July 2020 ECHO NETWORK UPDATE
Ispah Lake, the Traditional Unceded Territory of the Lheidli T’enneh, south-east of Prince George, BC (curtesy of Meg Labron)
Welcome to our July 2020 ECHO Network Quarterly Update!
We hope that everyone is staying safe and healthy and finding time to rest and connect with loved ones as we continue to navigate the uncertainties and complexities created by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the slowdown and many changes of plans, lots of activities and developments have been underway across the ECHO Network over the past few months!
As previously announced, an important ECHO-related activity that was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic was the Land Health and Healing Gathering, originally scheduled to be co-hosted by the Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and UNBC in Prince George in June 2020. We are actively working to reschedule for a time that suits our key partners for June 2021. In the meantime, a series of Seasonal Touchpoints will occur over the course of the next year leading up to the 2021 Gathering. These will be virtual, land-based connection opportunities including guest speakers, music and cultural exchange. The first touchpoint is coming up on August 5th —contact Meg or Margot for details.
The 2020 ECHO Network Annual Meeting took place virtually from June 10-12, 2020 and was a great success. Sessions included a guided lakeshore walk with Sandra Harris of the Wet’suwet’en Nation, an overview of the ECHO ‘journey to date’ and cross-ECHO work planning, an ECHO-Screen workshop, and a timely and thought-provoking session led by Team Learning & Impact’s Holly Clermont using the 3-Horizons Framework. January’s Collaborative Working Day served as a useful stepping stone for planning a virtual Annual Meeting, and we have learned a lot from these two online events. Please email us at echonetwork@unbc.ca if you have questions or comments. Stay tuned for release of the 2020 ECHO Annual Meeting Report in the coming months.
We would like to thank everyone who submitted to the ECHO Reflections in Art efforts this spring—it added a wonderful layer of meaning and discussion to the Annual Meeting and stretched our arts-based comfort zones. We are looking into options to create a “virtual gallery” to share some of the arts-based aspects of ECHO work, and would be open to suggestions team members may have about ways to do this.
Since the last ECHO Update, we’ve had several additional online cross-ECHO Workshops:
(1) “ECHO-Screen Show and Tell” (GECHO Team, May 29, 2020),
(2) “Gender-Based Analysis Plus Open House” (Team Equity, June 5, 2020), and
(3) “Updates to Northern Health EA Standard Comments Document“ (Northern BC Regional Case, June 25, 2020)
Watch this space for upcoming workshops and more opportunities for cross-ECHO exchange this year. Please contact us at echonetwork@unbc.ca if you would like to gain access to any of the workshop recordings.
We are pleased to welcome several new ECHO Network team members (see p 5. for some profiles) including Sally Western (joining the Northern BC Regional Case as a Technical Advisor for the Office of Health and Resource Development with the Northern Health Authority); Tim Murphy (who joins the NBEN as their new Executive Director as Raissa Marks leaves this role and moves on to a new opportunity in Montreal), as well as Nick Yarmey, Dharma Perez, Demi Vermeer and Lanie Parr with the BRWA/UofA Regional Case.
We are very pleased to share the news that ECHO-UNBC scholarship recipient and PhD candidate Christiana Onabola has been successful in receiving a prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship for her doctoral studies! Congratulations Christiana on this incredible achievement! The title of Christiana’s research proposal is “On the Cusp of Planetary Health Equity: Adopting Watersheds as a Conceptual Framework for the study of SDGs Interactions and Health Outcomes.”
A reminder that early this year we submitted our Progress Report to CIHR which outlines how the ECHO Network has progressed towards achieving its objectives, outcomes and impacts. You can access receive a copy of the report by emailing us at echonetwork@unbc.ca.
