91��ɫ

Every year since 1991, 91��ɫ has hosted the International Political Economy and Ecology (IPEE) Summer School organized by the Graduate Programs in Environmental Studies, Geography (Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change) and Politics (Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies). The IPEE Summer School presents a unique interdisciplinary opportunity for graduate students at 91��ɫ – but also for students and activists across Canada and beyond – to investigate a salient issue within the field of political economy and ecology.

Running from June 1 to June 9, this year’s intensive course (ENVS 6275/GEOG 5395/POLS 6282 International Political Economy and Ecology Summer School 2026) centered on the theme “Jurisdiction Back: Restoring Indigenous Governance in the Wake of Extraction.” The Summer School was directed by Dr. Dayna N. Scott from Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change, with guest instructors, Dr. Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark from the School of Indigenous Governance, University of Victoria and Dr. Susan Hill, Director of the Centre for Indigenous Studies, University of Toronto. The course offered graduate students, activists, and scholars a space to explore how extractive regimes reshape land, law, and authority, and how Indigenous nations continue to assert and exercise jurisdiction through refusal, resurgence, and governing according to an ethics of care. The event was marked by a powerful week of learning, reflection, and community building.

This iteration of the Summer School was hosted as a fundamental part of the (IBE) project, a SSHRC-funded Partnership Grant co-led by Scott and Stark. The IBE project intends to develop an agenda for remaking socio-technical systems for an anti-colonial, radically just transition, and “Jurisdiction Back” brought these exact principles right into the classroom. Rather than looking at Indigenous jurisdiction as an abstract legal concept, the course examined it as a living, practiced form of collective governance, with particular attention to how it is disrupted by ongoing settler-colonial extractivism.

As part of the course, a public lecture on “ was held with speakers, Heidi Kiiwetinepinesiik Stark and Dr. Susan Hill. Dr. Michelle Daigle from the University of Toronto set a powerful tone with her introductory remarks, followed by detailed sessions with Dr. Susan Hill on Haudenosaunee land tenure and territoriality and Dr. Stark on treaty rights and sovereignty. These sessions directly built upon foundational themes explored at last year’s .

Earlier on March 5, 2026, the Environmental Justice and Sustainability Clinic at Osgoode Hall Law School hosted a student research symposium, " The event brought together law students and land defenders from Neskantaga First Nation, Attawapiskat First Nation, and 8th Fire Rising to make sense of the rapidly changing regulatory landscape across the Indigenous homelands of Treaty Number 9.

Presenters discussed their research on the environmental and impact assessments for the Ring of Fire roads, the ongoing Regional Assessment, the likelihood and consequences of a possible designation of the Ring of Fire as a Project in the National Interest (PONI) or a “Special Economic Zone” (SEZ), and the wide-ranging impacts on Indigenous self-determination and democratic rights spurred. by the onslaught of “fast-tracking” legislation. The event was enriched by guest instructors and speakers who brought engaging community-grounded research and lived experience to the table.