The Indigenous Pathways Workshop

Principal Investigator (PI): Dr. Alice Loy, Creative Startups

Co-PI: Ted Jojola, University of New Mexico

Workshop Region: Communities across “Indian Country”, loosely: the Navajo Nation, the Eight Northern New Mexico Pueblos, Pueblos located along the Rio Grande, and also Laguna, Zuni, and Acoma Pueblos. Urban communities including Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Gallup, New Mexico. 

Our overarching goal for the workshop is to increase our understanding of how urban communities can accelerate innovation, creativity, and the pro-social diffusion of technologies relating to the planning, policy, and development of smart, equitable, sustainable communities (SESC). Creative Startups, UNM, and the City of Albuquerque will host urban planners, smart city technologists, equity advocates for a 2-day workshop to explore how communities may more effectively engage Native American artists and creatives in SESC with the aim of increasing rates of scientific/technological discovery and diverse participation in STEM fields. Specifically, we will consider: 1. What potential pathways to innovation can our unique regional culture and norms envision and unlock in relation to SESC-related technologies (i.e. artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, IoT, advanced manufacturing, computational modeling, immersive technologies, and cyberinfrastructure)? 2. How might Native American cultural knowledge and norms spur innovation in city and regional planning? How might Native American engagement in urban planning generate more equity and diverse stakeholder engagement? 3. How might a cross-disciplinary approach involving artists, creatives, and equity advocates enable cities to become more responsive to the concerns and challenges of historically excluded communities affected by SESC technologies and initiatives?

For further information, please reach out to Ted Jojola (tjojola@unm.edu).

Outcomes

Find a downloadable copy of the report at the following link.