Presenter: Gadfly Statton, University of Toronto
This workshop will introduce participants to the concepts of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessbility (DEIJA) and why DEIJA is important, specifically in invasive species contexts, so that community engagement efforts can be more effective, and folks doing this important work can feel safe and supported. Participants will also be introduced to concepts such as implicit bias, systemic barriers, and microaggressions. Participants will be asked to share their experiences with successful DEIJA initiatives they have been part of, biases and assumptions they would like help with overcoming, and help co-develop plans to disrupt harmful assumptions when they encounter them. At the culmination of the workshop, participants will be asked to co-produce a commitment to DEIJA principles, with specific goals and objectives they would like to achieve in the short and long term. This document will shared with the conference organizing agencies as well, to provide valuable insights into the specific DEIJA-focused goals and preferences of attendees.
