Program Announcement!
Race and Nature Symposium Program Overview Monday 26, October 2026 (8am - 6pm) Location: MN - Maanjiwe Nendamowinan Building, UTM
It is our pleasure to introduce the overview of our symposium program! With close to 50 inspiring speakers, three plenaries, and three concurrent panel sessions—including an optional outdoor experience—we have planned a day designed to spark dialogue on urban nature, equity, and racial issues.
Our heartfelt thanks to our advisors, sponsors and a special thank you to the Sustainability Management program at UTM for providing the venue and support for this inaugural event.
Our early bird registration ends on September 7th, so get your tickets now! See the registration details below.
Register for the inaugural Race and Nature to be held in Mississauga, Canada. The theme, Mapping the Intersection of Race and Nature in Challenging Times, examines how race shapes the ways nature is perceived, accessed, and experienced.
We have an impressive line up of speakers with a wealth of knowledge, experience and stories. Their voices are critical in these challenging times to provide direction and pathways to move forward with hope.
As global social and environmental conditions continue to shift, dominant paradigms around nature are being re-examined. At the same time, persistent race-based inequities influence who is able to access, control, and manage natural spaces, and whose knowledge and relationships are recognised and valued. The demographic shift in Canada highlights the disconnect between being a multi-racial society and who has access to nature.
Childhood access to nature shapes future perceptions of nature. About a third of children and youth in Canada are racialised, Black, Indigenous, or are first- or second-generation immigrants. In Toronto, this rises to about half of the youth population. If these children and youth are alienated from nature, have limited access to nature programming, or rarely see themselves represented in nature, it makes it more challenging for them to care about or protect nature. The symposium will critically engage these race-and-nature challenges by centering the voices and lived experiences of Black and other racialised communities. It is the first such event to bring these groups together in Canada. The symposium is for scholars, educators, practitioners, and community leaders from diverse backgrounds, and others who are interested.
Sub-themes in race and nature: K-12 education, food, art, health, climate and social justice, climate mitigation, sustainability, Indigenous relations, funding.