What is preventing the engagement of Indigenous knowledge in Canada’s environmental assessments?

We reviewed Canada’s recently passed Impact Assessment Act and found top-down political processes are inherently at odds with equitably engaging Indigenous knowledge (IK) in federal environmental assessments (EA).

Read this open access paper on the FACETS website.

Our research identified some surmountable obstacles.

We recommend technical and cross-cultural training programs and timeline accommodations to improve inclusion of IK in federal EAs.

However, many deeply embedded obstacles (e.g., histories of colonization, perceived knowledge incompatibilities) require overcoming fundamental shifts in current Canadian policy.

We acknowledge there are a growing number of EAs in Canada led by Indigenous nations themselves.

The opportunities to support these and other collaborative structures in Canada is a way to improve the relationship between IK and EA processes.

Read the paper — Indigenous knowledge and federal environmental assessments in Canada: applying past lessons to the 2019 impact assessment act by Lauren E. Eckert, Nick XEMŦOLTW̱ Claxton, Cameron Owens, Anna Johnston, Natalie C. Ban, Faisal Moola and Chris T. Darimont.