The Research Design Working Group met on April 24, 2020, with a focus on our growing emphasis on cross-ECHO research activities, and leveraging the strengths from our regional cases. Key areas of discussion are research developments focused on adaptation of the ECHO-Screen based on the CalEnviroScreen tool to several ECHO regional cases; the combination of geospatial tools and indicator development to inform cross-ECHO action; a renewed emphasis on integrative impact assessments in the upcoming cross-ECHO activities; and priorities for team manuscripts and writing projects; etc.
Team Equity hosted an Open House in early June focused on Gender-Based Analysis Plus, which generated some good conversation around intersectionality, anti-racism work, and representation in the Network. Team Equity members have been hard at work on various forthcoming reports, drafts of which are available upon request (please contact us). Equity is eager to support ECHO Regional Cases with specific challenges and goals they have around equity issues, so please reach out to Maya Gislason if you are interested in engaging further.
Our fledgling ECHO Youth engagement/outreach team met on July 8th to pick up conversations across ECHO in regards to ongoing youth engagement work within Regional Cases. The emerging team is looking forward to meeting again in August to further actions on enabling more cross-ECHO youth conversations, also in conjunction with various related ECHO projects.
We are continuing to develop and refine ways to share and profile ECHO-informed reports, outputs, publications, and actions, on our website and through our team communication system. If you have suggestions for how you would like to share, profile and exchange ECHO-relevant, please let us know. After lengthy consideration, we will be transitioning from ECHO Source to a new online sharing platform—stay tuned for updates on this in August.
Many members of the ECHO Network have been working together on a large international collaboration spanning Canada and Oceania, entitled: “The FEEDBACK Project: Amplifying co-benefits for a healthy, just & sustainable planetary home”, that was submitted to Canada’s New Frontiers Research Fund Transformation Grant. This exciting new phase of work combines the integrative environment, community, and health strengths of the ECHO Network, with an timely emphasis on co-benefits across climate, catchment and community. Importantly, the FEEDBACK project also brings forward a combined commitment to: prioritize Indigenous knowledges, champion equity and centre ecological orientations in ways that will also inform our ECHO Network efforts going forward. We look forward to keeping ECHO Network members updated with developments with the FEEDBACK project as they arise.
Upcoming meetings and events, involving or hosted by ECHO team members
ECHO meeting-free July! After a busy spring for everyone, we are happy to be enjoying a meeting-free July… rest those Zoom-weary eyes!
ECHO Trainee Team Meeting—August 5th, 2020
The Land, Health & Healing Gathering Presents: Seasonal Touchpoint Series—August 5th, 4pm PST
ECHO Team Learning and Impact Retreat—August 17, 2020
NBEN/UdeM Regional Case Update
The Wolastoq River, also known as the Saint John River on Mi'kmaq traditional territory.
While summer is always a bit quieter than the rest of the year, the COVID-19 has had a slowing effect on many of our projects and plans. Like the rest of the world, we are working on new ways of navigating these changes and facilitating exchanges and discussion with our partners. Despite this, there is some work that is ongoing in our regional case.
Onitriniaina is currently in the development phase of a detailed methodology, using Photovoice as a data collection tool. We are also in the process of seeking ethical approval for her research project on "Ecological Transition and Women: Food Security and Health Issues".
In an iterative and co-construction process with Team Indicators and Cumulative Impacts, a team of the Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative, we have identified the geographic units and the indicators we would like to use for the New Brunswick ECHO-Screen. Saadia is currently in a data collection and analysis phase, while also in the process of completing the ethical application and preparing her Master's thesis seminar. Further reflection is required to plan the workshops with stakeholders that we will need to do once the tool is developed.
Lastly, Raissa’s last day in the New Brunswick Environmental Network office was June 19th. She is leaving to start a new adventure in Montréal. Tim Murphy Leblanc has stepped into her role as executive director of the NBEN. We look forward to working with him!
