Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing Present Results at the Society for Applied Anthropology Conference

Dahdaleh research fellow James Stinson and research assistant Lee Mcloughlin recently presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology annual conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico on a panel titled “Decolonizing Alliances for the Post-Carbon Transition.” The panel explored how Indigenous/non-Indigenous alliances contribute to the cultivation of sustainable and just post-carbon ways of life, and reflected on the possibilities and complications associated with diverse approaches to alliance formation and on the roles that engaged anthropologists might play.

James and Lee presented results from the Partnership for Youth and Planetary Wellbeing project in Belize. Led by Professor Kate Tilleczek, the project is a collaboration between researchers from York University and the Julian Cho Society (JCS) in Belize. JCS is an Indigenous NGO based in southern Belize committed to supporting and promoting sustainable development and the rights of Indigenous Maya communities through research, education and advocacy. The project responds to calls for new decolonial partnerships that aim to harness, support, and foreground Indigenous and youth-centred research, education and action for planetary health.

Throughout 2023, James and Lee worked with staff from JCS to train and mobilize a team of 10 Maya youth as “young anthropologists” to conduct interviews in their communities on issues related to planetary health. They also collaborated Dahdaleh research fellow Mark Terry and the Planetary Health Film Lab to train youth in documentary film production. This partnership facilitated innovative youth-led research on the impacts of climate change, the importance of food sovereignty, traditional ecological knowledge, and the struggle to secure Indigenous land rights in Maya communities, that was mobilized for both global policymakers at the UN and local audiences in Belize. Perhaps more importantly, youth participants noted the benefits of the project on their own wellbeing through the training and skills they received, the social connections made with with other youth and community members, and the development of leadership skills and confidence building.

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