Ligneous Artefacts is the title of the ARCG 7102 studio taught by Professor Dietmar Straub at the University of Manitoba during the summer term of 2024. The goal was to design and build a series of non-standardized site-specific features for the Shared Path, a trail landscape designed by Professors Dietmar Straub and Anna Thurmayr from the Department of Landscape Architecture that turns a site on Lake Manitoba First Nation land into a gathering place where young and old can meet, share, and create new stories. The artefacts had to be developed as informal place-making tools that enrich the landscape and inspire social interaction. The design approach was based on an attitude of the German sculptor Rudolf Wachter: “I work with wood, and the wood works with me.”

Within four weeks, including field trips, community engagement and an on-site visit, the studio team progressed from rough drafts to a final product. Cutting, sawing, grinding, sanding, routing, drilling, and chiselling, …. after one week of sweat and hard work, all pieces were ready for assembly. The professional execution of all fabrication steps happened in close collaboration with the workshop of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Manitoba. Special thanks to Kellen Deighton for his priceless involvement in this studio project and Shaun De Rooy and Isaac Keeper-Muswaggon for their precious contribution!

Dietmar Straub have frequently invited students to gain hands-on experience on outreach projects. They were involved in tree-pit construction and asphalt painting. They dug in Winnipeg clay, compacted Manitoban limestone, hammered stones, bricks, logs and asphalt, used brushes and paint rollers and now fabricated five ‘masterpieces’ of wood and some metal parts. Dietmar Straub wants to apply this model to narrow the gap between theory and practice and to create a closer relationship between scholarly work and teaching. With its workshop-centered concept, the Bauhaus design education still seems to work as a timeless inspiration for passionate design education and students:

“The bench studio allowed me and the group to expand our understanding of a ‘bench’ or an outdoor piece. This summer studio is valuable because we learned how to build and work with wood on a 1-1 scale for the Lake Manitoba First Nations community to use. After much research, iterative design, site visits, and consultations with the community and occupational therapists, it is rewarding for a student to be part of a design-build studio that stretches the imagination yet is grounded in reality.” (Marie Alexie T. Seno)

“The Ligneous Artefacts project was our first experience designing and seeing our ideas come to life. It united all the students, fostering teamwork, creativity, and problem-solving. We hope the Dog Creek 46 community enjoys the artefact as much as we enjoyed building it.” (Vanessa Dos Santos Martins Macedo Alfonso)

STUDENTS
Marty Derksen; Vanessa Dos Santos Martins Macedo Alfonso; Michael Fitzpatrick; Carlo Gonzales; Augusta T. Ho; Kanika Mehta; Rownak Jahan Moutosi; Brady Ricketts; Marie Alexie T. Seno; Ruichen Zhu;

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 1829)

Young recently facilitated a fish skin-tanning workshop, wherein participants embarked on a multi-day process of working with the skin to eventually turn it into fish leather.

“Students descaled the fish skin, prepared tanning solutions and took them home to change solutions over the course of five days. When students brought their fish skins back, we discussed how their relationship with the fish changed—there were some really interesting conversations that came out of it,” she says.

That experience was made possible because of Young’s involvement with the Land and Water program at the University of Manitoba, both in her role as the program coordinator and as a current Métis graduate student studying Métis fishing methodologies.

Offered by Community Engaged Learning, the program brings together students, community members, knowledge carriers and Elders for immersive urban land-based experiences like the fish-tanning workshop. Using a decolonizing approach to education, it provides the opportunity for participants to learn about Indigenous Peoples’ enduring relationships with land and place.

While workshops vary from year to year, past activities have included guided medicine walks through urban forests, building a sweat lodge, beading and rattle-making. The 2023-2024 cohort is exploring Indigenous land-based knowledge systems from a seasonal lens. “In terms of the outcomes we consider when planning the program, we focus on learning on, from and about the land,” says Young.

Though most of the Land and Water program is geared toward Indigenous UM students, other members of the UM Indigenous community and broader Indigenous communities are welcome to attend open events like their walk-and-talk series around the Fort Garry campus.

“Part of what we’re doing is helping students develop a critical lens around land and place, and teaching them to be self-reflexive about their relationships with land, place and Indigenous knowledges,” says Nicki Ferland, a Two-Spirit Métis land-based educator with Community Engaged Learning. “By hosting these activities on campus and in the city, we’re challenging those narratives on what is authentically Indigenous—this is all Indigenous land, and we can all learn from and about the plants and animals in the city.”

