Wednesday Talk: September 24, 10am-12pm – hybrid

Liat Margolis, Daniels, U of T; Nikibii Dawadinna Giigwag/Flooded Valley Healing

Title: “Call to Action #66: A Land-based Indigenous Youth Program”

Introducer: Linda Hutcheon

Abstract: The Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) Call to Action (CTA) 66 refers to funding community-based youth organizations and programming that is specifically designed for Indigenous youth to address the lasting intergenerational trauma of Residential Schools. Key themes brought up by Indigenous youth across Canada include Healing relative to past and ongoing racism, and Land Rights relative to barriers to Indigenous traditions and sovereignty that are rooted in land. Land-based education is vital to healing and self-determination and continues to be a core element of Indigenous pedagogies, life ways, and knowledge creation and transmission. This talk will reflect on the context and development of an Indigenous youth program at the University of Toronto relative to CTA 66 and UofT’s own 34 CTAs. And the ways in which its principles and practices are rooted in foregrounding Indigenous leadership and voices through cultural revitalization and a web of community relations.

Bio: Liat Margolis grew up in Israel along the Mediterranean Sea and emigrated to Turtle Island as a teen. She has been dedicated to sustainability and environmental justice for over 20 years through her work as a landscape architect and educator. Liat joined the University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design in 2018. She served as the Associate Dean of Research and Director of the Master of Landscape Architecture Program from 2017-2022 for which she received the 2024 Council of Educators in Landscape Architecture (CELA) Outstanding Administrator Award.

Liat founded the GRIT Lab / Green Roof Innovation Testing Laboratory, an internationally renowned research facility at the U of T dedicated to research and training on living green infrastructure. The lab includes two rooftop facilities with over 6,000 sq. ft. of experimental green roofs equipped with hundreds of sensors that collect data in real-time. She is an advocate of interdisciplinary and hands-on research and education with long standing collaborations with Biology, Forestry and Civil Engineering researchers, as well as industry, government, and institutional partners. For establishing this unique initiative, she received the 2013 American Association of Landscape Architects (ASLA) Excellence Award in Research.

Liat served on several advisory committees for the City of Toronto, providing guidance on a range of programs, including the Green Streets Technical Guidelines, Pollinator Protection Strategy, Toronto Green Standard, and Eco-Incentive Program. She collaborated with over 80 researchers across Canada, as member of Sustainable Canada Dialogues an initiative on climate change policy solutions and transitions to a low-carbon energy future. She served as both member and chair of the Teaching & Learning Subcommittee of the University of Toronto Presidential Committee on Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability from 2017-2023 and has been co-leading the Community of Practice on Sustainability Teaching both of which seek to integrate academic and operational sustainability to advance learning and teaching and transform the physical campus.

The link to register is https://forms.office.com/r/MTkPtk59sh

The deadline to register is the Monday before the event at noon.  The Zoom link will be sent to registrants only.