The Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals' Waste & Response Team, and the Tribal Waste & Response Steering Committee, delivered a virtual variation on the Tribal Lands and Environment Forum in August 2020. The Tribal Lands and Environment Forum: Virtual Gathering platform allowed participants to not only learn, but also connect with their friends and colleagues like they normally do during the TLEF.
The TLEF:VG Offered:- Two plenary sessions. Our opening plenary on August 17 featured Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer, the author of Braiding Sweetgrass! And our closing plenary on August 20 we had a presentation by Jason Baldes, a Board Member of the Inter Tribal Buffalo Council.
- 21 Live Sessions by a wide variety of experts, covering solid waste, Superfund, USTs, emergency response, and multi-media topics. Each of these sessions will include live Q&A sessions so you can engage directly with the presenters.
- 20+ “Birds of a Feather” Live, small-group, video discussions. These special video discussion sessions had a particular topic and allowed participants to network and brainstorm with their colleagues.
- Virtual Multi-Media Meetup was a networking opportunity to share information and interact with tribal colleagues, technical assistance providers, and agency staff on Wednesday afternoon. Participants were able to visit virtual booths, access exhibitors' materials and videos, and also chat directly.
- Opportunities to connect and chat with your colleagues one-on-one. Starting on August 3, registered attendees built their own profiles and then connected with colleagues and set up individual video chat sessions.
- Special in-depth trainings the week of August 24! We worked with three different groups to bring you the opportunity for the following online trainings: “Indigenous Planning, Community Assets, and Brownfields”; “Environmental Health and Land Reuse” with staff from Tribes and ATSDR; and a very innovative course covering Tribal law and sovereignty by long time TLEF participant Richard Du Bey and his colleagues at Ogden Murphy Wallace PLLC.