“It’s been super impactful for me as a student and my own identity, in beginning to see urban land as Indigenous land and my ancestral connections to this place that have spanned generations,” adds Young. “I’d really love for participants to see and build relationships with the city. There is lots of rich history, like the intersection of the Red River and Assiniboine River as a meeting place.”

The program not only considers what students need to learn, but also the community’s needs on a larger scale. Beyond gaining knowledge and practical skills, participants grow connections and learn how to learn on the land together, often in new experiential ways.

“We’re building strong relationships with each other as well as with the land and our ancestors,” says Young. “It’s great to see that relationship-building between students, Elders and knowledge carriers, and community. We’re starting to see relationships form and exist in community instead of only the university setting.”

“It’s important that students have the opportunity to learn on the land, and we want to meet students’ own needs and interest in land-based education,” adds Ferland. “It’s a great entry-level program for students who want to learn more about their cultural identities and Indigenous knowledges.”

Visit the Community Engaged Learning webpage for more information about the Land and Water program.

The circles are offered every second Tuesday from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. (See spring dates below). Every month, there is one Talking Circle and one Sharing Circle.

Co-host Isca Spillett (Afro-Indigenous with matrilineal kinship ties to Cree and Métis) with the Indigenous Student Centre says it’s important for the UM community to have access to these types of opportunities.

“Building community on campus is critical,” says Spillett. “We want Two-Spirit students, staff and faculty to feel safe and cared for, so we’re excited to be able to offer hybrid circles for the rest of the term. You can continue to participate online or join us in the Circle Room at Migizii Agamik.”

Talking Circles bring 2S/LGBTQQPIA+ students, staff, faculty and community members together with allies and offer opportunities to talk and learn about 2S identity, 2S visibility and public spaces, 2S-inclusive ceremonies and more. Sharing Circles are an exclusive space for Indigenous people who are gender and sexuality diverse, who may identity as Two-Spirit, Indigi-queer, non-binary, or reject these labels entirely. The Sharing Circles allow 2S students, staff, faculty and community to gather, share, heal and celebrate their identities.

This spring and summer, the Two-Spirit Elder circles will also offer community-building opportunities on a drop-in basis, including opportunities for 2S students, staff and faculty to take part in 2S-led and inclusive ceremonies on and off campus.

Nicki Ferland (Two-Spirit Red River Métis), the Community Engaged Learning co-host, is grateful for the Elders who create safe spaces for sharing and learning at the University of Manitoba.

“We’re so lucky to have Two-Spirit Elders Albert McLeod, Barbara Bruce and Charlotte Nolin lead the circles. They represent Indigenous gay, lesbian and trans experiences, and have so much knowledge, experience and teachings to share with us,” says Ferland. “They are really committed to working with our students, staff, faculty and community members, and that love for our Two-Spirit relatives, that commitment to queer community-building, really shines through.”

Two-Spirit Elder Talking and Sharing Circles are held on alternately Tuesdays from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. Join online or meet in the Circle Room at Migizii Agamik (114 Sydney Smith Street, Fort Garry campus).

Talking Circles (2S/LGBTQQPIA+ and allies)
April 4: 2S Elder Charlotte Nolin

Sharing Circles (2S exclusive)
March 21: 2S Elder Albert McLeod
April 18: 2S Elder Charlotte Nolin

Community Engaged Learning (CEL) is one of 12 types of experiential learning, offering learning opportunities through collaborative and reciprocal partnerships between community, faculty and staff, and students. It can take place in a classroom, the community or a land-based setting where participants can engage and exchange knowledge in a variety of ways rooted in co-creation and collaboration.

Meet three members of the UM student and faculty community who have embraced community engaged learning in their education and career development.

Meghan Young

Arts student Meghan Young recently completed her bachelor’s degree with a major in Indigenous studies and a minor in history, and just started working full-time as the Métis Inclusion Coordinator at the UM in the new year.

In the last 2.5 years of her degree, Meghan was the student program coordinator for Community Engaged Learning’s (CEL) land-based education program, Land and Water, which supports students in developing a sense of place and belonging by spending time with elders and knowledge-holders, engaging in ceremonies, and learning on, from and about the land.

Young’s role involved coordinating and facilitating educational opportunities within the program through a wide range of land-based events, such as hide tanning workshops and Indigenous placemaking walks on campus. She has also assisted with preparing the Two-spirit Sundance grounds in Portage La Prairie and in building a sweat lodge.

