In a visioning exercise supported by the FNWSC in the early Winter of 2017, participating nations identified through community engagements what their vision of a transformed education system is. Culture, identity, language and our histories were key priority areas of a transformed education system identified by all participating nations.
Since the Fall of 2017, FNWSC has been actively identifying each community’s assets that will serve to address the community’s respective vision of a vibrant life long learning system. By doing so, education strategic planning can take advantage of assets primed to be put to work for the community. In this way, the asset mapping is community-driven and operationalized.
Community members named many tangible assets such as their school, library, pond, animals and forests, for example. They also named many intangible assets such as family knowledges, community social programming, and a sense of belonging.
One community prioritized the protection of 32 named species-at-risk as the asset needing more strengthening and attention in the short-term education plan.
“The time will soon be here when my grandchild will long for the cry of a loon, the flash of a salmon, the whisper of spruce needles, or the screech of an eagle. But he will not make friends with any of these creatures and when his heart aches with longing, he will curse me. Have I done all to keep the air fresh? Have I cared enough about the water? Have I left the eagle to soar in freedom? Have I done everything I could to earn my grandchild’s fondness?” — Chief Dan George