ORICE values are situated in the acknowledgement that ORICE is physically located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) First Nation and also works in partnerships with many organizations and peoples across the globe whose histories and current realities have been shaped by the violence of colonialism. ORICE is committed to bringing these realities into all components of our programming and learning efforts and is dedicated to holding ourselves accountable to the continuous journey of truth and reconciliation.
Ethical community-engaged practice seeks to prioritize the goals of community partners and foster trust-based community relationships. This value is represented in ORICE’s work through our aim to decenter students in their learning process while establishing partnerships with community-led organizations within Canada and abroad on projects defined and led by these organizations. By doing so, ORICE seeks to disrupt traditional notions of expertise and highlight the embedded and lived experiences of those involved, ultimately aiming to connect, inspire, and cultivate community-driven impacts.
ORICE actively works to bring a multidimensional and intersectional lens to the development, implementation, and analysis of our projects and collaborations through a systems-thinking approach aimed at understanding and addressing the root causes of global issues. Consistently reflecting on ethical community engagement, we embed decolonizing methodologies into our approach to broaden conceptions of teaching and learning by questioning roles of expertise, recognizing lived experiences, and collaboratively reimagining learning spaces.
ORICE fosters dialogue to guide future actions that emphasize a balanced and critical approach toward human, economic, and environmental interventions, ensuring the protection of future generations and their choices. Recognizing the need for continuous learning and adaptation, ORICE strengthens its commitment to sustainability through collaborative relationships that address complex community challenges locally and globally.
ORICE’s Commitment to EDI & Anti-Racism
The Office of Regional and International Community Engagement (UBC ORICE) is committed to embedding equity, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism in our daily work and ongoing projects, including through the work of our programs and collectives. Students, faculty, and staff working with ORICE are encouraged and expected to consider how they can take an equity-focused and anti-racist lens to the work they produce with and through our office. This requires centering the needs of those most affected by intersectional inequities and proactively working towards creating equitable access and engagement. This work might also include, but is not limited to, ensuring the incorporation of the ongoing and often unrecognized work of organizations advocating for justice for minorities, or engaging with the politics of citation in including and citing the work of non-white scholars and other researchers. We consider that EDI and anti-racist / anti-oppressive principles and practices require consistent reflection and reconsideration and we forefront this in our work, programs, recruitment, and hiring practices.