FNHA/SFU Regional Case Update
As for most people, the pandemic has completely disrupted our case-study work that relies upon sustained interaction with FNHA and other public health practitioners. But, we have taken the old adage, 'never let a good crisis go to waste', and on April 15th, SFU ECHO Co-PIs Tim Takaro and Maya Gislason launched a weekly webalogue series along with SFU's Planetary Health Research group, CoPEH Canada, NextGenU, and Shift Collaborative entitled, Learning for Planetary Health Lessons from a Pandemic. The weekly series has covered a range of intersectoral learnings with two action agenda sessions up through the end of June. Our goal is to use the crisis to promote bouncing forward, not back, on issues of multi-species equity, climate and energy policy, mental health, urban planning, global health and Indigenous rights.
Our team has been actively involved in the cross-ECHO discussions, led by Jordan, around what it might mean to build upon the Cal-EnviroScreen methodology by applying GBA+ and assets-based lenses and making it more relevant to the Canadian context. On May 4th, a GECHO (Geospatial ECHO) meeting was held online to bring together the geospatially-minded partners across the network to tackle some of the technical aspects that would be involved in such a process, as well as to share resources and tips around data collection and analysis as it pertains to our overlapping interests. The momentum that has begun in the GECHO group shows great promise to help us collectively move forward with these important tasks, in addition to promoting a sense of community throughout the network in times of isolation.
Drawing from a sustained effort within ECHO to integrate social and ecological theory, data, methodological innovations in tools and integrative practices, Maya, Dawn, Jordan, Katie and Angel have been applying our learning in work with Women and Gender Equality Canada. This research has pushed our thinking about how to use intersectionality as a theory to propose a design for modeling the climate impacts on systematically marginalized populations. This work pays particular consideration to how to meaningfully centre Indigenous health and wellbeing. Further to this federal work, a new project with the Climate Action Secretariat will enable Maya, Dawn and Jordan to engage with the FNHA as partners that will be consulted with to learn how to take an intersectionality approach to understanding the impacts of climate change in BC on specific populations. This also includes questions as to how to not only understand but centre the impacts of climate change on Indigenous communities with a focus on gendered impacts. Within this project we will conduct a desktop case study analysis on the Grand Forks floods in 2018. We are currently seeking an Indigenous Advisor to offer feedback on this work—stay tuned for further updates!
BRWA/UofA Regional Case Update
The BRWA team paddling the Battle in spring 2020.
In spring 2020, the BRWA/UofA Regional Case welcomed several new members to our team to help progress various aspects of the “Health in the Watershed” indicator framework project. In particular, we have been developing educational materials for each of the indicators identified thus far. These materials include maps, fact sheets, policy briefs, and write-ups that describe the historical, political, and social contexts around these indicators and their current status in our watershed. We have also completed a first iteration of the CalEnviroScreen method in Alberta, including an interactive mapping interface to display this information. We will continue to refine this method in the Alberta context, and work across the regional cases of the ECHO Network to advance the development of “ECHOScreen” as the next phase of this work.
The BRWA is continuing to work with agricultural producers, First Nations, and other landowners to carry out riparian restoration projects that support improved water quality, water storage, and biodiversity throughout the watershed. We are also partnering with the North Saskatchewan Watershed Alliance to conduct a comprehensive riparian assessment in the Battle River watershed and eastern reaches of the North Saskatchewan River watershed in Alberta. Nearly 16,000 kilometres of riparian lands will be assessed using satellite imagery to measure: 1) the intactness of riparian areas, and 2) pressures on riparian health from adjacent upland areas. We will then use these results to identify priority areas for riparian conservation and restoration.
With spring and summer weather finally arriving, we have also been taking every opportunity to get out on the Battle River for some paddling adventures, and are developing “Paddle the Battle” guides to encourage other watershed residents to do the same. Active lifestyles, outdoor recreation opportunities, and caring for our watershed really do go hand in hand! Check out our website to learn more, and call us up if you are ever in our neck of the woods and want to get out for a paddle!
