ISDG Symposium 2026. Voices of the Land and Sea: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Futures

The University of Cambridge Indigenous Studies Discussion Group Symposium 2026, Voices of the Land and Sea: Indigenous Knowledge and Climate Futures, developed from a conversation about creating a space that connected academic research with lived practice and community knowledge, and to support dialogue across different knowledge systems shaping responses to climate change. The symposium brings together researchers, Indigenous knowledge holders, practitioners, artists, and activists working across land and ocean worlds to explore how Indigenous knowledge informs environmental research and pluralistic futures.

The symposium is a one-day online event bringing together researchers, Indigenous knowledge holders, practitioners, artists, and community organisers. After reviewing over 220 applications from contributors worldwide, the programme explores Indigenous climate adaptation, environmental justice, ocean governance, community initiatives, youth activism, and storytelling as climate knowledge.

Why Indigenous Knowledge Matters

Indigenous Peoples steward approximately 25% of the world’s land, including areas that contain a large proportion of global biodiversity and a significant share of the planet’s carbon stored in forests and soils. Many ecosystems under Indigenous stewardship remain in stronger ecological condition than comparable environments elsewhere, reflecting long-standing systems of environmental governance grounded in intergenerational knowledge and relationships with land and water. As climate change intensifies, these knowledge systems provide critical insights into adaptation and sustainable resource management, while Indigenous communities continue to advocate for recognition of land rights and participation in climate decision-making or policy processes.

Building on three years of activity within the Indigenous Studies Discussion Group, including the group’s 2022 conference, Voices of the Land and Sea continues a wider commitment to creating community-centred spaces for dialogue within Indigenous Studies and beyond. Rather than functioning only as a conference, the symposium is intended as a collaborative space for conversation and collective thinking about environmental futures already being shaped in communities around the world.

Ethics and Values 

Whilst the term Indigenous Peoples is used collectively here, we recognise that Indigenous identity emerges relationally from specific places, languages, contexts, and community relationships, and cannot be separated from them. Contributors are encouraged to share their work and stories in ways that respect their own communities and knowledge systems.

The symposium is committed to creating a supportive environment for dialogue centred on listening, mutual learning, care, and respect. We aim to foster conversations that cross disciplines and communities and to create opportunities for connection that extend beyond the event itself. We recognise Indigenous knowledge as a valid and vital form of knowledge alongside academic frameworks that shape both ecological understandings and climate action. We encourage all participants to engage collaboratively rather than extractively, respecting knowledge holders and the communities from which knowledge arises.

Organising committee

Esme Barrell, University of Bristol - Lead Organiser

Emma Dussouchaud-Esclamadon, University of Edinburgh

Ximena Oñate, University of Edinburgh

Mathilda Lorkin, Queen Mary University of London

Zǐ Jiao, University of Cambridge

Seira Duncan, University of Eastern Finland

Mrinalini Raj, Indian Institute of Technology

Contact 

Indigenous Studies Discussion Group, University of Cambridge (ISDG): isdgcambridge@gmail.com