The Graduate Diploma of Land and Sea Country Management has been on offer at the Institute of Koorie Education (IKE) and now the National Indigenous Knowledges, Education, Research and Innovation Institute (NIKERI) since 1995. Collaborated in partnership between Deakin University and Victorian Aboriginal Elders, the course was designed to provide a post-graduate qualification for Aboriginal staff to work in various roles in National Parks, environmental agencies and decision-making bodies to instil Country-based perspectives reflecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge, perspectives and culture. Designed to be studied part-time, with workplace projects as a base, thirty-one years later, is has close to three hundred graduates working in every state as CEOs, consultants, business owners, facilitators, whole of Country planners, project managers, academics, cultural heritage interpreters and board members. Future NRM program design will continue to rely on qualified Indigenous practitioners with multiple transferable skills, cultural knowledge and proactive leadership skills. Hear the story of one course that designed to incorporate Indigenous perspectives into managing land and sea Country at a post-graduate level over 30 years ago.
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Authors:
Suzanne Nunn
