May 12 - 15, 2025
We are excited to welcome you to MacEwan University for C2UExpo 2025,“Partners in Place”
The C2UExpo is a biennial international conference dedicated to Community Based Research. The aim is to showcase how community-campus partnerships are addressing global and local societal problems, and it will feature activities such as interactive workshops, panels, symposia, field trips, and networking events.
Keynote Speakers
Welcome Reception & Opening Plenary
May 12th, 2025 8:00 - 10:00 AM
Paul Byrne Hall in the Heart of the Robbins
FACILITATOR
Amber Dion
Amber Dion, MSW, is from the Kehewin Cree Nation in Treaty 6 territory. She is the mother of 2 children and a professor with MacEwan University School of Social Work. Amber's practice as a social worker has been primarily with her home community and other First Nation and Metis nations across Alberta and Saskatchewan.
Her research and life's work has always centered trauma management, addiction and trauma recovery, community-based wellness, harm reduction and Indigenous love. Amber's grandparents and parents have inspired her research and work. She is a proud nehiyaw iskwew who hopes to be a good relationships worker and relative. Amber is also the co-creator and co-host of the podcast 2 Crees in a Pod.
PANELISTS
Sarah Auger
Sarah Auger is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. She is also a PhD Candidate in Educational Policy Studies with a specialization in Indigenous Peoples Education. Her doctoral research examines Indigenous art as pedagogy. She holds an M.Ed. in Educational Policy Studies (2012) and a B.A. in Native Studies (1999). Sarah is a citizen of Mikisew Cree First Nation, Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, where her father’s family resides. Her mother’s family is Métis from Lac Ste Anne, Alberta. She is also a beadwork artist who has maintained a long-standing personal and professional interest in Indigenous prison art. Sarah is actively engaged in arts-based research and pedagogy.
Shelby LaFramboise
Shelby LaFramboise is a Métis iskwew from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and the eldest daughter of Shelton & Bernice LaFramboise. She currently lives in amiskwaciywaskahikanak territory and is a proud mother of three adult children. She is an assistant professor in Studio Arts & cross appointmented with kihêw waciston. Shelby’s creative works lend to community relationships with the use of narrative inquiry and story through various creative mediums to bring community, place and people together. She continues to question the threads we weave through the legacy of placelessness, place & belonging on our human walk.
Etienna Moostoos-Lafferty
Etienna Moostoos-Lafferty was born and raised in Grande Prairie Alberta. Her family is from the Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 8 territory. Etienna is a certified teacher and has teaching experience in both First Nations community schools and in provincial schools. Etienna has completed her Master in Secondary Education at the University of Alberta and has a published thesis titled "Pihtikwe: Exploring Withness in Teacher Preparedness and Professional Development" She is currently a PhD student at the University of Alberta and enjoys researching topics such as Treaty Relationships, Indigenous Knowledge, Pedagogy and Place and Land-Based Education. Etienna works as an Assistant Professor in the Bachelor of Early Childhood and Curriculum Studies program at Macewan University.
Shanell Twan
Shanell Twan is currently the Assistant manager and Core Team Supervisor at Streetworks- Edmonton’s Harm reduction program within Boyle Street community services. She is also a member of AAWEAR (Alberta Addicts Who Educate Advocate Responsibly). AAWEAR is a provincial network of people in Alberta with a history of substance use; Who meet to build the capacity of people who use substances, so that their voices can be heard, and their health can be improved upon. Shanell has also served as the community liaison for the Royal Alexandra Hospital’s Addiction Recovery Community Health program, on the Community Advisory Group composed of members with lived experience, established to provide input and feedback on inner city health care issues. In depth and more personally, Shanell's family is from the interior of British Columbia known as the Caribou Region. Shanell's Indigenous ancestry stems from her Maternal side, her maternal grandmother's side from Tl'etinqox National government's Anaham Indian band, and her maternal grandfather is from the Esdilagh? First Nation. The community of Esdilagh? is also known as the Alexandria Band. Shanell is the Eldest of 6 siblings, a mother of five and an active volunteer in her Community.
Edmonton Public Library -
Stanley A. Milner Library Visit
May 12th, 2025 1:00 - 4:00 PM
Visit Edmonton Public Library’s revitalized Stanley A. Milner Branch located in the heart of Edmonton’s downtown. During this visit, your EPL hosts will highlight community campus collaborations between Edmonton Public Library and Edmonton’s post-secondary institutions. Attendees will have the chance to interact with The Wall, a two storey, 40-feet-wide digital installation; visit PÎYÊSÎW WÂSKÂHIKAN (Thunderbird House), a dedicated Indigenous space for ceremony and gatherings; explore The Makerspace, a hub for all things making and creating; and taste some culinary creations in The Kitchen, a 2,100-square-feet state-of-the art teaching kitchen.
