A new $120,000 grant aimed at encouraging Indigenous students’ participation in the architectural field was announced by the University of Calgary.
The grant is being funded by the Alberta Real Estate Foundation (AREF) and will support the university’s School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (SAPL) to further develop its existing Indigenous Pathways Program while integrating Indigenous knowledge into the Bachelor of Design in City Innovation (BDCI), the school’s first undergraduate degree.
Sessional instructors and staff from the Indigenous community will also be recruited as a result of the funding, which helps to underscore the central mission and principles of the institution. Currently, the SAPL is the province’s only accredited architectural degree program.
“This project elevates real estate leadership in our province through inclusion, representation, and professional standards,” said AREF executive director Patti Morris. “As a foundation, we have the responsibility to explore how our funding programs can be a vehicle for reconciliation in our province. We are honored to invest in the education and empowerment of Indigenous leaders in real estate and related professions.”
A series of design workshops targeted at high school-age students will further support the recruiting aims of the new bachelor’s degree program, supplemented by a parallel outreach program. The school emphasized its intent to develop a curriculum that gives equal footing to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous thought and instruction.
“Meaningfully including Indigenous people’s unique perspective, and their inherent recognition of the importance of land and place, can situate all of our future students to be better informed, and become more thoughtful practitioners,” said SAPL Dean John Brown.
“In short, this proposal helps create a pathway for Indigenous youth to meaningfully participate in Alberta’s real estate-related industries and to ensure that all SAPL graduates have a better understanding of Indigenous ways of knowing in order to more sensitively and effectively address the unprecedented challenges of an increasingly complex future.”
