Title: Professional Engineers are key in walking with (Re)conciliation.
Date and Time: Friday, December 1. Refreshments served at 12:50 p.m. Seminar starts at 1 p.m.
Location: CHBE 102 (2360 East Mall)
Abstract
Canada has an oppressive past, which has led to intergenerational trauma, complicated land ownership and trust, cultural and language genocide all of which has contributed to Indigenous communities having to struggle to access to clean water, freedom and spaces to practice ceremony, and difficulty to access infrastructure funding. It is up to all of us to take up the Calls to Action and take responsibility. Professional Engineers are involved in all aspects of creating and maintaining safe, healthy, and vibrant communities and developing innovations that allow our daily lives to thrive and so are key in ensuring we walk in a good way with Truth and (Re)conciliation. This session will give an appreciation for the Truth and the complications to Indigenous Communities and give ideas of how we can Walk in a Good Way.
Biography
JESSICA VANDENBERGHE, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.) is born of the Dene Thá First Nation, is a sixties scoop survivor and raised in an inclusive German farming family in northern Alberta. Her exceptional career is based on two engineering degrees from the University of Alberta. She has worked in the oil sands, mining, regulatory, infrastructure, consulting industries and academia. She is the Assistant Dean, Community and Culture with the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Victoria. She is a mother of two and at the intersection of two equity deserving groups in the Engineering Profession, which drives her passion for equity, diversity and inclusion. Her lived experience allows her to contribute significantly to Truth and Reconciliation to build strong, healthy relationships with Indigenous Communities and to build safe, brave places where we can be our authentic selves. Her approach, knowledge, and expertise bring value in terms of healing, instilling ethical behaviour, introducing two-eyed seeing and integration of Indigenous ways, inclusive leadership practice, and setting organizations and institutions on a strategic path to ensure community is built.