In the heart of Guyana's pristine rainforest is the Indigenous Macushi village of Surama, nestled between high savannahs, tropical rainforests and mountain ranges. Here, Trent students are gaining first-hand insights into what it means to live sustainably, interrogated through the collective multidisciplinary lens from diverse academic disciplines, alongside a small traditional Indigenous village which has been globally identified as a model of sustainable living.
Following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Trent University and Surama Village last October, the new Surama Trent Field School in Sustainable Livelihoods and Biodiversity Conservation was created to offer students, faculty and villagers immersive, hands-on learning experiences that blend academic exploration and research with real-life opportunities for studying and being involved with the propagation and development of model sustainable communities and ecosystems.
The agreement, spearheaded by Dr. Cathy Bruce, president & vice-chancellor of Trent, Marilyn Burns, vice-president of Communications & Enrolment, Dr. Craig Brunetti, dean of the School of Graduate Studies, and Dr. Suresh Narine, a professor in the Departments of Physics & Astronomy and Chemistry, reflects the University's strong leadership working alongside Indigenous communities, Trent's global citizenship, and emphasis on sustainability, the environment and community-based immersive learning.
"There are a few places in the world, where as a function of place, culture, and tradition, solutions for a sustainable world reside. These solutions are not easily transferred to the wider world without careful study and respect for and understanding of different value systems. This field school represents the power of place-based learning," says Professor Narine, who is the lead on the new field school and also the director of the Trent Centre for Biomaterials Research. "It facilitates students and the wider Trent Community to be immersed in the complex connections between ecological health, community well-being, and economic resilience, not only in theory, but in action. The multidisciplinary and immersive approach is the fulcrum that makes this field school such a transformative experience."
New field course sparks transformational learning rooted in sustainability and community resilience
The field school provides the opportunity for fostering and developing an understanding of collaborative corrective action. Through listening, sharing and working respectfully along with Elders, leaders and members of a sustainable Indigenous community located in a pristine ecosystem, students learn about traditional knowledges and building multidisciplinary models for a sustainable world.
During the inaugural course in the field school in June, undergraduate students from Economics, Business, Biology, Nursing, Environmental Science, and Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, along with graduate students from the Sustainability Studies and Environmental and Life Sciences programs, spent two weeks learning from a variety of Surama community leaders. They learned from farmers, Elders, expert ecotourism guides, and conservationists about the practices and philosophies that shape sustainable living in the Guiana Shield, a watershed hosting one of the world's most pristine and varied biodiversity. Students explored mountain farms where diverse crops grow side by side to preserve soil health and biodiversity and learned about plant-based medicine and forest remedies used by the community for generations. They were immersed in the natural environment of old-growth tropical rainforests and rivers, experiencing first-hand one of the world's standing natural wonders and its flora and fauna.
Through these experiences, students employed their education and training in diverse disciplines to pursue learning inquiries related to sustainable growth, modern agricultural practices, retention of youth, policy related to trade and transportation routes, and community health as a function of changing realities, trade, and transportation routes.
"The farm is more than a food source it's a safeguard for biodiversity and a foundation for community resilience," one student reflected in the group blog.
A cross-disciplinary lens on governance, gender, and ecological stewardship
Upholding the interdisciplinary nature of the MOU, lessons also went beyond ecology. Students met with the village's Council of Elders to learn about governance rooted in shared responsibility. They discussed shifting gender roles, education, and the evolving balance between human needs and ecological preservation in Surama.
Students were prepared before the Surama experience through two weeks of course work, participating in lectures from a multidisciplinary team of professors, including Dr. Bruce Cater, professor of Economics, Dr. Neil Emery, chair and professor of Biology, Dr. Stephen Hill, professor of Environmental Science, Dr. Patti Tracey, professor of Nursing, Dr. Craig Brunetti, professor of Biology and Prof. Narine.
"Before this experience, I saw sustainability through a policy lens," shared another student. "But this changed that. I now understand it as rooted in ancestral knowledge, hardship, reciprocity, and care."
Students were also introduced to a model of sustainability that places community at the centre. Programs like Surama's community-run birding tours and Eco-Lodge, which are owned by local residents, and unique rotating approaches to employment allow the proceeds to reach the entire community and showed students the ways collaboration can help village economies thrive without compromising ecological values.
"The result for students is a meaningful immersion in sustainable development and a deeper understanding of their own role in a global ecosystem that prepares them for impactful lives and roles in Canada and beyond," said Dean Brunetti.
Read more reflections from students on their experience and see photos through their daily student blog, and learn more about the Trent Nursing, Economics, Biology, Business, Environmental Science, Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems, Environmental & Life Sciences, and Sustainability Studies programs.
