HENB at the Presentation of Results of the Indigenous Peoples in Higher Education Research Project

HENB was invited to a dissemination and working session covering initial findings from Belize in the regional project “Supporting Policies and Practices for Indigenous Peoples in Institutions of Higher Education and Academic Research in Central America.” Attending the project culmination were the research team and representatives from tertiary level institutions, government agencies, and Indigenous organizations as well as other researchers, students, and other key stakeholders.

The research team presented their initial findings and challenges and concluded with discussions and working sessions covering how we can use these findings to improve representation of indigenous peoples in higher education here in Belize. We greatly appreciated the discussion of the many practical and novel ways these data can be used to improve policy, infrastructure, communication, and knowledge production to ultimately improve indigenous participation in higher education here in Belize.

The event allowed us to reflect on the ways that HENB as a community organization can help make tertiary education more accessible to indigenous peoples: events focused on inclusive and open knowledge sharing such as KULCHA and research-focused blog posts or presentations written by indigenous people and in indigenous languages are a few of the ways we have previously aimed to do so. HENB hopes to continue cultivating an academic community in Belize that welcomes and embraces a diversity of peoples and perspectives, ultimately strengthening the knowledge base of our society and world.

We look forward to seeing what the research project accomplishes going forward and congratulate them on the culmination of this foundational study.