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  • OPEN ACCESS
    “Awakening the sleeping giant”: re-Indigenization principles for transforming biodiversity conservation in Canada and beyond
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 839 - 869
    Precipitous declines in biodiversity threaten planetary boundaries, requiring transformative changes to conservation. Colonial systems have decimated species and ecosystems and dispossessed Indigenous Peoples of their rights, territories, and livelihoods. Despite these challenges, Indigenous-governed lands retain a large proportion of biodiversity-rich landscapes. Indigenous Peoples have stewarded the land in ways that support people and nature in respectful relationship. Biodiversity conservation and resurgence of Indigenous autonomies are mutually compatible aims. To work towards these aims requires significant transformation in conservation and re-Indigenization. Key to both are systems that value people and nature in all their diversity and relationships. This paper introduces Indigenous principles for re-Indigenizing conservation: (i) embracing Indigenous worldviews of ecologies and M’sɨt No’kmaq, (ii) learning from Indigenous languages of the land, (iii) Natural laws and Netukulimk, (iv) correct relationships, (v) total reflection and truth, (vi) Etuaptmumk—“two-eyed seeing,” and “strong like two people”, and (vii) “story-telling/story-listening”. Although the principles derive primarily from a Mi’kmaw worldview, many are common to diverse Indigenous ways of knowing. Achieving the massive effort required for biodiversity conservation in Canada will entail transformations in worldviews and ways of thinking and bold, proactive actions, not solely as means but as ongoing imperatives.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Indigenous-led camera-trap research on traditional territories informs conservation decisions for resource extraction
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1266 - 1284
    The resource extraction that powers global economies is often manifested in Indigenous Peoples’ territories. Indigenous Peoples living on the land are careful observers of resulting biodiversity changes, and Indigenous-led research can provide evidence to inform conservation decisions. In the Nearctic western boreal forest, landscape change from forest harvesting and petroleum extraction is intensive and extensive. A First Nations community in the Canadian oil sands co-created camera-trap research to explore observations of presumptive species declines, seeking to identify the relative contributions of different industrial sectors to changes in mammal distributions. Camera data were analyzed via generalized linear models in a model-selection approach. Multiple forestry and petroleum extraction features positively and negatively affected boreal mammal species. Pipelines had the greatest negative effect size (for wolves), whereas well sites had a large positive effect size for multiple species, suggesting the energy sector as a target for co-management. Co-created research reveals spatial relationships of disturbance, prey, and predators on Indigenous traditional territories. It provides hypotheses, tests, and interpretations unique to outside perspectives; Indigenous participation in conservation management of their territories scales up to benefit global biodiversity conservation.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Grizzly and polar bears as nonconsumptive cultural keystone species
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 379 - 393
    Grizzly bears and polar bears often serve as ecological “flagship species” in conservation efforts, but although consumptively used in some areas and cultures they can also be important cultural keystone species even where not hunted. We extend the application of established criteria for defining cultural keystone species to also encompass species with which cultures have a primarily nonconsumptive relationship but that are nonetheless disproportionately important to well-being and identity. Grizzly bears in coastal British Columbia are closely linked to many Indigenous Peoples (including the Haíɫzaqv (Heiltsuk), Kitasoo/Xai’xais, and Nuxalk First Nations), where they are central to the identity, culture, and livelihoods of individuals, families, Chiefs, and Nations. Polar bears in Churchill, Manitoba, provide another example as a cultural keystone species for a mixed Indigenous and non-Indigenous community in which many of the livelihood benefits from the species are mediated by economic transactions in a globalized tourism market. We discuss context specificity and questions of equity in sharing of benefits from cultural keystone species. Our expanded definition of cultural keystone species gives broader recognition of the beyond-ecological importance of these species to Indigenous Peoples, which highlights the societal and ecological importance of Indigenous sovereignty and could facilitate the increased cross-cultural understanding critical to reconciliation.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Monitoring social–ecological networks for biodiversity and ecosystem services in human-dominated landscapes
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1670 - 1692
    The demand the human population is placing on the environment has triggered accelerated rates of biodiversity change and created trade-offs among the ecosystem services we depend upon. Decisions designed to reverse these trends require the best possible information obtained by monitoring ecological and social dimensions of change. Here, we conceptualize a network framework to monitor change in social–ecological systems. We contextualize our framework within Ostrom’s social–ecological system framework and use it to discuss the challenges of monitoring biodiversity and ecosystem services across spatial and temporal scales. We propose that spatially explicit multilayer and multiscale monitoring can help estimate the range of variability seen in social–ecological systems with varying levels of human modification across the landscape. We illustrate our framework using a conceptual case study on the ecosystem service of maple syrup production. We argue for the use of analytical tools capable of integrating qualitative and quantitative knowledge of social–ecological systems to provide a causal understanding of change across a network. Altogether, our conceptual framework provides a foundation for establishing monitoring systems. Operationalizing our framework will allow for the detection of ecosystem service change and assessment of its drivers across several scales, informing the long-term sustainability of biodiversity and ecosystem services.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Place and transformative learning in climate change focused community science
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1773 - 1794
    Community science involves the co-creation of scientific pursuits, learning, and outcomes and is presented as a transformative practice for community engagement and environmental governance. Emphasizing critical reflection, this study adopts Mezirow’s conception of transformative learning to theorize the transformative capacity of community science. Findings from interviews with participants in a community science program reveal critical reflection, although instances acknowledging attitudes and beliefs without challenging personal assumptions were more common. Program elements most likely to prompt participants to identify beliefs, values, and assumptions include data collection and interaction in team dynamics, whereas data collection in a novel environment was most likely to prompt participants to challenge their beliefs, values, and assumptions. A review of 71 climate change focused programs further demonstrates the extent that program designs support transformative learning. Key features of the community science landscape like the broad inclusion of stated learning objectives offer a constructive starting point for deepening transformative capacity, while the dominance of contributory program designs stands as a likely roadblock. Overall, this study contributes by applying a developed field to theorize transformation in relation to community science and by highlighting where facilitators should focus program design efforts to better promote transformation toward environmental sustainability.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Having it all: hybridizing conventional and community science monitoring for enhanced data quality and cost savings
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 2028 - 2041
