Over the past several years, the College has engaged with AndHumanity, an inclusive marketing agency, as part of ongoing efforts to enhance inclusion across communications resources and materials. AndHumanity specializes in justice, equity and diversity with an inclusionary lens and aims to help organizations create inclusive consumer experiences.
As part of this work, one of the actionable priorities identified was a commitment to review and update the College’s land acknowledgement. This initiative aimed to avoid tokenism and prevent perpetuating harm.
The goal of updating the land acknowledgement was to ensure that the revisions would be informed by meaningful engagement with individuals who self-identify as First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis and who bring relevant lived experiences. This engagement was conducted in February and March 2024 and took a two-pronged approach: inviting feedback on the College’s land acknowledgement from those who self-identify as First Nations, Inuit and Métis via a survey, and qualitative one-on-one interviews with individuals who self-identify as Indigenous. The findings were then analyzed and a comprehensive summary report with both engagements was provided to the College for review.
After considering the feedback received during the engagement process, the College made comprehensive revisions to the land acknowledgement. The draft version was then re-circulated with the interview participants to ensure that the changes reflected the feedback in the findings report.
In their advisory role, the College’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee members also took part in the revision process, and they reviewed the updated version of the land acknowledgement.
The College would like to thank everyone who provided their feedback and helped to shape the revised land acknowledgement. The updated land acknowledgement is now posted on the College’s website.
For questions or inquiries about the College’s land acknowledgement, contact the Communications Department at communications@ocswssw.org.