Decolonizing land management in institutions of higher education

Abstract

Many institutions of higher education (IHE) were founded on and continue to benefit from the violent dispossession of Indigenous Land. IHE and Land managed by IHE frame scientific knowledge as universal, marginalizing Indigenous, non-Eurocentric perspectives and knowledge. Including local and Indigenous knowledge systems in IHE Land management has implications for fostering resilient socio-ecological systems as well as for decolonizing IHE Land management. However, scholarship on what kinds of knowledge systems are included in Land managed by IHE is lacking. Subsequently, interventions to decolonize IHE Land management are also absent. Through qualitative methods, this study examines knowledges included in IHE Land management plans. Findings show scientific knowledge dominates the plans, followed by local knowledge and professional knowledge, with almost no Indigenous knowledge. The absence of Indigenous knowledge in IHE Land management supports calls for changes to IHE knowledge production and rematriating Indigenous Land to Indigenous communities. The study concludes with implications for decolonizing IHE Land management in higher education and beyond.