    Large-scale monitoring is used to track population trends for many ecologically and economically important wildlife species. Often, population monitoring involves professional staff travelling to collect data (i.e., conventional monitoring) or in efforts to reduce monitoring costs, by engaging volunteers (i.e., community science). Although many studies have discussed the advantages and disadvantages of conventional vs. community science monitoring, few have made direct, quantitative comparisons between these two approaches. We compared data quality and financial costs between contemporaneous and overlapping conventional and community science programs for monitoring a major forest pest, the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferanae Clem.). Although community science trapping sites were clumped around urban areas, abundance estimates from the programs were strongly spatially correlated. However, annual program expenditures were nearly four times lower in the community science versus the conventional program. We modelled a hypothetical hybrid model of the two programs, which provided full spatial coverage and potentially the same data, but at half the cost of the conventional program and with the added opportunity for public engagement. Our study provides a unique quantitative analysis of merits and costs of conventional versus community science monitoring. Our study offers insights on how to assess wildlife monitoring programs where multiple approaches exist.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Let’s do better: public representations of COVID-19 science
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 403 - 423
    COVID science is being both done and circulated at a furious pace. While it is inspiring to see the research community responding so vigorously to the pandemic crisis, all this activity has also created a churning sea of bad data, conflicting results, and exaggerated headlines. With representations of science becoming increasingly polarized, twisted, and hyped, there is growing concern that the relevant science is being represented to the public in a manner that may cause confusion, inappropriate expectations, and the erosion of public trust. Here we explore some of the key issues associated with the representations of science in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these issues are not new. But the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a spotlight on the biomedical research process and amplified the adverse ramifications of poor public communication. We need to do better. As such, we conclude with 10 recommendations aimed at key actors involved in the communication of COVID-19 science, including government, funders, universities, publishers, media, and the research communities.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Correctional services during and beyond COVID-19
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 490 - 516
    Correctional services, both institutional and within the community, are impacted by COVID-19. In the current paper, we focus on the current situation and examine the tensions around how COVID-19 has introduced new challenges while also exacerbating strains on the correctional system. Here, we make recommendations that are directly aimed at how correctional systems manage COVID-19 and address the nature and structure of correctional systems that should be continued after the pandemic. In addition, we highlight and make recommendations for the needs of those who remain incarcerated in general, and for Indigenous people in particular, as well as for those who are serving their sentences in the community. Further, we make recommendations for those working in closed-custody institutions and employed to support the re-entry experiences of formerly incarcerated persons. We are at a critical juncture—where reflection and change are possible—and we put forth recommendations toward supporting those working and living in correctional services as a way forward during the pandemic and beyond.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Assessing gage: an online tool for improving gender visibility in STEMM
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1601 - 1609
    Women continue to be underrepresented and less visible in the fields of science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM). 500 Women Scientists created and launched in January 2018 a global (>140 countries to date), online, open-access directory of women in STEMM fields. This directory—recently renamed gage—now also includes gender diverse persons (i.e., additional underrepresented genders) in STEMM fields. The purpose of the directory is to make these scientists’ expertise easier to locate and access for conference organizers, journalists, policy makers, educators, and others. Here, we undertake an assessment of the directory using surveys, Google Analytics, and focus groups to understand its efficacy and direction to date and identify future improvements we pledge to undertake. Through this assessment—conducted externally and in accordance with privacy protocols by Concolor Research—we identified who and how people are using our directory, why people signed up to be a resource, and areas for improvement. Through such assessment, we can learn how to enhance the directory’s efficacy and our broader efforts to boost the visibility of underrepresented people in STEMM.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Inuit youth and environmental research: exploring engagement barriers, strategies, and impacts
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 45 - 70
    Community leadership in Arctic environmental research is increasingly recognized as one of many pathways to Indigenous self-determination in Nunavut, Canada. While experienced Inuit hunters, trappers, and other recognized environmental knowledge experts are commonly included in research, similar opportunities for Inuit youth to meaningfully engage in environmental research remain limited. Finding ways to increase scientific literacy, particularly among Inuit youth, has been identified as an important step in the continuation of high-quality Arctic environmental research. This paper examines community perspectives on the roles and contributions of Inuit youth in environmental research in Nunavut, barriers that Inuit youth face in becoming meaningfully engaged in field-based environmental research, and strategies for enhancing Inuit youth engagement. Our study was conducted in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, and used interviews, workshops, and observation to gather stories and knowledge from community members about field- and land-based experiential learning pathways. This study found that a complex set of barriers, including a lack of credentials and support systems, among others, may inhibit meaningful Inuit youth engagement in environmental research. Key findings from the study support the view that collaborative land-based research activities can be an effective and meaningful method of enhancing scientific literacy among Inuit youth.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Students’ mindsets on research integrity—a cross-cultural comparison
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 528 - 542
    Research integrity (RI) has been a focus of society in recent years as a means to create and to keep trust in science. Higher education institutions (HEIs) play a key role in promoting a culture of RI and responsible conduct of research (RCR). The understanding and practice of RI can vary across cultures. This article aims to outline initial insights into university students’ RI mindsets based on five RI facets: understanding, importance, value–action gap, enforcement approaches, and training. A qualitative exploratory cross-cultural study was conducted with participants from Germany and Bulgaria via semi-structured guided group interviews. An explicit transcultural agreement regarding the significance of RI was categorically indicated. Intercultural differences between the two European countries were revealed and discussed in reference to understanding RI, the value–action gap, enforcement approaches, and training preferences.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    What’s integrity got to do with it? Second-year experiences of the Path2Integrity e-learning programme
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 110 - 125
    Organisations in Europe differ significantly in how they promote research integrity (RI). Higher education institutions play a pivotal role in disseminating a culture of RI and responsible conduct of research (RCR). Adhering and strengthening mentoring systems, implementing codes of conduct, and raising awareness are just a few initiatives among many to enhance students’ training in RCR. This article describes the Path2Integrity Learning Card (P2LIC) programme, a proactive training programme to foster RI. This programme was further developed in 2020 and the updated feedback loops took place in four countries (Germany, Denmark, Spain, and Poland). We outline the P2ILC development and final design, the trainer feedback on the programme from the second year of operation, and suggest future considerations for RCR training to strengthen research integrity.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Freshwater fisheries monitoring in northern ecosystems using Indigenous ecological knowledge, genomics, and life history: Insights for community decision-making
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 1214 - 1243
