Left and Right- City and Country- Indigenous and Mainstream- Let's Meet in the Middle
Now more than ever, inclusive governance that values all perspectives is key to meaningful community impact. At The Land Between, we plan and act collaboratively, using Original governance styles - Knowledge Circles, open and respectful meetings, plus public surveys and interviews - to guide decisions and projects.
What are Knowledge Circles
Knowledge Circles are inclusive, democratic forums rooted in the Traditional Indigenous Talking Circle. A sacred object, like an eagle feather, is passed to participants as they share their thoughts, ensuring every voice and perspective is heard. This approach fosters meaningful dialogue, builds community capacity, and inspires innovative, fair solutions for the challenges facing our communities and our ecosystems equally.
The Land Between has hosted a number of Knowledge Circles over the years, with our most recent held in April 2024. To learn about future Knowledge Circles of ours that you can participate in, stay tuned to our Events page!
Knowledge Circles were hosted thanks to cooperation and support of our partners:
Knowledge Circles and Two Eyed Seeing
Two-Eyed Seeing, developed by Elder Albert Marshall (Order of Canada), blends Western science and Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) equally to tackle conservation challenges. Knowledge Circles embrace this approach, creating inclusive forums for municipalities, community groups, schools, and beyond. These spaces embrace collaboration, and empathy, listening, and humility, making them valuable in virtually any group setting.
Note: there is a wealth of knowledge and resources shared by Elder Albert Marshall: A simple search will reveal these.
Related Guides
As part of the Knowledge Circles initiative, we’ve created a toolkit to support inclusive, effective governance. It offers guidance, concepts, and resources for every stage of organizational development and operations.
This curriculum focuses on inclusivity and good governance, offering practical modules and strategies to apply these principles in your work.
This guide helps social sector organizations implement inclusive leadership, offering policies and practices that can be adapted across various organizations
This resource outlines inclusive leadership according to selected Indigenous and cross-cultural teachings, perspectives, and worldviews.
You can also explore our study of regional governance structures, Around the Circle in 365 Days- here.
See the proceedings and impacts from our previous Talking Circles- here.
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