What does it take to convene 15 people from around the world to develop a new conceptual framework, have it endorsed by a global conservation entity and then put the whole plan into action? That’s what we teach at the IEI!
As practitioners ourselves, our work at the IEI is to translate our real-world experience in Indigenous-led science and management into teachings that help you develop your skills in negotiation and concept development, writing policies and resolutions, gaining high-level buy-in and creating impactful implementation strategies.
Our involvement in the Hé Sapa resolution, with Gwen as co-chair of the working group and James on WILD12’s Executive Planning Committee, make it a perfect case study that we’ll be sharing at our upcoming IEI retreat.
Here’s a sneak peak of three key takeaways:
- Ethical Space is a critical framework for dialogue. Our work on this resolution highlighted that negotiations like these often dredge up peoples’ attachment to the legacies of white-led conservation and a resistance to letting go of the strategies of the past. Co-creating new solutions requires non-Indigenous people to be able to self-reflect to their inner resistance to Indigenous Knowledge and Wisdom Systems. Negotiation skill sets require strong interpersonal skills and emotional acuity.
- Creating shared concepts and language is necessary, but not easy. For example, our group of global collaborators had a hard time landing on the right words to define inherent sovereignty. Being able to translate negotiations into writing that everyone can agree on is another important skill.
- Resolutions and new conceptual frameworks need to strike a balance between being boundary-pushing and realistic, since their goal is to guide action. For this work to have impact, it’s necessary to have a strong understanding of how to put theory into practice.