    Natural resources in northern regions are often data-limited because they are difficult and expensive to access. Indigenous ecological knowledge (IEK) can provide information similar to, different from, or complementary to Western scientific data (WSD). We evaluated the general hypothesis that congruence in outcomes of IEK and WSD for population monitoring parameters is determined by temporal and spatial scale of the knowledge type. Parameters included population structure, degree of philopatry, morphological variation (and conservation status for one species), and genomics was a key Western scientific method. We evaluated this hypothesis in three subsistence and recreational fisheries (walleye, lake trout, and northern pike) in Mistassini Lake, Quebec, Canada. Concordance of outcomes was varied. IEK provided richer information on the biology, distribution, and morphological variation observable with the eyes. However, IEK cannot “see” into the genome, and WSD identified population structure and history more precisely than IEK. Both knowledge types could “see” change in populations, and the nature of what was seen both converged and was complementary. Determining when IEK and WSD are complementary or reach common conclusions may allow Indigenous communities to use both together, or one knowledge type over another when either is more desired, appropriate, or time- or cost-efficient to adopt.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Caught in the currents: evaluating the evidence for common downstream police response interventions in calls involving persons with mental illness
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1409 - 1445
    The origins of this report, and of the Mental Health and Policing Working Group, can be traced to the unique situation Canadians have faced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The unique circumstances of this global outbreak, which have for many Canadians resulted in serious illness and death, intensified economic uncertainties, altered family and lifestyle dynamics, and generated or exacerbated feelings of loneliness and social dislocation, rightly led the Royal Society of Canada’s COVID-19 Taskforce to consider the strains and other negative impacts on individual, group, and community mental health. With the central role that police too often play in the lives of individuals in mental and (or) emotional crisis, we were tasked with exploring what can be reasonably said about the state of our current knowledge of police responses to persons with mental illness.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    The right to burn: barriers and opportunities for Indigenous-led fire stewardship in Canada
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 464 - 481
    Indigenous fire stewardship enhances ecosystem diversity, assists with the management of complex resources, and reduces wildfire risk by lessening fuel loads. Although Indigenous Peoples have maintained fire stewardship practices for millennia and continue to be keepers of fire knowledge, significant barriers exist for re-engaging in cultural burning. Indigenous communities in Canada have unique vulnerabilities to large and high-intensity wildfires as they are predominately located in remote, forested regions and lack financial support at federal and provincial levels to mitigate wildfire risk. Therefore, it is critical to uphold Indigenous expertise in leading effective and socially just fire stewardship. In this perspective, we demonstrate the benefits of cultural burning and identify five key barriers to advancing Indigenous fire stewardship in Canada. We also provide calls to action to assist with reducing preconceptions and misinformation and focus on creating space and respect for different knowledges and experiences. Despite growing concerns over wildfire risk and agency-stated intentions to establish Indigenous Peoples as partners in wildfire management, power imbalances still exist. The future and coexistence with fire in Canada needs to be a shared responsibility and led by Indigenous Peoples within their territories.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    “I see my culture starting to disappear”: Anishinaabe perspectives on the socioecological impacts of climate change and future research needs
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 509 - 527
    Climate change disproportionately affects Indigenous Peoples because of strong connections between environmental, cultural, and spiritual well-being. While much of the global discourse surrounding climate change is founded in Western science, the holistic, place-based knowledge of Indigenous Peoples offers a complementary way of understanding and mitigating climate change impacts. The goal of this research was to elevate Anishinaabe concerns, observations, and perspectives about climate change impacts and future research needs. We organized a workshop called “Connecting Guardians in a Changing World” where participants shared concerns about animal and plant life cycles, water cycles and water quality, and impacts to ways of life, including reduced capacity to perform cultural practices and erosion of their knowledge. Participants highlighted the challenge of prioritizing a single impact of climate change, emphasizing that impacts to the environment and ways of life are interconnected. Participants also expressed the need for research and policy that move beyond interdisciplinarity to include intercultural philosophy and research that better reflects Indigenous worldviews and incorporates Indigenous methodologies. Moving forward, meaningful partnerships and opportunities for knowledge sharing should be prioritized in climate change discourse to ensure solutions are generated together, with all of the tools and knowledge available.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Community participation in coastal and marine research and monitoring in Inuit Nunangat: a scoping literature review
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 891 - 911
    In Canada, the participation of Indigenous communities in research and monitoring is growing in response to calls for partnerships and heightened interest in bridging Indigenous and Western science-based knowledge. Yet, as settler scholars, we have noted inconsistencies in the articulation and operationalization of community participation in peer-reviewed literature. We conducted a scoping review of community participation in coastal and marine research and monitoring across Inuit Nunangat. This resulted in 72 studies, most of which were undertaken in Nunavut. Fourteen terms were used to articulate community participation, the most common being: participate, collaborate, community-based, consult, or variations of these terms. Among the studies that used community participation terms, we found that authors only defined terms 10% of the time. Community participation was operationalized primarily through interviews, mapping, and field observations. We assessed studies across a spectrum of community participation levels and found that most studies (81%) reflected minimal levels of participation (i.e., consultative, contractual, and less than contractual). Our results highlight the need for clarity in language use, transparency in reporting research practices, and stronger efforts to support Indigenous leadership and decision-making authority, all of which must be defined on a community or project basis.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    The first five years of FACETS: Canada’s multidisciplinary open access academy journal
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1128 - 1133
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Decolonization of care through a wholistic way of living: Gaga from the Tayal in Taiwan
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 591 - 610
    This article explores the “wholistic” as a central concept of “the good life” as expressed by the Bnkis, Tayal Indigenous Elders, who participated in the Day Club, Tayal territory of Northern Taiwan. In particular, we analyze the stories of care experienced by the Bnkis from the standpoint of wholistic relationships. The stories were recorded primarily between 2015 and 2018. In this analysis we used a critical qualitative design approach, privileging Tayal epistemology and informed by Tayal hermeneutics. Our results show that the concept of well-being for the Bnkis is closely linked to their relationships with people and with the land and spirituality. Through these relationships, the continuation of Gaga—Tayal law and cosmology—has been adapted organically over time. We argue that Gaga is central to Tayal Elder/Bnkis care and essential to Bnkis’ well-being. We propose that the concept of wholistic relationships embedded in the Tayal law of Gaga is vital in developing an elderly care system that is genuinely culturally relevant in the long run. This research demonstrates how the wholistic concept can improve human health and well-being, and ultimately provides an implication to sustainable development.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Reconstructing the “push” and “pull” of climate and its impacts on subsistence cultures using paleolimnology
