We have made a new addition to the Co-Management Commons website. There is now a podcast on our website, and it is available on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music. Podcasts have become an increasingly popular pedagogy tool for educators, and there are many benefits for students. I have had to explain at home that this is not an ambition to become Mr. Beast or Joe Rogan. My stepson was not impressed with the idea of me being on a YouTube channel! I have not even mentioned the other platforms like Spotify, but hopefully more people in Canada and globally will learn about co-management and become curious about how it is a form of reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples in Canada.
The podcast medium is one additional format in which we can share educational content about co-management freely with interested researchers, students, academics, and community members. For example, in the first episode of the podcast, we invited an award-winning filmmaker to discuss his reflections on using documentary film as a methodology for sharing Inuit knowledge and amplifying the Inuit perspective in caribou and polar bear co-management. Depending on the institution or place where co-management is being discussed, it might not have been feasible or possible to bring a guest like that into the classroom.
Podcasts are a powerful tool in education, offering numerous advantages that enhance the learning experience. When thinking about universal design principles, I conceptualize the podcast as another format that enhances accessibility through smartphones, tablets, and computers, providing students with easy access to educational content whenever they need it. I am hopeful that some of these podcasts will be listened to on land; outside in natural environments. Students can also listen to this content while commuting or exercising, ultimately maximizing their learning time. The podcast will be primarily in video format to share visuals and slides where appropriate as well for learners that can also benefit from that format.
The Co-Management Commons Podcast will share real voices, interviews, and discussions with people connected to the process of co-management in Canada. In the second epidsode, as an example, there is a lot to learn from Tommy Palliser, the Executive Director of the Nunavik Marine Region Wildlife Board. Episodes to follow will have more guests with direct experience in co-management and a range of positionalities.
I can envision how I can share many other voices with students who would not be able to come into the classroom otherwise. In many cases, the guests are experts in their field and region. The diversity of content will provide an opportunity for students to learn more about co-management beyond the syllabus. Students can keep exploring and learning well beyond a course with further exposure to co-management topics.
In a post-digital period of delivering and accessing education, the lines are now blurred between what might have been considered traditional face-to-face education and what now usually involves a variety of formats, facilitation, and technology to learn and apply new knowledge. From the perspective of someone delivering the content, I am excited about the opportunity to also be creative and stay current on the latest co-management developments in Canada. I have noticed that it is easy to become hyper-focused on our own area of co-management and neglect to learn from what is happening positively in other regions.
It is important that a new generation of people learn about and understand the benefits and challenges associated with co-managing fish and wildlife on Indigenous lands. It is equally important for us working at the process of co-management to keep learning from all of the developments happening around us.