The Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research at 91亚色 is presenting a special film festival on Aug. 19 to mark the completion of the 2022 edition of the Planetary Health Film Lab (PHFL). The Micro Film Festival will take place online from 6 to 8 p.m. This event if free and open to the public. All are welcome.

Now in its third year, this summer the 2022 PHFL is working with 15 Indigenous youth from Ecuador. Many of the participants have never operated a camera and for some, this will be the first time they have left their home communities. The group will gather in Quito, Ecuador鈥檚 capital, from Aug. 15 to 18 for a workshop led by the award-winning documentary filmmaker Mark Terry, who is also a researcher with the Dahdaleh Institute and an adjunct professor at 91亚色.

In the months leading up to this year鈥檚 workshop, the participants have adopted the role of filmmakers. They have been busy conducting research, filming interviews with elders from their communities and collecting footage of landscapes and wildlife for their films. They will then spend the workshop attending lectures delivered by local and international experts in the fields of planetary health, filmmaking, Indigenous studies, youth studies, the United Nations (UN) and participatory storytelling techniques to inform and influence UN policymakers. Each afternoon, the participants will have access to a post-production laboratory at the Escuela Polit茅cnica Nacional (EPN) in Quito, a partner university in this year鈥檚 PHFL, where they will work on completing their films. (EPN鈥檚 website for the event can be viewed . )English subtitles for the films will be developed in partnership with the Quechua Academy of Humanities, an affiliate of the EPN and a PHFL partner. Experts from the Quechua Academy of Humanities will work with the participants in their native languages of Kichwa and Shuar to ensure all films receive accurate translation for the subtitles.

As 2022 is the first year of the , all 15 films will also be showcased at a special event at the UN Climate Change Conference, COP27, taking place this November in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt.

The PHFL is an international program that began in 2019, bringing youth from Italy, India, Australia, Ecuador, Colombia and Canada to 91亚色鈥檚 Keele Campus for a series of workshops and training sessions in environmental documentary filmmaking to showcase planetary health issues in their respective communities. The following year, in the midst of the pandemic, a remote version of the PHFL took place with Indigenous youth from the Circumpolar Arctic. All the films were then showcased at a micro film festival to wrap up the program. The festivals are open to the public and often the first time the young filmmakers have the opportunity to present their work to the world. For even broader impact, the films are then submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change鈥檚 (UNFCCC) Youth Climate Report, and upon approval, added to the and presented at the annual COP conferences.

鈥淏y amplifying the voices of youth and of Indigenous Peoples throughout the world, representation of these groups and their planetary health issues are getting noticed and addressed at the UN鈥檚 annual climate summits even more now than in previous years,鈥� says Terry.

鈥淭he tools provided by the PHFL program empower participants not only to make films about planetary health issues in their communities and share them with UN delegates but, crucially, to share these techniques and approaches with other youth in their home communities long after the program ends,鈥� adds Terry. 鈥淚n one case, a PHFL participant in Australia used the skills he learned in the PHFL to open his own film production company specifically to make environmental documentaries for those in power.鈥�

Co-leading the 2022 edition of the PHFL are: Dr. James Orbinski, a physician and the director of the Dahdaleh Institute; Canada Research Chair in Youth, Education & Global Good in the Faculty of Education at 91亚色; and , senior research associate and manager of the Young Lives Research Lab at 91亚色, with , a researcher and professor at Escuela Polit茅cnica Nacional, and , the director of the Quechua Academy of Humanities.

A lifechanging and inspiring event, register now for the Aug.19 Micro Film Festival.

Watch the promotional video (below) that was co-created by the PHFL participants.

Article originally published in the August 10, 2022 issue of

The post This year鈥檚 Planetary Health Film Lab and Micro Film Festival features work by Indigenous youth from Ecuador appeared first on Faculty of Education.

James Stinson (PhD, University of Toronto) is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Planetary Health & Education at 91亚色. His work explores intersections of social, cultural and ecological health and well-being, with a focus on Indigenous youth.

What are you currently researching?

I am a Postdoctoral Fellow working with Professor and Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) Dr. Kate Tilleczek and the Young Lives Research Lab in the Faculty of Education and Dr. James Orbinski at the Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research. 

One area of my current research is focused on youth and Planetary Health, which examines how human health and well-being is connected to the health of the non-human environment. I am currently the Principle Investigator (with Kate Tilleczek and James Orbinski as co-investigators) on two SSHRC-funded Partnership Grants focused on engaging Indigenous youth in Planetary Health research and action. Both projects have been designed as collaborative partnerships between 91亚色 and the Bagida'waad Alliance, an Indigenous environmental organization formed by members of the Saugeen Ojibway Nation in Ontario. 

Our SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant is focused on training Indigenous youth in digital video and film-making to document Indigenous conceptions of, and responses to, climate change on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. The goal is to use film and story-telling as methods to facilitate Indigenous Knowledge transfer between Elders and youth about the changing climate. We also want to promote broader awareness amongst policy-makers and the general public about how Indigenous peoples are experiencing and responding to climate change on the Saugeen Peninsula. 

The second project is funded by a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant and is focused on promoting experiential education and land-based learning with Anishinaabe youth from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation. We are currently developing a three-year land-based learning program which aims to support Indigenous youth in connecting to their traditional territory in ways that support their physical, psychological and cultural well-being, and that also supports stewardship and care of the non-human world. This project is aimed at generating knowledge about the importance of the land and environment to the health and well-being of Indigenous youth, but is also about promoting Planetary Health and well-being in a very practical way. 

What attracted you to this area of research?

After completing my PhD in anthropology, which focused on Indigenous-led conservation in Belize, Central America, I wanted to shift to a more engaged and decolonial mode of research that would be developed in a collaborative way with my research partners. I also wanted to ensure that the research I would be doing would be of interest to the people and communities I work with, and that it would have tangible benefits. As a settler Canadian, I also really wanted to pursue research that supported Indigenous Peoples here in Canada in the spirit of reconciliation. Indigenous Peoples are often those most impacted by environmental degradation and climate change, and are often on the front lines of efforts to address these issues. Given the history and ongoing reality of settler colonialism in Canada and elsewhere around the world, I want my work to support Indigenous Peoples in their efforts to promote a more just and sustainable world for future generations. 

How will your research have an impact on society? Why is your research important?

The research aims to generate useful knowledge with and for Indigenous youth about how they and their communities are experiencing climate change, and about the effectiveness of land-based learning as a way to promote youth-led Planetary Health research and action. Knowledge produced through the project will ideally be shared with academic and public audiences to promote greater awareness and understanding of these issues. More importantly however, these projects are designed to train Indigenous youth in useful and transferable skills such as digital media production, research methods and communication skills. The projects will also promote cultural revitalization and strengthen Indigenous identity through inter-generational knowledge exchange between Indigenous Elders and youth, and promote social and ecological health and well-being. 

What are some of the big issues that your research addresses?

The research addresses big issues such as the impact of colonialism and climate change on the health and well-being of Indigenous Peoples, and their relation to the land and the non-human world. It also explores the potential of land-based experiential learning to promote the health and well-being of Indigenous youth and the health of the non-human world. 

What is the coolest thing about your research?

The coolest aspect of this research has been getting to work with and learn from my Indigenous partners and youth about the inspiring work they are doing to protect and care for the Earth. I'm incredibly grateful for the opportunity to support them and learn from them through this research. It has also been really fun to work with smartphones, tablets and digital media as a research method, and to see youth empowered to share their stories.聽

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