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 2042 - 2056
    Climate variability has influenced settlement and cultural activities of human populations for millennia, and our knowledge of the context of environmental drivers of migration can be inferred using paleolimnological techniques. We present a systematic map of literature to understand the breadth of paleolimnological research that exists on environmental change and its impact on subsistence cultures. We aim to illustrate how the “push” and “pull” of climate influenced human society over the late-Holocene. A systematic search found 68 unique relevant studies that discussed topics of human settlement and migration, stressors on the environment, and (or) ecological monitoring with respect to changes in climate using paleolimnological methods. We identified three primary themes: where people live, how people live, and how people will continue to live. Most studies took place in North America, within the last decade, and had a focus on diatoms, sediment characteristics, and climate. Topics ranged from reconstructions of changes in climate, human presence, human influence on the environment, subsistence strategies, and the importance of monitoring. We demonstrate the value of paleolimnological methods in understanding the timing of events, revealing long-term ecological trends, and providing baseline conditions for effective remediation and management purposes.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    A century of knowledge: Kwakwaka’wakw Elders and environmental change
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 2110 - 2137
    This paper reviews a century of Kwakwaka’wakw knowledge on ecological, climate, and social change. We trace the era of Indigenous governance (about the precolonial period), especially from about 1910 to the devastation of the flood in Dzawada’enuxw First Nation territory in Kingcome, British Columbia, in 2010. This time period has been chosen as the assessment period as this is the lifetime of the 10 Elders that we collaborated with to understand and position change during this tumultuous era. We call the results of this process “a century of knowledge”. Ecological, social, and climate change are positioned with scientific literature for potential divergence/convergence. Almost all aspects of the Kwakwaka’wakw home area have undergone large-scale changes including clear-cut forestry, salmon farms, climate change affecting species ranges, cultural impositions, and colonial processes working to destroy Indigenous governance. Despite these imposed changes, the communities emerge as survivors on their own terms, including using the traditional feast system known as the Potlatch to come to terms with the devastation of the 2010 flood and beyond.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Ten strategies for avoiding and overcoming authorship conflicts in academic publishing
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1753 - 1770
    For better or for worse, authorship is a currency in scholarly research and advancement. In scholarly writing, authorship is widely acknowledged as a means of conferring credit but is also tied to concepts such as responsibility and accountability. Authorship is one of the most divisive topics both at the level of the research team and more broadly in the academy and beyond. At present, authorship is often the primary way to assert and receive credit in many scholarly pursuits and domains. Debates rage, publicly but mostly privately, regarding authorship. Here we attempt to clarify key concepts related to authorship informed by our collective experiences and anchored in relevant contemporary literature. Rather than dwelling on the problems, we focus on proactive strategies for creating more just, equitable, and transparent avenues for minimizing conflict around authorship and where there is adequate recognition of the entire process of knowledge generation, synthesis, sharing, and application with partners within and beyond the academy. We frame our ideas around 10 strategies that collectively constitute a roadmap for avoiding and overcoming challenges associated with authorship decisions.
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    On the individual and organizational capacities supporting impact assessment: the case of the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 674 - 700
    Impact assessment (IA) processes rely on the ability of assessment boards and their assessors to gather, synthesize, and interpret knowledge from a variety of sources, making IA a knowledge-based activity. IA boards in northern Canada operate in a context that prioritizes pluralism, where Indigenous knowledge is a key element of decision-making and the ability of practitioners to interact with knowledge—research capacity—affects process effectiveness, credibility, and legitimacy. Drawing on common principles from existing research capacity frameworks, we identify the dimensions of capacity most relevant to more fully realizing inclusive impact assessment processes. We then examine the Yukon Environmental and Socio-Economic Assessment Board (YESAB) as a specialized environmental governance organization with assessors whose research capacity directly impacts process outcomes. Results show that while common dimensions across knowledge-based disciplines, such as sufficient resources (e.g., financial support), are often addressed in the YESAB context, others unique to IA, like contextual understanding, require further examination. The interaction between individual and organizational research capacity is a complex balance between investing in individuals and investing in organizational supports. The proposed framework facilitates multi-scalar supports for individual assessors and assessment bodies alike to navigate balancing technical and value-driven knowledge in assessments.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    An inclusive and diverse governance structure of the strategy for patient-oriented research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 435 - 447
    The Strategy for Patient Oriented Research (SPOR) Evidence Alliance is a research initiative in Canada whose mission is to promote the synthesis, dissemination, and integration of research results into health care and public health decision-making and clinical practice. The aim of this paper is to (i) outline the governance and committee structure of the SPOR Evidence Alliance, (ii) outline the procedures for patient and health system decision-maker engagement, and (iii) present the capacity-building strategy for governance members. The governance structure includes the following six standing committees: the International Advisory Committee, Steering Committee, Executive Committee, Knowledge Translation Committee, Partnerships Committee, and Training and Capacity Development Committee. The guiding principles embrace inclusiveness, support, mutual respect, transparency, and co-building. There are currently 64 committee members across the six committees, 13 patient and public partners, 8 health system decision-makers, 7 research trainees, and 36 researchers. A multi-disciplinary and diverse group of people in Canada are represented from all regions and at various levels of training in knowledge generation, exchange, and translation. This collaborative model makes the SPOR Evidence Alliance strong and sustainable by leveraging the knowledge, lived experiences, expertise, skills, and networks among its 342 members and 12 principal investigators.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Patient engagement in the SPOR Evidence Alliance: Reflection and learnings
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 126 - 138
    The Evidence Alliance (EA) is a Canada-wide multi-stakeholder organization providing national-level support in knowledge synthesis, clinical practice guidelines development, and knowledge translation. With a mandate to deliver the best available evidence to inform health policy and improve patient care, the EA involves patients and their caregivers in its governance, research priority setting and conduct, and capacity building. To reflect on the experiences of patient involvement in its first three years, the organization conducted a self-study with 17 actively involved patient partners. They answered the Patient Engagement in Research Scale 22-item short form (PEIRS-22) and open-ended questions. Of the 15 respondents, 12 were women with a mean age of 62.6 years (SD 10.1). The mean PEIRS-22 score was 82.1 (SD 15.9), indicating perceived meaningful engagement. Analysis of the free-text answers identified three themes: (i) communication: successes, changes, and improvements; (ii) a respectful and welcoming environment; and (iii) opportunities to learn and contribute. Patient partners noted the EA made genuine efforts to welcome them and value their contributions. They also identified a need for the organization to increase patient partner diversity. This self-study was perceived as rewarding as it provided a foundation for further growth in patient involvement within the organization.
