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Higher Education in Canada: Decoding, Deconstructing, and Decolonizing Our Future

How could higher education in Canada contribute to better futures for all? How do you envision the future of higher education in Canada?

We are excited to unpack these questions and more at our gathering with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO (CCUNESCO), the UNESCO Co-Chairs in Community Based Research and Social Responsibility in Higher Education, the Indigenous Advanced Education and Skills Council (IAESC), and the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation (FPCF) in Ottawa next Thursday, April 13!

As a co-host, the Knowledge Equity Lab is proud to be part of this opportunity to learn about and discuss the implications for Canada of several exciting international policy initiatives related to higher education that have emerged from UNESCO circles over the past two years. This event will challenge participants to reflect on how we can decode, deconstruct, and decolonize higher education in Canada.

This gathering will feature the Canadian launch of the Report on Indigenous Perspectives on Higher Education, a global statement and call to action. There will also be opportunities to examine the implications of the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science and the proposed roadmaps for the future of higher education that emerged from the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education. 

Objectives of the event: 

  • To gather higher education institutions, partners, foundations, and research councils to reflect on the future of higher education in Canada; 
  • Ensure Indigenous perspectives are front and centre of these discussions; 
  • Promote and engage with UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendation through a decolonization lens; 
  • Reflect on UNESCO’s proposed roadmap for the future of higher education and its implications for Canada.  

Proposed outcomes for participants: 

  • To be informed of UNESCO’s priorities on the future of higher education; 
  • To reflect on the role of higher education institutions in Canada in contributing towards Agenda 2030 and the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);  
  • To better understand how Indigenous knowledge can be transformative for higher education; 
  • To connect higher education partners and encourage future collaboration and partnerships; 
  • To reflect on individual and collective actions we can take to move this conversation forward   

Supporting resources:

Indigenous perspectives on higher education 

Decolonizing science 

  • UNESCO’s Open Science Recommendation 
  • CCUNESCO’s white paper on Open Science and the Decolonization of knowledge 

Transforming knowledge for higher education

As the clock ticks down to this exciting gathering, we invite you to think about what it means to decode, deconstruct, and decolonize our future – how do you envision the future of higher education in Canada?