“As a Métis woman, these experiences are so impactful. I get to learn myself, and help other Indigenous participants learn,” says Young. “CEL has given me the confidence to get involved within my community and stay true to my own personal values.”

The community partnerships she’s made through her work have helped her find her sense of purpose. “I get to critically engage with my own values and understand the world through different perspectives,” Young adds. “CEL has allowed me to grow as a person and I am constantly learning and meeting new people.”

Colleen Plumton

As a senior instructor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management, Colleen Plumton has always advocated for experiential learning opportunities. The faculty’s latest curriculum review called for more community engagement and now also as the Fieldwork Program Coordinator, she currently teaches a project-based CEL course as the latest addition to the faculty’s 40-year fieldwork program.

Students have the invaluable opportunity to gain community engaged learning experiences and develop relationships within community and the city’s non-profit sector. Plumton encourages each student to delve deep, taking a ‘heart and soul’ approach to finding their sense of place in the community. She says this is the most important step towards building a meaningful partnership and discovering the experiences in relation to social justice that matters most to each individual.

“It speaks to any inequalities and issues with the world that students can see themselves as agents for change,” says Plumton. “They can heal the world a little bit more, and it’s important that it comes from a place of relationships, reciprocity and reflection.”

Her teaching philosophy is also built on the idea of shared learning and starting the community engaged learning aspect within the classroom itself. Although she’s the instructor, it’s clear that she treasures the privilege of being able to listen to and learn from students just as much. Plumton revels in seeing students build their confidence and understand the balance of knowing they can make significant contributions to their communities while still having so much to learn.

“It’s from the perspective that they need to open their hearts and minds to the differences and diversity that makes the world so wonderful and challenge a system of inequality,” she adds.

As the faculty representative on UM’s interfaculty collaborative network for experiential learning, Plumton is thrilled to see the movement towards recognizing and providing more experiential learning opportunities for students. Truly diversifying what education within and beyond a classroom looks like and showcasing the amazing EL opportunities available to FKRM and UM students. She is passionate about EL and by what the future holds for experiential learning on campus, in workplaces and in our community.

Melanie Hamilton

Melanie Hamilton has exemplified what it means to turn new knowledge into action. While earning her second degree in human nutritional sciences, she went from an active participant in CEL’s Poverty Awareness and Community Action (PACA) summer advocacy training program, to a student staff member as the PACA Workshop Coordinator, organizing and co-facilitating poverty awareness workshops for students in different faculties across UM. Hamilton works directly with lived experience educators to raise awareness about the impacts of poverty and social welfare systems.

In the last year, Hamilton took on the role of PACA Support Circle Coordinator, where she provides the lived experience educators with individual advocacy support in accessing resources and services. Drawing on her human nutritional sciences background, Hamilton also created the Community Produce Program to address concerns with food security amongst PACA volunteers and in the West Broadway community. Powered by student and community volunteers, the program turns reclaimed produce into fresh ingredients and meals distributed back to community members.

As a student pursuing a career in dietetics, she explains the impact of it all: “I’ve learnt how to work in the community, hands-on, with individuals who are doing the same work. I’ve been able to integrate all of these experiences into how I want to practice in my future profession.”

Hamilton’s work has significantly helped the community while helping her stay grounded and keep a humble perspective. “I’m given the privilege of hearing people’s stories and learning from their lived experience,” she says. “I truly believe that my experiences working and volunteering with CEL have made me a more knowledgeable person, who not only wants change but now knows how to advocate for it.”

Learn more about participating in Community Engaged Learning as a student.

Click here for information about incorporating CEL into the classroom.

In past years, the Land and Water Program has focused on Indigenous peoples enduring relationships with urban land and place, the impacts of a gender binary on the land and learners, Indigenous food sovereignty, plant identification, climate change, and more. This year, Land and Water will explore Indigenous land-based knowledges through the seasons.

Indigenous Land and Place-Making

The program, which aims to foster participants’ sense of belonging on urban land and on campus, kicks off in the fall with a walk and talk on Tuesday, October 4. The walk – a drop-in opportunity open to all students – will focus on Indigenous Land and Place-Making on the Fort Garry Campus.  To join, meet up in front of Migizii Agamik (114 Sidney Smith St.) at 3:00 p.m. Let us know if you are coming!

What, when, who and how much

During the fall, winter and spring seasons, the Land and Water program will offer an in-person land-based experience and virtual workshops. The monthly programming is generally offered in the evenings and on weekends; participants’ schedules will be taken into consideration when setting the calendar.

