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Home > Reimagining Urban Futures Through Indigenous Urbanism

Reimagining Urban Futures Through Indigenous Urbanism

Submitted by dfoolen on March 16th, 2026 10:49 AM
Written by: 
Heather Schibli
Grant Fahlgren in front of a projector screen talking to seated students.
Feature image caption: 
Grant Fahlgren giving lecture on Indigenous Urbanism

The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) at the University of Guelph invited Grant Fahlgren, a member of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, Indigenous Design Lead at PFS Studio [1], and Chair and founding member of the Reconciliation Advisory Committee of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects, to deliver a public lecture titled 'Indigenous Urbanism: Design for All Our Relations' on Monday, March 9, 2026.

In this talk, Fahlgren explored the potential for a shared urban future where environmental relationships—rather than abstract concepts of land use and zoning—guide the growth of cities. He discussed how commitments to Reconciliation involve living in alignment with our environments, and how design practice can move from models of depreciation in buildings and infrastructure toward processes of emergence within natural systems. The lecture also considered how designers, institutions, and communities can foster the support needed to make this more relational and regenerative future possible.

The event was generously supported by the University of Guelph’s Indigenous Student Society and the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects, and was open to students, faculty, and the broader community.

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The School of Environmental Design and Rural Development (SEDRD) brings together major academic fields concerned with creating strong communities, in Canada and around the world. The four highly respected programs in SEDRD share many common goals but approach them in different and complementary ways. This model reflects the imperatives in building authentic communities where planners, landscape architects, communicators, and citizens all play important interdependent roles in community strength.

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Source URL:https://www.uoguelph.ca/sedrd/news/2026/03/reimagining-urban-futures-through-indigenous-urbanism

Links
[1] https://pfsstudio.com/