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Which fish is this? Fishers know more than 100 fish species in megadiverse tropical rivers
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 988 - 1007
    Ethnobiological studies on folk, common, or popular names that fishers use to identify fish can help improve fisheries monitoring and collaborations between fishers and researchers. This study investigates fishers’ knowledge (recognition, naming, and habitat use) on 115 and 119 fish species, respectively, in the Negro and Tapajos Rivers, two megadiverse rivers in the Brazilian Amazon, and investigates the relationship between such knowledge and fish importance to fisheries, fish abundance, and fish size. We also compared fishers’ perceptions on fisheries and fish abundance with literature data on fish harvests and fish sampling. We interviewed 16 fishers in 16 communities (one fisher per community, 8 communities along each river). These fishers recognized an average of 91 ± 10.4 species in the Negro River and 115 ± 7.2 species in the Tapajos River, but all fishers recognized 114 species in Negro and all species in Tapajos. The fishers’ knowledge of fish species was positively related to fishers’ perceptions on fish abundance, size, and importance to fisheries in the Negro, but only positively related to fish size in the Tapajos. Our results highlight the usefulness of fishers’ knowledge to providing data on use and cultural relevance of fish species in high diversity aquatic ecosystems.
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    On evidence-based decision-making by Canada’s protected areas managers: a reply to Irvine et al.
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 10 - 17
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    Managing Canada’s land- and seascapes for multiple ecosystem services in the Anthropocene: introduction to the Food, Fiber, Fuel, and Function collection
    FACETS • Vol. 6 • pp. 1986 - 1992
  • OPEN ACCESS
    Rigour and reproducibility in Canadian research: call for a coordinated approach
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 18 - 24
    Shortcomings in the rigour and reproducibility of research have become well-known issues and persist despite repeated calls for improvement. A coordinated effort among researchers, institutions, funders, publishers, learned societies, and regulators may be the most effective way of tackling these issues. The UK Reproducibility Network (UKRN) has fostered collaboration across various stakeholders in research and are creating the infrastructure necessary to advance rigorous and reproducible research practices across the United Kingdom. Other Reproducibility Networks, modelled on UKRN, are now emerging in other countries. Canada could benefit from a comparable network to unify the voices around research quality and maximize the value of Canadian research.
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    Protecting expert advice for the public: promoting safety and improved communications
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 482 - 508
    The drivers of the harassment and intimidation of researchers are complex, widespread, and global in their reach and were being studied across many disciplines even before COVID-19. This policy briefing reviews some of the scholarship on this wide-ranging problem but focuses on what can be done to help ensure that Canadians fully benefit from the work of Canada’s researchers while also preserving the security and safety of those researchers. It identifies policies and actions that can be implemented in the near term to gather information on the problem, better frame public research communications, and ensure that mechanisms are readily available to support researchers who are threatened. The policy briefing is concerned with researchers, but these behaviours are also harming journalists, politicians, public health communicators, and many others more fully in the public eye than researchers. Some recommendations here may help to address this wider problem.
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    A methodology for quantifying and characterizing litter from trash capture devices (TCDs) to measure impact and inform upstream solutions
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 12
    Trash capture devices (TCDs) are a rapidly evolving tool for municipal governments, non-governmental organizations, and industries to divert litter from our waterways. Here, we introduce protocols to initiate trash trapping projects to quantify and characterize captured anthropogenic litter based on a case study using Seabins. In addition, we have introduced a network for global data collection via TCDs. Our first protocol is a visual audit of the potential site to inform the type and location for TCD deployment. Our next two protocols quantify and characterize the litter captured by TCDs: (1) a simple protocol intended for daily monitoring and (2) a detailed protocol to characterize and quantify all large debris (>3 cm) and a subset of the small debris (2 mm–3 cm) caught in the devices. Using Seabins in the Toronto Harbour to test our methodology, we found that our subsampling methodology has a 6.9% error rate. Over a 19-week period, the Seabins captured ∼85 000 pieces of small debris. Our study highlights the utility of TCDs and proposes methods to realize this utility globally. TCDs should become more widespread and utilized as a triple threat: a cleanup tool, a data collection tool, and a platform for outreach and education.
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    Opposing trends in fisheries portfolio diversity at harvester and community scales signal opportunities for adaptation
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 1385 - 1410
    Understanding mechanisms that promote social-ecological resilience can inform future adaptation strategies. Among seafood dependent communities, these can be illuminated by assessing change among fisheries portfolios. Here, in collaboration with a Coast Salish Nation in British Columbia, Canada, we used expert Indigenous knowledge and network analyses to chronicle differences in fisheries portfolios pre and post a social-ecological regime shift. We then evaluated key drivers of change using semi-structured interviews. We found that while portfolios decreased in diversity of seafood types harvested and consumed among individuals overtime, portfolios increased in their diversification at the community level because more similar seafoods within less diverse individual portfolios were more commonly harvested and consumed by the Nation as a whole. Thus, diversity can operate simultaneously in opposing directions at different scales of organization. Experts identified four key mechanisms driving these changes, including commercial activities controlled by a centralized governance regime, intergenerational knowledge loss, adaptive learning to new ecological and economic opportunities, and the trading of seafood with other Indigenous communities. Unexpectedly, increased predation by marine mammals was also flagged as a key driver of change. Adaptation strategies that support access to and governance of diverse fisheries, exchange of seafoods among communities, and knowledge transfer among generations would promote social-ecological resilience, food security, and community well-being.
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    Braiding Indigenous knowledge systems and Western-based sciences in the Alberta oil sands region: A systematic review
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 32
    The braiding of Indigenous knowledge systems and Western-based sciences offers insights into ecology and has emerged as a way to help address complex environmental issues. We reviewed the publicly available ecological research involving the braiding of Indigenous knowledge systems and Western-based sciences to support collaborative work in the Alberta oil sands region of Canada. We conducted a systematic review, coding for 78 questions in six categories: (1) literature search and bibliographic information; (2) research themes; (3) study setting and design; (4) knowledge systems; (5) power relationships, colonization, and ethical considerations in research; and (6) benefits and challenges of braiding. We identified six articles that braided knowledge, with those articles focusing on environmental management and monitoring for impacts of industrial activity in northern Alberta. Researchers used a broad range of approaches to gather Indigenous knowledge and scientific data and identified multiple challenges (e.g., asymmetries of power, resource availability, and funding) to research. Our findings show that more support is needed to foster, promote, and disseminate interdisciplinary collaborative work involving braiding. Additional support is also required to address Indigenous community research needs related to the assessment of environmental impact and reclamation, as well as the understanding of ecological threats across the region.
