Nature-Integrated, Land-Connected, and Community-Based Child Development: My MDP Practicum with Vikashalaya

By Gurpreet Kalsi, final year MDP student 

As part of my Master's in Development Practice (MDP) program at the University of Winnipeg, I am completing a three-month virtual placement with Vikashalaya (ARATI) in India. Vikashalaya is working toward creating a Nature-Integrated Human Society by supporting children to develop strong relationships with nature, their communities, and their culture. During my placement, I have been working on the development of a Child Development Framework for Matrikul, Vikashalaya's child development initiative.
 

Vikashalaya team meeting 

My main responsibility has been researching different approaches to holistic child development and bringing them together into a framework that reflects Vikashalaya's vision. This has involved learning about nature-based education, place-based learning in Santiniketan and Birbhum, and sustainable development approaches. I have also explored publicly available principles of Indigenous land-based education in Canada to better understand how learning through relationships, community, and the natural environment can help support children's development in respectful and meaningful ways.
 
One of the biggest lessons I have taken from this practicum is that education does not only happen inside a classroom. Children learn through spending time outdoors, listening to stories, participating in their communities, observing nature, and building relationships with the people around them. These experiences help develop confidence, responsibility, curiosity, and a sense of belonging.

This placement has given me a deeper appreciation for community-based and nature-integrated approaches to child development. I am thankful to the Vikashalaya team, especially Asit Ghosh, for welcoming me into this project and sharing their vision. I look forward to continuing to learn from this experience and contributing to work that supports children, communities, and sustainable development.

Growing and Learning… Just like a Plant

By Andrea Dsouza, 1st year MDP student

Hello everyone, this is my second update for my placement with CFTC this summer!

 

My work really took a deep dive as I learnt about the different elements included in a cost-benefit analysis and about indoor growing units. I considered myself to be a highly relational person. I enjoyed my placement this summer because it allowed me to connect with those engaged in the indoor growing community. I had many exciting conversations about hydroponics and the strengths and weaknesses of different options currently available on the market.

When it came to putting the information together, I was given the freedom to do so in a way that made sense to me. This was incredibly empowering, if not a little nerve-racking, at the start!  When I finally presented my deliverables to my supervisors, I was glad that my work also made sense to them! What a relief!

Over the past year in the MDP program, we learnt the importance of providing an intersectional analysis in our work. This aligns with CFTC's values. My final deliverable contains information about the strengths and weaknesses of different options available on the market. Additionally, it includes details like the companies engagement (or lack of engagement) with Indigenous communities and some of the known challenges of particular interventions. Together these elements help build an integrated analysis that can serve as an essential resource for communities investing in technological solutions.

I wonder if, without the covid-19 pandemic, I might have had the opportunity to connect more closely with Indigenous community members and understand more of their needs and vision for the future. However, I know that my supervisors were in close contact with their community partners, which gave me a sense of confidence that my work was on the right track. I also look forward to presenting my work to other members of CFTC and to Indigenous community partners during September!

This project has given me a sense of confidence in myself and my work as a development practitioner! I am grateful to the MDP program for helping me secure this placement and the staff at CFTC for their support and guidance throughout the summer!

Policy and Progress

 By Mackenzie Roop, 2nd year MDP student

Time goes so slowly during the summer, and yet in a blink of an eye it’s gone. I’ve learned so much in this office over the last three months. Working in the Government of Manitoba in the Agriculture and Resource Development (ARD) policy branch has been an especially eye opening in these times of managing responses to extreme weather events and changes in climate, as we have seen with unprecedented forest fires and drought. It’s been incredible to see the efforts behind developing policy and subsequent program funding.

My projects have mostly revolved around preparing policy option papers to inform ARD’s Next Policy Framework. The papers I have helped prepare surround topics such as Diversity and Inclusion, Producer Mental Health, and Reviewing the Application Process for Indigenous Groups accessing program funding for agricultural and food projects. I learned to be adaptive and adjust the paper’s language and expectations. Throughout this placement, I have built skills in interviewing, qualitative analysis, research, and technical writing. It has been a huge learning curve in terms of adjusting my writing style, learning acronyms, and understanding contextual goals and perspectives. Despite many being online, there is a human element to working in an office. I am grateful to the many conversations, walks, and coffees that I have shared with my colleagues. This experience has given me an in depth understanding of government and political processes, and increased my general knowledge of resource related projects in Manitoba. Working in government and especially policy is a unique position to affect change. I am excited that my research will help inform policy recommendations.