Last week at the Knowledge Sharing Summit, the Canadian Mountain Network (CMN) announced the launch of seven Knowledge Hubs across Canada, totaling $3M in funding. The Hubs will advance the role of both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing, doing and being in evidence-based decision-making to support the health and resilience of mountain people and places. With the launch of these Hubs, 50% of the total funds support Indigenous-led research.
CMN’s Knowledge Hubs are enabling a diverse group of people and organizations, comprised of 110 collaborators and 79 partner organizations, to work together to build meaningful and sustained knowledge relationships that are inclusive, honour different ways of knowing, prioritize values and relationships, and encourage innovation. The Hubs will enhance Canada’s international leadership in areas of high current economic and social importance, including, but not limited to, reconciliation, preservation of Indigenous languages and knowledge systems, Indigenous stewardship, environmental monitoring and assessment, cumulative effects management, tourism development, economic diversification and nature conservation.
Map of CMN’s seven Knowledge Hubs
Now more than ever it is necessary and critical to work with and not against Indigenous communities. Indigenous stewardship practices passed down for generations have cultivated healthy, sustainable environments and 80 per cent of the world’s remaining biodiversity exists on Indigenous-managed land. Indigenous-led stewardship has been repeatedly cited as one of the most important yet underfunded approaches to achieve climate and conservation goals in Canada and Internationally.
CMN is a model and advocate nationally and internationally for bringing multiple ways of knowing to the table to inform and enhance decision-making. CMN is dedicated to contributing to advancing Canada’s commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SGDs) and Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)