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    Models of justice evoked in published scientific studies of plastic pollution
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 34
    An exponentially growing body of international research engages with plastic pollution using different ideas on the right ways to frame, research, and intervene in the problem. The premise of this study is that all scientists work with understandings of what is right and wrong and why that is (models of justice) in their research, even when it is not explicitly stated, reflected upon, or a conscious part of the discussion. We surveyed 755 published articles on marine debris and plastic chemical additives and found that all evoked at least one model of justice, and often more. The most routinely used models included: developmental justice, distributive justice, and procedural justice. More rarely, we found appeals to environment-first justice and Indigenous sovereignty. While occasionally these multiple models worked synergistically, more often they conflicted. Our findings ground a call for fellow researchers to use a more intentional and systematic approach to evoking models of justice in our work. Our goal is to offer descriptions and insights about models of justice that are already being deployed to increase the sophistication of the ethical and normative orientations of our research and our fields, both in plastic pollution sciences and beyond.
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    Using an inverted funnel analogy to develop a theory of change supporting resilient ecosystem-based adaptation in the Great Lakes Basin: a case study of Lincoln, Ontario, Canada
    FACETS • Vol. 7 • pp. 1348 - 1366
    Communities in coastal areas of Canada, including the Great Lakes, face a number of challenges, including increased water level variability and extreme weather events, causing flooding and localized erosion. To effectively respond to these coastal risks requires structured, deliberative approaches with the aim of fostering resilience and contributing to sustainability. A collaborative engagement process was used to explore community challenges. This included a project launch, key informant interviews, meetings, focus groups (agriculture, tourism, youth), and on-line methods (shoreline residents). Participatory social network analysis and theory of change were used for overall sense-making. As a result, community members identified six impact pathways moving forward with climate action: partnerships and collaboration; strategic engagement; water and watersheds; ecosystem-based adaptation; shoreline protection; and education. These themes are consistent with current theory on sustainability and theory of change development.
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    The greenlight for government buildings: strategies for a low-carbon building portfolio
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 10
    There is a global focus by governments on retrofitting buildings, as well as incorporating energy efficiency into new construction, as a means to address climate change. Initiatives to reduce energy use, source renewable electricity, and use low-carbon materials are aimed at leading by example, where governments attempt to showcase innovation through green building strategies. Greening government initiatives are promoted to reduce operating costs, improve energy system resilience, grow the “green” economy, support clean energy development, and encourage sustainable building practices. Here, we outline the benefits of greening government initiatives by examining Canada's Greening Government Strategy as a case study approach for transitioning to a low-carbon building portfolio. We focus our review on initiatives that outline how public institutions can transition buildings to reduce their carbon footprint by (1) pairing greening government mandates with adequate support structures for public agencies, (2) using an integrated energy management process for the planning and development of carbon-neutral portfolios, and (3) overcoming barriers to low-carbon project implementation with procurement standards, financial instruments, and staff training. These approaches are defined to offer leadership in the green building industry, strategically identify carbon reduction projects, and reduce barriers to a low-carbon building portfolio.
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    Strengthening health care in Canada post-COVID-19 pandemic
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 10
    The purpose of this policy briefing is to examine our health care systems through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic and identify how we can strengthen health care in Canada post-pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has provided compelling evidence that substantive changes to our health care systems are needed. Specifically, the pandemic has emphasized structural inequities on a broad scale within Canadian society. These include systemic racial and socioeconomic inequities that must be addressed broadly, including in the delivery of health care. We make recommendations about what we can do to emerge stronger from the pandemic. While these recommendations are not novel, how they are framed and contextualized differs because of the problems in our health care system that have been highlighted and exacerbated by the pandemic.The evidence is clear that socioeconomic circumstances, intergenerational trauma, adverse early life experiences, and educational opportunities are critical factors when it comes to health over the life course. Given the problems in the delivery of health care that the pandemic has revealed, we need a different approach. How health care was organized prior to the COVID-19 pandemic did not produce what people wanted and needed in terms of health care and outcomes. How do we emerge from COVID-19 with an effective, equitable, and resilient health care system for all Canadians?To address health inequities and emerge from the pandemic with strengthened health care in Canada, we must consider how Amartya Sen's capabilities framework on social well-being can be operationalized to achieve better health care and health outcomes. Specifically, we address the need to: strengthen primary care and improve access to primary care;utilize a community-embedded approach to care; andimplement better integration across the care continuum, including integration between primary care and public health.Coherent governance and leadership that are charged with realizing benefits through collaboration will maximize outcomes and promote sustainability. Only when we provide access to high-quality culturally competent care that is centered around the individual and their needs will we be able to make true headway in addressing these long-standing health inequities.
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    Do environmental researchers from marginalized groups experience greater interference? Understanding scientists' perceptions
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 23
    Researchers in the environmental studies and sciences play a critical role in influencing real-world decision-making and policies. However, interference during research and sharing of results has been documented in Canada and around the world. Further, research has shown that workers from marginalized social identitie(s) experience discrimination in the workplace. Whether interference in research is related to social identity has never been examined. Using a mixed-methods design, we surveyed 741 environmental researchers in Canada to understand the relationship between social identity (gender, disability status, 2SLGBTQI+ status, race, and perception of racial identity) and reported experiences of interference. Results found that researchers with marginalized identities experienced worse outcomes across 11 of the 25 quantitative measures. For example, most marginalized groups experienced significantly greater fear of misrepresentation by media and (or) fear of negative career consequences due to public commentary, and racialized and disabled persons reported greater external interference in their work (e.g., from management and workplace policy). Given these findings, we express concern that the experience of interference in research can (1) threaten the personal well-being of marginalized researchers, (2) limit the representativeness of information disseminated, thererby impacting environmental decision-making and policy, and (3) contribute to inequities in representativeness of marginalized researchers in environmental sciences in Canada.
