INSIGHTS
Honouring the Land, Honouring the Future: Nature-Based Design Collaboration with First Nations Communities
We understand that community development is more than just infrastructure—it is about creating healthy communities of people, plants, animals, fungi, insects, soil, and water that sustain cultural heritage, respect both Elders and future generations, enhance well-being, and ensure economic resilience. Acquiring funds and managing a project that seeks to modify the environment in accordance with those values is a complex task.
We hope to offer you meaningful resources and expertise to guide your community in this mission. In this article we'll review and acknowledge the problematic legacies of colonial design practices, offer insight into how our collaborative vision offers a different path forward, and highlight funding opportunities to get your project built in a sustainable manner.
Challenging Colonial Legacies in Engineering and Planning
Many conventional engineering and planning approaches in the built environment continue to replicate colonial structures that impose a Eurocentric vision of design. These models often prioritize rigid zoning, devaluation of environmental features such as forests and streams, and infrastructure that disregards natural ecosystems. As a result, Indigenous lands have been subjected to development that disrupts traditional land-use patterns, undermines environmental integrity, and marginalizes Indigenous governance over their territories.
By contrast, Indigenous planning is rooted in reciprocity with the land, emphasizing interconnected relationships between people, water, plants, and wildlife. A shift away from colonial design models requires embracing Indigenous perspectives on stewardship, which prioritize sustainable, place-based, and culturally significant approaches to community building. Our work aims to dismantle these imposed structures by co-creating designs that restore balance, honor traditional knowledge, and support self-determined planning for First Nations communities.
Collaborating for a Better Future
We know that many First Nations communities have transformative visions for their lands, whether through cultural revitalization, economic development, or environmental restoration. MDI has expertise in land use planning and design of the build environment that can help Nations:
develop a new area of land as part of a business venture;
build a new daycare, park, or cultural center;
improve the climate resilience of communities and stormwater infrastructure;
restore wetlands and culturally important habitat;
develop material for grant applications, budgeting and feasibility studies;
effectively communicate complex systems and processes;
foster opportunities for youth, artists and community members to contribute to design decisions in their territories; and
prioritize land development and land stewardship opportunities.
Funding Opportunities
Securing funding for these projects can be a challenge.
Below are just a few funding sources available for projects like yours.
Victoria Foundation Indigenous Priorities Fund* – Supports local projects here in Victoria, BC.
Federal Community Opportunity Readiness Fund – Can fund feasibility studies for community development.
Lands and Economic Development Services Program – Prioritizes environmental management, land use planning, and economic development.
Federal Contaminated Sites On-Reserve Program – Funds restoration of former dump sites and diesel plants.
Coast Funds Economic Development Fund – Supports eco-tourism, green infrastructure, and community spaces.
First Peoples Council of Canada Grants – Includes arts infrastructure funding.
New Relationship Trust + Telus Indigenous Communities Fund – Offer diverse funding opportunities for community projects.
Seventh Generation Fund – Supports projects that align with long-term environmental and cultural sustainability.
Let’s Build a Legacy Together
By integrating your expertise of the lands and waters you've called home for generations with our experience getting projects built that prioritize nature-based design solutions, we can create landscapes that nurture both people and the broader environment. If your community has a vision for revitalization, restoration, or sustainable development, we are here to help bring it to life.
Let’s collaborate to create landscapes that honor the past, serve the present, and protect the future for generations to come.
Transparency and Acknowledgments
In the interest of transparency, we are not an Indigenous owned business, but we enjoy working with First Nations collaborators because of how our values often align when it comes to the design of the built environment. Our office in Victoria, BC, is located on the unceded territory of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) Peoples, now known as the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations. We recognize and deeply respect their ongoing stewardship of these lands and waters since time immemorial. As a firm committed to Indigenous planning and environmental sustainability, we strive to work in partnership with First Nations communities to honor traditional knowledge and foster a future rooted in reconciliation and respect.