Students in the ICP concentration take all MCRP required courses in addition to courses directly related to planning within an Indigenous context.

In first year, ICP students take the following courses during Winter Term 1 and Term 2:

• PLAN 533 - Indigenous Planning: Ways of Being and Knowing (taught in partnership with Musqueam)
• PLAN 553 - Indigenous Law, Governance, and Community Planning
• PLAN 595 - Negotiation, Facilitation and Conflict Resolution for Planners

In second year, ICP students complete one more ICP-specific course in Winter Term 1:

• PLAN 503 - Planning for Sustainable Community Economic Development

Students also complete a planning practicum (see below for more information), supported by two combined courses running through Winter Term 1 and Term 2:

• PLAN 526 – The Planning Studio
• PLAN 528B – The Capstone Project

Together, these two courses make up 12 credits towards the full ICP concentration requirements.

For more information on the ICP concentration requirements and a list of recommended electives, please see the ICP Concentration Course Memo and the MCRP Program Requirements.

Throughout the ICP core curriculum and practicum, we explore the following:

• The meaning and significance of Indigenous Planning as a re-emerging theory of action among Indigenous community planners, civic leaders, and professionals
• Values underpinning Indigenous approaches to community development
• How an Indigenous planning paradigm challenges existing planning practice in Canada
• How mainstream planning needs to adapt and change to achieve recognition of and justice for Indigenous peoples
• Challenges faced by First Nations in BC when implementing projects in their communities
• The impacts of surrounding jurisdictions (municipal, provincial and federal) on Indigenous planning
• The impacts of First Nations community development (social and economic) on surrounding jurisdictions
• Knowledge and skills needed for working with/in an Indigenous community
• Is it possible to ‘decolonize’ planning? What would this process look like?
• What is a ‘decolonizing methodology’? What are the ethical and cultural considerations in working with First Nations?
• What is the role of a non-Indigenous planner in Indigenous community planning and development?

Students are required to complete an internship as part of both ICP and MCRP requirements.  Most students complete their internships during the summer between their first and second year of study.

For students in the ICP concentration, internships may be conducted with any of the following, with supervisor discretion depending on students’ previous experience:

• An Indigenous community (urban or reserve) or Indigenous organization;
• An Indigenous-serving organization (e.g. BC Housing, Indigenous Services Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada), as long as the focus of the internship is on working with Indigenous people and/or communities;
• An Indigenous planning consultant/cy;
• A non-Indigenous planning consultancy whose work is predominantly with Indigenous communities;
• A non-Indigenous organization with a mission to decolonize/indigenize (e.g. The Vancouver  Board of Parks and Recreation; municipalities with a stated mission to decolonize their practice, etc.); or
• Other opportunities that arise related to the decolonizing of planning in Canada or internationally, at the discretion of the chair of the ICP concentration, and depending on students’ prior experience.

The Practicum is a foundational requirement for the Indigenous Community Planning (ICP) concentration and occurs during the second year of study. In small groups (usually pairs) students are engaged in a planning process (typically a comprehensive community plan) through in-community service with an Indigenous community for a period of eight or more months.

Through the Practicum, students:

• Gain experience in practice using newly developed skills and competencies;
• Deepen their understanding of Indigenous ways of planning and the challenges of decolonizing Western planning practice;
• Synthesize their knowledge of planning; and
• Articulate and reflect on their learning as it is applied in practice.

While the ICP Practicum has the potential to take on a range of forms, it is community-centric in focus, and must be executed in relation to a plan of action and set of outcomes developed between the students and the host Indigenous community.

Indigenous communities that host ICP Practicums can benefit by:

• Receiving assistance with their community planning process and needs;
• Increasing planning capacity and skills;
• Building additional support networks and planning partnerships;
• Participating in a mutual, collaborative learning environment;
• Showcasing their planning efforts through SCARP; and
• Developing a partnership with SCARP to further their community planning efforts.

Indigenous communities or organizations interested in hosting a student practicum should contact Practicum Coordinator Jessie Hemphill (jhemphil@mail.ubc.ca) at the School of Community and Regional Planning to learn more about this opportunity.

Projects ICP students have worked on during their practicums include:

• Gitksan Government Commission implementation of the housing strategy component of their CCP;
• Halalt First Nation’s Comprehensive Community Plan;
• Homalco First Nation’s CCP process and draft plan;
• Lake Babine Nation’s CCP;
• Musqueam Indian Band’s community census and CCP updates;
• Old Massett Village Council’s CCP;
• Qualicum First Nation’s CCP process
• Seabird Island’s Sustainable Community Planning (SCP) efforts;
• Siska First Nation’s CCP process and Plan;
• Skidegate Band Council’s Comprehensive Community Planning Process;
• Skidegate Band Council’s Land Use Plan;
• Sq'éwlets First Nation First Nation’s CCP process and Plan;
• Stellat'en First Nation’s CCP process and Plan; and
• Ts’ilqotin National Government’s Community Health and Wellness Plan.