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    Richard Colebrook (Cole) Harris, OC. FRSC. LL.D Honoris causa, PhD (1936–2022)
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 5
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    Social determinants of food insecurity experienced by Ecuadorian women during the COVID-19 pandemic of Summer 2020: an online survey at the individual level
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 14
    The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified concerns about food insecurity, prompting its investigation. An online pilot survey anonymously gathered responses from a non-probabilistic sample of 2058 Ecuadorian women. The Food and Agriculture Organization's Food Insecurity Experience Scale was used to measure moderate or severe food insecurity (MSFI). Data quality was assessed using the Rasch item response theory model; this is a single-parameter logistic model that considers food insecurity severity as a latent trait. The analysis produced MSFI prevalence rates with 90% confidence level margins of error (90%MoE). The highest MSFI was found in women: lacking resources for personal expenses (29.53%, 90%MoE = 3.21) compared to those who had them (12.47, 90%MoE = 1.40); who live in the Amazon region (21.37, 90%MoE = 4.24) versus those living in Highlands (17.66%, 90%MoE = 1.77) or in Coast (13.44%, 90%MoE = 2.40); with three or more children (20.97%, 90%MoE = 4.71) against those without children (12.63%, 90%MoE = 3.57); who experienced income reduction during confinement (18.31%, 90%MoE = 2) compared to those who did not (15.71%, 90%MoE = 1.85); and who are rural (18.13%, 90%MoE = 2.83) versus urban residents (16.63%, 90%MoE = 1.55). This study highlights that the most vulnerable Ecuadorian women experienced the highest food insecurity levels during lockdown, emphasizing the need to consider the intersection between income and sociodemographic factors and their impact on women's food insecurity in future research and policymaking.
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    Using community science to advance grizzly bear conservation
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 11
    Alberta grizzly bears are classified as a threatened species in the province of Alberta as of 2010, with human-caused mortality and habitat loss a primary threat. The people who live, work, and recreate within bear habitat play a crucial role in their conservation. While the public is often enthusiastic about grizzly bears, and opportunistically report their observations to government staff, these reports are not systematic or rigorously collected and lack key information. As such, we developed GrizzTracker as a community science program. Following several years of successful deployment, we analyzed community scientist data and evaluated the efficacy of the program through an online user survey. We found that the GrizzTracker app was useful as a data collection and public engagement tool, yielding information for applied management, and that community scientists were generally satisfied. We provide considerations for future program development, including considerations for human, social, technological, and financial capital investment related to design, development, and implementation of data collection protocols, the importance of clearly communicating outcomes, and opportunities for educational outreach. While there is continued trepidation by traditionally trained scientists to develop or engage in community science programs, and some noted areas of improvement for our program specifically, we think that GrizzTracker offers a success story in community science.
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    Including local voices in marine debris conversations to advance environmental justice for island and coastal communities: perspectives from St. Paul Island, Alaska
    FACETS • Vol. 8 • pp. 1 - 13
    Marine debris is ubiquitous across the global ocean and is an increasing threat to human health, economies, habitats, and wildlife. While local to national action plans are important in addressing this issue, they do not necessarily reflect the needs of coastal communities most heavily impacted. Remote island and coastal communities, particularly in Alaska, do not generate the majority of marine debris impacting their ecosystems; however, they are often left with the task of removal and disposal. Thus, the detrimental effects of marine debris are not only an ecological problem but an issue of environmental justice. This project aimed to catalyze the inclusion of place-based knowledge in marine debris solutions for St. Paul Island, a predominantly (>85%) Alaska Native community in the Bering Sea. We interviewed 36 community members during 2017–2020, documenting their observations of marine debris types, amount, distribution, and impacts over recent decades. Participants reported increasing plastic debris since the 1980s, particularly plastic bottles and fishing gear. Nearly 80% expressed concern about impacts to subsistence resources, including entanglement and ingestion. St. Paul Island community members’ experiences highlight that solving marine debris issues requires broader policies and mitigation strategies addressing sources of debris and advancing environmental justice by impact reduction. Furthermore, this case study can serve as an example of how locally relevant action plans can be developed in other coastal communities around the world by including knowledge and concerns of community members, as they are the most heavily and personally impacted by the marine debris on their shorelines.
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    Toward more ethical engagements between Western and Indigenous sciences
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 14
    There is growing interest among Western-trained scientists in engaging with Indigenous sciences. This interest has arisen in response to social pressures to reckon with the colonial foundations of Western science and decentre Western ways of knowing, as well as recognition of the need to draw upon the gifts of multiple knowledge systems to address today's many complex social and ecological challenges. However, colonial patterns and power relations are often reproduced at the interface between Western and Indigenous sciences, including the reproduction of epistemic Eurocentrism and extractive modes of relationship between settlers and Indigenous Peoples. This paper seeks to support Western-trained scientists to recognize and interrupt these patterns in order to create the conditions for more ethical, respectful, and reciprocal engagements with Indigenous sciences. We also offer a map of the different ways that Western sciences have thus far engaged Indigenous sciences. We particularly highlight the emergent possibilities offered by a reparative approach to engagement that emphasizes the responsibility of Western science to enact material and relational repair for historical and ongoing harm, including by supporting Indigenous self-determination and sovereignty in science and beyond.
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    Governing for transboundary environmental justice: a scientific and policy analysis of fish consumption advisory programs in the Upper St Lawrence River
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 11
    This paper examines fish consumption advisories (FCAs) as a site of transboundary governance in the Upper St Lawrence River with the aim of identifying opportunities for enhanced coordination and power sharing to address environmental injustices. The Upper St Lawrence River is part of the Great Lakes watershed of North America and the traditional territory of multiple Indigenous Nations, as well as the present-day jurisdictions of Ontario (Canada), Quebec (Canada), and New York State (USA). Through an analysis of publicly available information on FCA programs, we examine similarities and differences in these programs across jurisdictions. We find an overall lack of coordination in fish monitoring and differences in consumption advice for a waterway in which fish may easily move between transboundary areas. We offer recommendations for improving FCAs in this transboundary waterway from the lens of environmental justice, focusing on (1) a shared and transparent approach to monitoring contaminant levels and fish species; (2) integration of cultural food practices; (3) enhanced outreach to angler populations; and (4) upholding the self-determination of Indigenous communities. We also underscore that FCAs should not be seen as a permanent solution. Preventing and reducing contaminants, including associated harm reduction in communities affected by FCAs, need to be priorities.
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    What is happening where? An evaluation of social sciences research trends in Nunavut (2004–2019)
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 20
    Research licensing administered by the Nunavut Research Institute (NRI) affords Nunavummiut (people of Nunavut) an opportunity to engage in research. The NRI partnered with researchers at McMaster and Carleton Universities to investigate social sciences research licensed between 2004 and 2019. This partnership aimed to understand the scope of research trends in Nunavut. Thematic content analysis was used to (i) identify research topics in social sciences and Inuit knowledge projects; (ii) determine frequency and diversity of topics according to leadership, location, and timeframe; (iii) develop metrics to improve tracking of research; and (iv) contribute to the development of a Nunavut research portal making NRI research applications and reports public. Social sciences research increased during the 16-year study period. Projects were predominantly led by Canadian academics. The highest intensity of research occurred in Iqaluit, and the lowest intensity in Grise Fiord. Social sciences research was mainly focused on topics related to Inuit culture and knowledge. Social scientists most often conducted research using interviews and shared their work via peer-reviewed journal articles. This project is a starting point in raising awareness about research trends for Nunavummiut. This work aims to contribute to broader efforts in developing Nunavut-specific approaches to achieving Inuit self-determination in research.
