Map the System Canada 2022 Workshop: Identifying Colonial Influences in Systems

Presentation Date: Wednesday February 23, 2022

There are many factors that influence a system. In Canada and around the globe colonialism has influenced not only the structure of systems, but often the goal as well. Where does colonialism fit into our understanding of systemic challenges?

This session aims to provide guidance and insight for students participating in the Map the System 2022 competition. The topics that will be covered in the workshop are as follows:

- An introduction to the impact of colonialism from a systems perspective
- A discussion of the importance of place-based knowledge
- Tips for identifying colonial influences within a system
- How previous participants approached this process
- Q&A

This presentation is led by Jessie Loyer. Jesse is Cree-Métis and a member of Michel First Nation. She's the Indigenous Studies and Anthropology librarian at Mount Royal University in Calgary, on Blackfoot and Treaty 7 territory. Her research looks at Indigenous perspectives on information literacy, supporting language revitalization, and building capacity for oral history sharing and digitization for communities. She's interested in creating ongoing research relationships using kinship, and has supported the research of Map the System teams since 2017.

This workshop is hosted by the Institute for Community Prosperity at Mount Royal University as part of Map the System Canada 2022.

About Map the System Canada
Map the System Canada is an extension of the Oxford Map the System global competition. MTS Canada provides an opportunity for Canadian students and educators to participate in the renowned Map the System global competition and provide additional support relevant to Canadian students. As part of the global competition, Map the System Canada hosts a National final that brings together emerging systems change leaders who are passionate about social and environmental change.

What is Map the System?
Map the System is a global competition of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship in partnership with educational institutions across the world. Map the System asks participants to use ‘systems thinking’ as a guiding approach to understanding complex social and environmental challenges.