The program is free of charge and open to all students and urban Indigenous youth (over 18). Indigenous and 2S/LGBTQIA+* youth and students are strongly encouraged to apply. Domestic and international students, full- and part-time students, graduate and undergraduate students, and others may apply.

Learn more about the Land and Water Program here. Inquiries can be directed to landandwater [at] umanitoba [dot] ca.

Join the team

Apply now. Applications close at 11:59 p.m. on October 10.

Community Engaged Learning offers programs and workshops for students interested in applying their knowledge outside the classroom and gaining relevant hands-on experience in the community.

Since the university’s founding, experiential learning has provided opportunities for students to apply their learning in a range of diverse contexts and to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions critical to life, work and global citizenship. The university also recognizes that experiential learning integrates principles drawn from Indigenous pedagogies, including respect, reciprocity and reflection and is inextricably linked to Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.

“Many people think of co-op placements and internships when they think of experiential learning, but the umbrella is wider than work-integrated learning,” says Rebecca Brooks, a faculty specialist in experiential learning. “UM has identified twelve types of experiential opportunities, including creative works, laboratories and studios, applied research and community engaged learning.”

The Office of Experiential Learning serves as a gathering place for a growing community of practice dedicated to sharing knowledge, fostering reflection and enhancing experiential learning at UM.

Learn more about The Office of Experiential Learning and reach out to start a conversation about your experiential learning initiatives.

Book a consultation with a faculty specialist in experiential learning.

Attend an experiential learning workshop, upcoming dates include April 14 and April 27.

Examples of past in-person and virtual programming has included a medicine walk through the urban Assiniboine Forest, making bannock and three sisters soup, an elder-led tour of the Bannock Point petroforms in Whiteshell Provincial Park, snow-shoeing and Indigenous games, a day trip to Shoal Lake 40 First Nation, beading, painting, moccasin-making, screen printing and more.  

During the Fall Term break (from November 6 to 14), the post-secondary team engages in a workshop series, “This is Indigenous Land,” a mix of virtual and in-person activities. Throughout the rest of the year, they participate in workshops, social events and other activities. From February to June, the post-secondary team co-facilitates monthly full-day land-based field trips for high school youth. The program concludes in June with an overnight camping trip, as COVID-19 policies allow. 

This program is free of charge and open to all students. Indigenous students are strongly encouraged to apply. The partnering high school student population is predominantly Indigenous. It’s important for the post-secondary team to share a cultural frame of reference with youth, and for Indigenous students and youth to have access and opportunities to engage in Indigenous land-based education.  

Learn more about the Land and Water Program here. Inquiries can be directed to Meghan.Young@umanitoba.ca. 

Applications are now open!  

Apply now. Interested Indigenous youth 18-35 external to the U of M are also encouraged to apply. CEL is accepting applications till October 15.  

Community Engaged Learning offers free local programs and international programs for students interested in applying their knowledge outside the classroom and gaining relevant hands-on experience in the community.

The term coloniality is used to name these values, beliefs, and ideas, and to remind us that they are neither part of human nature nor shared by all cultures and peoples around the planet. Instead, coloniality reminds us that these ideologies of death have a geographical origin in Europe and a temporal beginning in the project of world-domination called colonization.

From the beginning, peoples and communities have created forms of resistance to coloniality that affirm the value of life and reject white-supremacy, the objectification of mother earth and domination. Today, as the life-ending effects of coloniality continue to intensify and touch our lives in more direct ways than ever before, it is important to recognize the projects and movements of resistance that exist in our community so that we can lend them our voices and support.

Resisting Coloniality in Winnipeg is a panel series that brings together some of the local community organizations and activists who are leading this important work in our city. The panels will take place from August 23 to 26 during lunch hour (12:00 to 1:00pm).

UM students, staff and the broader community are invited to zoom in to learn about local sites and movements of resistance to coloniality in the areas of:

• land and climate
• the body
• food systems and accessibility 
• policing

In addition to these public panels, UM students have the option of signing up for a Community Engaged Learning Experience to take part in living-room style, backstage conversations and learning activities with the panellists as well as virtually sharing a cooking class and meal!

Make sure to follow the office of Community Engaged Learning to learn more about the panellists! @celumanitoba on Facebook and Instagram

For questions and more information, email Gerado Villagran.

