Keynote Presentation: Dr. Amy Cardinal Christianson is Métis and grew up in Treaty 8 territory (northern Alberta, Canada). Her Métis relations are the Cardinal (Peeaysis Band) and Laboucane (Laboucane Settlement) families. She currently lives near Rocky Mountain House in Treaty 6 (central Alberta). Christianson works with Indigenous Nations across Canada on fire stewardship practices like cultural burning and collaborates with Indigenous peoples from around the world on decolonising land management. She also studies wildfire evacuations and advocates for Indigenous wildland firefighters and is currently the senior fire advisor with the Indigenous Leadership Initiative.
Breakout Session A: Wildfire is increasingly part of the lived experience of communities across North America. This workshop will delve into the media representations of wildfire and explore participants’ reactions to these portrayals. Fire narratives and stories, the emotions they evoke, and visual representations of wildfires will be explored, with participants engaging in interactive activities and having opportunities to share their firsthand experiences and personal narratives associated with wildfires. Facilitated by Erin James and Jennifer Ladino from The Confluence Lab, and Andreas Rutkauskas, visual artist.
Breakout Session B: Explore how creative engagement with lived experiences of climate impacts can catalyze change. This interactive session introduces Stories of Resilience, a signature program of The Resilience Institute that brings people together to explore the meaning of resilience in the face of a changing climate. Facilitators Brooklyn Rushton and Andy Airey will share how storytelling can overcome the ‘freeze response’ and draw on Indigenous ways of knowing.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Max Bell Auditorium - 107 Tunnel Mountain Dr, Banff, AB, Canada, Alberta T1L 1H5