2025 Ontario Biodiversity Summit E-Newsletter - Issue no. 4

Our preliminary program has been updated! Find it here.

Two months until the Summit! Register today to guarantee your spot.

KEYNOTE PRESENTATION:

The opportunities and challenges of Two-Eyed Seeing in conservation - bringing knowledge systems together

Two-Eyed Seeing – the bringing together of Western science and Indigenous knowledge to achieve a holistic understanding – is pivotal to our turning point for nature. It serves as a guiding principle for conservation efforts and life, fostering a collaborative co-learning journey of diverse perspectives. Two-Eyed Seeing can enhance conservation efforts, promote sustainability, and create a more inclusive and respectful approach to understanding and protecting our natural world.

The 2025 Ontario Biodiversity Summit opening keynote will include:

Dr.Dan Longboat, Associate Professor, Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies, Director, Indigenous Environmental Studies, Trent University
Dr. Chris Furgal, Professor, Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies, Trent University
Dr. Deborah McGregor, Professor, Faculty of Science, University of Calgary. Canada Excellence Research Chair , Indigenous Knowledge and Planetary Well Being

Together, they will underscore the importance of Indigenous knowledge, culture, and practices in informing conservation and provide tangible examples, explore opportunities, and address some

of the challenges of engaging knowledge systems in ways that are mutually beneficial, respectful and authentic.

View the Summit program

Keynote speaker Dan Longboat - Roronhiakewen (He Clears the Sky) is a Turtle Clan member of the Mohawk Nation and a citizen of the Rotinonshón:ni (Haudenosaunee - People of the Longhouse), originally from Ohsweken - the Six Nations community on the Grand River. Dan is an Associate Professor in the Chanie Wenjack School for Indigenous Studies at Trent University, founding Director of the Indigenous Environmental Science/Studies program and co-Director of the Indigenous Environmental Institute.

Read Dan's full bio here.

DAWN CHORUS:

an activity for the early birds

Thursday May 22, 2025

Start Day 2 of the Summit with a sunrise stroll!

Join Joseph Pitawanakwat, Andrés Jiménez Monge, and Junaid Shahzad Khan from Creators Garden at sunrise to welcome the birds, listen, walk, and learn about Indigenous bird names from Anishinaabe Aki and their linguistic, cultural, ecological, and medicinal significance.

Pre-registration is required. If you've already registered for the Summit watch your email for instructions on how to sign up. The start time will be shared with participants in advance and please dress for the weather!

SUMMIT SNEAK PEEK

The summit will include 20 concurrent sessions and workshops from subject matter experts and innovators.

Session profile:

Building ecological resilience in a changing climate: innovative collaborative approaches

Collaborative and innovative solutions are needed to solve deeply rooted and complex challenges like climate change.

Join a panel of experts to delve in to some of the collaborative efforts to boost the resilience of biodiversity.

This session will feature collective story harvesting, which is a unique way to help participants build targeted listening skills and deeply learn from the experiences of others.

"We will learn from each other as we explore successes and lessons learned from resilience-oriented collaborations in Ontario."

Moderator: Kaitlin Almack

Speakers:

-John Kintare, Executive Director, Kawartha Land Trust

-Elliot Groen, Kawartha Community Forest Owners Cooperative, Ontario Woodlot Association

-Bryan Gilvesy, Chief Executive Officer, ALUS

-Francine McDonald, Senior Invasive Species Biologist, Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

-Mike Hendren, Executive Director, Ontario Conservation Accelerator

Learn more about the Summit

Want to be a biodiversity benefactor?

We're still seeking financial partners to help us make the summit a success! There are many ways you can contribute - sponsor a concurrent session, choose a custom partnership package, or purchase an exhibit space to be part of our turning point for nature! Please contact us to learn more: partnerships@ontariobiodiversitycouncil.ca.

Become a partner

Thank you to our partners:

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