“Our team is so excited to finally share the framework and resources with the UM community. While we set out to develop these tools for ourselves and other community engaged learning practitioners, they are available to the wider community through a creative commons license. We hope that community partners will be able to use the framework to strengthen their partnerships with universities and other institutions,” said project lead Nicki Ferland at the launch.

The framework and accompanying set of resources are part of an Indigenous Initiatives funded project that focuses on building and caring for relationships with Indigenous communities. Over a three-year period, Community Engaged Learning consulted with nearly one hundred community partners, practitioners and students, the majority of whom belong to Indigenous communities in Manitoba, Belize, Ecuador, and Chile, as well as Indigenous and non-Indigenous faculty, staff and students at the University of Manitoba. The framework organizes what CEL learned in those consultations into seven principles that apply across five stages of community engagement, beginning with the work before the work and carrying on well beyond the close of a program or partnership.

The resources include:

• A practitioner workbook with practical exercises, tools and approaches for community engagement.
• A relational assessment guide that helps assess the foundations at the core of community-university partnerships.
• An infographic that presents a pathway for community engagement along with key principles and practices that apply to each stage.

UM community members are also invited to learn more about CEL at our Virtual Open House on Wednesday, June 23 from 3:30-5:00 p.m. The Open House will be an opportunity to learn about CEL’s work as an office, including our approach to partner engagement and program development, student programming, and community engagement training, as well as the new Working in Good Ways framework and resources. Please email communityengagement[at]umanitoba[dot]ca to receive the Zoom link.

Sign up for CEL’s mailing list for project updates, new resources, and reminders about our new CEL Community of Practice meetings, which will be a monthly opportunity for UM practitioners to share and discuss our work in community engaged learning.

Community Engaged Learning is a part of the Student Engagement for Success in Student Affairs, and supports students in developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes that are needed when working in community. In recent years, Community Engaged Learning has placed work with Indigenous communities across the Americas at the centre of their work, and refocused the pedagogical aims of their programs on helping students to develop their capacity for working in good ways with Indigenous communities. 

Contact Community Engaged Learning:

Email: communityengagement[at]umanitoba[dot]ca

Phone: 204-474-6992

Facebook and Instagram: @celumanitoba

Partnering with local community members, organizations and ethnocultural groups, the Virtual Community Centre will help students explore the history, demographics, and hidden gems of four Winnipeg neighbourhoods through online presentations and self-directed scavenger hunts. Participating students will be entered to win a local gift card.

Explore Winnipeg programming will include: 

• May 11: South End 
• June 8: Downtown 
• July 6: West End 
• August 3: North End 

Online cooking classes will return at the end of May, which will highlight cuisines from different ethnocultural communities in Winnipeg. Participants will receive a free recipe kit and enjoy a virtual meal together. 

“I’m so excited for the cooking classes to begin again so that I can learn more recipes and try new ingredients,” shared Ann, a returning student from the Winter Term. “I especially loved making the spinach pasta because that’s when I first got introduced to ricotta cheese after coming to Canada, and I’ve been regularly buying ricotta cheese from the grocery stores ever since.”  

Virtual Cooking Classes will include: 

• May 25: Asian foods 
• June 22: East or West African foods 
• July 20: Indigenous foods 
• August 17: Eastern European foods 

Everyone is welcome to join the Virtual Community Centre. International students and other newcomers to Winnipeg will appreciate the opportunity to learn about different neighborhoods, the people who live in our city, as well as the resources that are available to students outside of the university.  

International student Nabiha recently moved to Winnipeg for her second year of study and is excited to connect with new students this summer at a more reasonable hour. 

“Since I was studying in my home country at the time, the community was very special to me — [enough to be] waking up at 3:00 a.m. to attend every week! Since COVID-19, we have not been able to go out with friends, which may create a sense of loneliness for some, but through this community that sense of loneliness was erased. Everyone was welcomed.” 

This is also a great opportunity for local UM students who want to welcome new students, share their perspectives, and help build a sense of community between international and domestic students. The Virtual Community Centre aims to provide fun programming while bridging gaps between the different communities that make up our city. 

UM, ICM, and ELC students are encouraged to register online.  Students are welcome to join any time throughout the summer. 

Community Engaged Learning, a part of Student Engagement and Success in Student Affairs, helps students develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to work well with community. Visit our website to learn more about Community Engaged Learning and our programs. 

Community Engaged Learning  
Email: communityengagement [at] umanitoba [dot] ca  
Phone: 204-474-6992