DESTINATIONS
CBRCanada is a national nonprofit that facilitates community-based research in an effort to address societal problems both locally and internationally. They are committed to the decolonization of knowledge, and making the communities in which we live more equitable, just and sustainable. Community-based research excellence means community organizations and individuals engaging with post-secondary institutions on equal footing. The C2UExpo is more than a conference, it's a national movement bridging community and campus together.
To stay up-to-date on the conference, follow MacEwan's Office of Research Services on social media
For more information about how to participate,
please contact c2uexpo2025@macewan.ca
ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ amiskwacîwâskahikan Edmonton, Treaty 6 Territory & Métis Homelands
We acknowledge that the land on which we gather in Treaty Six Territory is the traditional gathering place for many Indigenous people. We honour and respect the history, languages, ceremonies and culture of the First Nations, Métis and Inuit who call this territory home.
The First People’s connection to the land teaches us about our inherent responsibility to protect and respect Mother Earth. With this acknowledgement, we honour the ancestors and children who have been buried here, missing and murdered Indigenous women and men, and the process of ongoing collective healing for all human beings. We are reminded that we are all treaty people and of the responsibility we have to one another.
ᓂᓂᓯᑕᐍᔨᐦᑌᓈᐣ ᐆᒪ ᐊᐢᑭᐩ ᑳᑖᑭᐢᑳᑕᒫᐦᐠ ᓂᑯᑤᓯᐠ ᑭᐦᒋᐊᓱᑕᒫᑐᐏᐣ ᑳᐃᑕᒥᐦᐠ ᐆᑕ ᐁᑮᐅᑕᐢᑲᓀᓯᒋᐠ ᒥᐦᒉᐟ ᐃᔨᓂᐘᐠ, ᐆᑕ ᑮᒫᐘᒋᐦᐃᑐᐘᐠ ᑭᐦᒉᔨᐦᑐᐏᐣ ᐁᑿ ᑭᐢᑌᔨᒧᐏᐣ ᓂᒥᔮᓈᓇᐠ ᐅᑖᒋᒧᐏᓂᐚᐘ, ᐅᐲᑭᐢᑵᐏᓂᐚᐘ, ᐅᓯᐦᒋᑫᐏᓂᐚᐘ ᐁᑿ ᐃᓯᐦᑖᐏᓂᐚᐤ ᐆᑭ ᑲᐦᑭᔭᐤ ᐃᔩᓂᐘᐠ
ᑳᑮ ᐃᓯᓈᑲᑌᔨᐦᑖᐦᑭᐠ ᐆᒪ ᐊᐢᑭᐩ, ᑮᐢᑕᓇᐤ ᑕᑮᑲᓇᐍᔨᐦᑕᒫᐦᐠ ᐁᑿ ᑕᒪᓈᒋᐦᑖᔮᐦᐠ ᑭᑳᐑᓇᐤ ᐊᐢᑭᐩ ᑳᓂᐢᑕᐍᔨᐦᑕᒫᐦᐠ ᐅᑕᐢᑮᐘᐦᐠ, ᐯᔭᑿᐣ ᒦᓇ ᓂᑭᐢᑌᔨᒥᓈᓇᐠ ᓂᐢᑕᒥᔨᒫᑲᓇᐠ ᐁᑿ ᒦᓇ ᐊᐚᓯᓴᐠ ᐆᑕ ᑳᑮᓇᔨᓀᒋᐠ, ᐊᓯᒋ ᐃᐢᑵᐘᐠ ᑳᐘᓂᐦᐁᒋᐠ, ᑳᒥᓴᐏᓈᒋᐦᐁᒋᐠ, ᓈᐯᐘᐠ ᐑᐢᑕᐚᐤ, ᐁᑿ ᒦᓇ ᑲᐦᑭᔭᐤ ᐊᔨᓯᔨᓂᐘᐠ ᑳᒫᒪᐏᓈᑕᐏᐦᐁᐦᐃᓱᒋᐠ ᑖᐱᑕᐤ ᐁᑭᐢᑭᓱᒥᑐᔭᐦᐠ ᑲᐦᑭᔭᐤ ᐁᑖᑯᐱᓱᔭᐦᐠ ᑭᐦᒋᐊᓱᑕᒫᑐᐏᐣ ᐁᑿ ᑿᔭᐢᐠ ᑲᓈᑲᑌᔨᒥᑐᔭᐦᐠ