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    Rooting natural climate solutions in Wahkohtowin through Indigenous guardianship: insights from a youth-led initiative in Northern Ontario, Canada
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 17
    In recent years, increasing attention has been directed to “natural climate solutions” to mitigate climate change through the protection, restoration, and improved management of carbon-storing ecosystems. In practice, Indigenous Peoples have been implementing natural climate solutions for millennia through land stewardship. As Indigenous nations and communities in Canada reassert stewardship roles through Indigenous Guardians programs, the question arises: what possibilities emerge when natural climate solutions are driven by Guardians, guided by multifaceted community priorities and Indigenous knowledge? This paper responds to this question, drawing upon collaborative research with Wahkohtowin Development, a social enterprise based in Treaty 9 territory (Ontario, Canada), made up of Chapleau Cree First Nation, Missanabie Cree First Nation, and Brunswick House First Nation. We engaged youth Guardians in workshops that generated insights on the role of youth, cross-cultural collaboration, and holistic conceptualizations of climate action rooted in Indigenous ontologies (such as the Cree philosophy of wahkohtowin, embodying kinship and interconnectedness). Our analysis reveals that Indigenous Guardians are well positioned to advance natural climate solutions and to do so in an integrative manner that addresses intersecting challenges—with benefits for communities, ecosystems, climate action, and reconciliation.
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    Compliance and enforcement in a brave new (green) world: best practices and technologies for green governance
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 8
    International and transnational cooperation is needed to strengthen environmental governance initiatives with advanced technologies. In January 2023, Ontario Tech University hosted a symposium entitled Tech With a Green Governance Conscience: Exploring the Technology–Environmental Policy Nexus. Attendees spanned diverse disciplines, sectors, and countries, bringing unique and diverse perspectives to the technology–environmental policy nexus. Emergent themes arising from the symposium include the role of artificial intelligence in environmental governance, while eliminating the detrimental social impacts associated with these advanced technologies via algorithmic bias, misunderstanding, and unaccountability. The symposium explored the tech–society–ecology interface, such as the authoritarian intensification of digitalized environmental governance, “technocracy”, and the ethical implications of sacrificing democratic legitimacy in the face of imminent environmental destruction. Select participants (i.e., co-authors) at the symposium provided input on a preliminary framework, which led to this perspective article focused on the politics surrounding green governance in the 21st century. We conclude that while emerging technologies are being deployed to address grand environmental challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and resource depletion, the use of these various technologies for progressive environmental policy development and enforcement requires co-productivist approaches to constructive technology assessments and embracing the concept of technologies of humility. This necessitates a space for dialogue, reflection, and deliberation on leading adaptive environmental governance in the face of power and politics, as we interrogate the putative neutrality of advanced technology and techno-solutionism.
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    Boundary spanners catalyze cultural and prescribed fire in western Canada
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 11
    Western Canada is increasingly experiencing impactful and complex wildfire seasons. In response, there are urgent calls to implement prescribed and cultural fire as a key solution to this complex challenge. Unfortunately, there has been limited investment in individuals and organizations that can navigate this complexity and work to implement collaborative solutions across physical, cognitive, and social boundaries. In the wildfire context, these boundaries manifest as jurisdictional silos, a lack of respect for certain forms of knowledge, and a disconnect between knowledge and practice. Here, we highlight the important role of “boundary spanners” in building trust, relationships, and capacity to enable collaboration, including through five case studies from western Canada. As individuals and organizations who actively work across and bridge boundaries between diverse actors and knowledge systems, we believe that boundary spanners can play a key role in supporting proactive wildfire management. Boundary spanning activities include: convening workshops, hosting joint training exercises, supporting knowledge exchange and communities of practice, and creating communication tools and resources. These activities can help overcome unevenly valued knowledge, lack of trust, and outdated policies. We need collaborative approaches to implement prescribed and cultural fire, including a strong foundation for the establishment of boundary spanning individuals and organizations.
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    Co-creating Ethical Space in wildlife conservation: a case study of moose (Mooz; Alces alces) research and monitoring in the Robinson Huron Treaty region (Ontario, Canada)
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 14
    The strengths of Indigenous Knowledges and need for reconciliation are increasingly recognized within conservation, leading to a rise in collaborative, cross-cultural research initiatives. As both a cultural keystone and important harvest species, moose are of value to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Peoples, presenting an opportunity to pursue moose monitoring strategies that embrace the strengths of Indigenous and Western knowledges. While various frameworks provide theoretical direction on how to do so, few resources outline how to apply them in practice. Leaning on guidance of the Ethical Space framework, we explored the meaning and application of value-based approaches in the context of moose monitoring in central Ontario through semi-structured interviews with First Nation communities, the Ontario provincial crown government, and academic researchers. Collectively, 20 core values were identified to be important when bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners together, coupled with a range of tangible actions necessary for fostering Ethical Space. Values and actions reflected three main themes: an emphasis on the long term, the importance of building and maintaining relationships, and the ability to evolve and adapt over time. Insights from this research provide tools and guidance for others interested in enacting Ethical Space in the context of cross-cultural wildlife monitoring and research.
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    Access to Environmental Justice in Canadian environmental impact assessment
    FACETS • Vol. 9 • pp. 1 - 18
    Contemporaneous reforms to Canada and British Columbia's environmental impact assessment legislation have the potential to advance Access to Environmental Justice. Access to Environmental Justice is the ability of individuals and communities who are disproportionately and negatively impacted by environmental decisions to access legal and regulatory processes and to have their concerns heard and addressed through environmental decision-making and dispute resolution. Access to Environmental Justice connects concepts of environmental justice, public participation, the rule of law, and access to justice to provide a framework for evaluating the implementation of environmental impact assessment laws. We conducted a preliminary analysis of early implementation of legislative reforms in Canada and British Columbia. Our analysis indicates that a number of factors influence who is seeking to access environmental justice through environmental impact assessment, including geography, project type, and the availability of a legislative mechanism that allows anyone to request an assessment. Whether Canada and British Columbia's reforms are advancing Access to Environmental Justice requires continued analysis as projects continue to be assessed under the new laws.