The inaugural Lambert Lecture on Indigenous Peoples & Neotropical Conservation will look at how national and international climate change, biodiversity and food security strategies have failed to include the perspectives of indigenous communities in addressing these challenges.
Visiting Professor Tirso Gonzales, a Peruvian of indigenous Aymara descent who he teaches at the Indigenous Studies Program at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, will deliver the Lambert Lecture on Indigenous Peoples & Neotropical Conservation: South American Andean Indigenous Emerging Paradigms on Bio-cultural Landscapes in the Context of Climate Change.
The talk will take place Wednesday, Nov. 26, from 4:30 to 6:30, in the private dining room of the Schulich Executive Learning Centre, Seymour Schulich Building, Keele campus. RSVP at http://fes.yorku.ca/lambert. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event. Refreshments will be served.
Gonzales will look at how perspectives of Indigenous Peoples can be included in national and international strategies. “How can we make Indigenous communities strategic, local and global, partners in the development and implementation of regional and national strategies on the above key issues,” says Gonzales.
The lecture aims to encourage and explore the establishment of an inter/intra-cultural research platform for the purposes of the following:
- Identifying of Indigenous paradigms and the development of Indigenous theories and methodologies;
- Building capacity within research institutions to form or enhance partnerships, and provide training and skill development; and
- Developing policy proposals that validate and support the generation of indigenous community knowledge.
In particular, the lecture is expected to provide insights essential for stakeholders’ work (Canadian university research centres and international development agencies) on food security, biodiversity conservation, climate change adaptation in the Central Andes (Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia), and the role of Canadian Aboriginal communities in this strategizing.
Gonzales has actively participated for three years in and contributed to the Global and Sub Global "International Assessment on the Role of Science, Knowledge and Technology for Agriculture, IAASTD". He has a rich 20-year experience working with South American Andean Indigenous Communities, has participated at major international scientific conferences on indigenous and local knowledge, as well as in major international indigenous events on indigenous knowledge, paradigms and epistemologies. His work as a scholar, international consultant and activist has allowed him to work closely with Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. His current work explores the use of indigenous and non-indigenous research methodologies and techniques on issues central to self-determined indigenous development. He is committed to supporting the agenda of Indigenous Peoples as well as processes related to indigenous ecological knowledge, cultural affirmation and decolonization.
The lecture is named in honour of William Lambert and his family for their support of the Las Nubes Project and the Chair in Neotropical Conservation in the Faculty of Environmental Studies. It is sponsored by the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean and the Faculty of Environmental Studies.