research Chair of Global Indigenous Rights and Politics, and associate professor in political science and the UBC school of public policy and global affairs.
“We’re extremely encouraged by the thoughtful, collaborative and meaningful initiatives that have been submitted this year, from all corners of both campuses. This paves the way for future years where we hope to see even more cross-campus and cross-faculty collaborations that will have a crucial impact on our communities, both within UBC and beyond,” adds Dr. Lightfoot.
In its inaugural year, this year’s ISI Fund amalgamated two years of funding for a total of $4 million. Next year’s ISI Fund, and subsequent funding cycles, will offer $2 million. In addition to the three main streams, there is a one-time-only Special Fund created to fund graduate research, temporarily filling an unmet need associated with the unique costs of Indigenous community-based research.
Applicants of the Innovative and Transformative funding streams had to follow a two-step process, providing a letter of intent for adjudication, followed by submitting a proposal for further adjudication. Adjudication committees included Indigenous and non-Indigenous adjudicators from both UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan. Over 80 per cent of ISI Fund adjudicators self-identified as Indigenous peoples, with strong representation from B.C. First Nations.
The ISI Fund directly supports implementation of projects and initiatives that advance the eight goals and 43 actions of the UBC Indigenous Strategic Plan. Its advancement has been underway for two years through the ISP Guiding Network, an innovative, networked and Indigenous human-rights based model for implementation. The ISP is the result of more than 2,500 unique engagements and over 15,000 ideas, opinions and comments shared by Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals across both campuses and Indigenous community partners.
The ISI Funding Call was designed and developed with engagement across UBC and final decisions on the guidelines were made by the Indigenous Strategic Plan Executive Advisory Committee (ISPEAC) and supported by the Indigenous Strategic Plan Coordinating Committee (ISPCC).
The Office of Indigenous Strategic Initiatives (OISI) was created in February 2021 to coordinate and support the implementation of the Indigenous Strategic Plan across the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses. The OISI is led by Dr. Lightfoot. Over the past year and a half, the OISI team, together with the ISP Executive Advisory Committee, has developed and administered the inaugural ISI Fund.