This course explores the intersections of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, sustainability, and leadership, offering participants a transformative learning experience that bridges academic inquiry, practical engagement, and lived realities. Grounded in international human rights frameworks and aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the course highlights how rights to land, territories, and resources form the foundation of sustainable development and environmental stewardship.

The summer school enables participants to critically examine dominant sustainability and development models while engaging with Indigenous perspectives, traditional knowledge systems, and cultural expressions. Particular attention is given to the role Indigenous Peoples play in protecting biodiversity and strengthening community resilience, and to how their worldviews can inspire ethical, inclusive, and context-sensitive approaches to sustainability without appropriation.

Throughout the program, the course emphasizes the connection between human rights, leadership, and environmental responsibility, combining academic lectures, case studies, workshops, field visits, and collaborative group work. Participants will engage with Indigenous representatives, leading experts, and Geneva-based international organizations, including within the United Nations system.

The program lasts one week and is structured into four main sections:

• Foundations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights
• Sustainability and the SDGs
• Indigenous knowledge and nature-based solutions
• Leadership, innovation, and rights in practice

By the end of the program, participants will achieve several key objectives:

• Understand the links between Indigenous Peoples’ rights, sustainability, and global governance
• Develop leadership skills for designing inclusive and socially responsible initiatives
• Integrate Indigenous perspectives into sustainability thinking in an ethical and non-extractive manner
• Formulate actionable ideas for sustainable futures adapted to their own professional and societal contexts