NH / UNBC Regional Case Update
The past winter and spring season has continued to bring much change for the regional case. The Northern Health (NH) Office of Health and Resource Development (OHRD) has had additional personnel shifts. Melissa Aalhus will be leaving her Interim Regional Office Manager position July 30th as she has been accepted to medical school and will be starting with the UNBC cohort in September. OHRD plans to have a replacement in training by mid-July. Sally Western has been hired to the position of Technical Advisor and will soon step into the position of ECHO regional case coordinator, replacing Katrina Koehn. As well, Dr. Chris Buse, will be stepping away from his position as Regional Case Co-Lead, focusing his ECHO-related work on further development of the ECHO-Screen.
It has been an exceptionally busy time. With the Covid-19 pandemic, the OHRD has been helping respond to risks associated with industrial camps in northern BC. As a result, OHRD set aside many other Environmental Assessment (EA) participation and policy-focused efforts for March through May.
OHRD is currently regaining momentum around EA commenting participation. OHRD recently hosted an ECHO workshop around updating the Standard Comments for EAs document. The office uses this as a foundation for our own comments submitted in EA processes, as well as a reference point and guidance for both regulators and proponents in BC. The office looks forward to receiving the feedback of ECHO members, so please follow the link and have a read through!
ECHO Network Team Member Profiles
Sally Western, NH/UNBC Regional Case Coordinator
Sally Western, Northern BC Case
Hailing originally from the U.S. state of Wyoming in the hereditary territory of the Absaroka Nation, Sally holds an MA in History with a focus on recent Arctic mine regulation and community-government-industry relations. She works as a Technical Advisor for the Office of Health and Resource Development (OHRD) at Northern Health, and is based out of Fort St. John, on unceded Dunne-Za territory. Her background is in socio-economic research in northern BC resource communities, in addition to Environmental Assessment and Indigenous Consultation as well as Gender Based Analysis. She is looking forward to maintaining Northern Health’s role in the ECHO network.
Nick Yarmey, ECHO Network Research Associate
Nick holds a Master of Science in Natural Resources and the Environment from the University of Connecticut, where his thesis research focused on the human dimensions of black bear management. He used surveys, interviews, focus groups, and GIS to better understand stakeholder attitudes toward black bears and black bear management in the densely-populated state of Connecticut, with the goal of promoting human-wildlife coexistence. With the ECHO Network, he does spatial analysis and mapping of E-C-H data for the Battle River Watershed Case Study, and leads the development of Alberta's "Cal Enviro Screen" - a GIS-based tool for exploring the impacts of resource development on community health and wellbeing. Nick also works at an Edmonton-based consulting company doing program evaluation, primarily in the health and social sectors. Past experience that informs his work with ECHO include community-based research with Indigenous communities across Canada, pro-LGBTQ outreach and advocacy in rural schools, and mitigating human-beaver conflicts on public and private lands.
Nick Yarmey, BRWA/UofA Research Associate
Tim Murphy, Knowledge User Lead NBEN/UdeM Regional Case
Tim Murphy, NBEN/UdeM Regional Case
Tim has been with the New Brunswick Environmental Network since June of 2020, replacing Raissa Marks as Executive Director as she leaves to pursue new adventures in Montreal. He grew up in Moncton, on the unceded territory of the Mi'kmaw People, and recently moved to Kent County with his partner and dog Lou after 20 years of work and studies in Quebec in the fields of sustainability, youth engagement, climate and energy, food security and small scale organic agriculture. Tim is most familiar with the worlds of small business, community not-for-profits, consultancy, and municipal decision-making. Tim's interests in the ECHO Project are in disseminating tools such as the risks and benefits calculator and the in-the-works echo screen to communities and local environmental groups throughout the province. Tim believes that some of the most radical environmental organizing is undertaken by small groups of citizens battling environmental destruction and pollution in their own backyards. In winter, you are likely to cross paths with Tim on the cross-country ski trails, and in summer you can usually find him toiling away in his garden.
Demi Vermeer, ECHO Network Research Assistant
I am currently an undergraduate with a major in political science and a minor in sociology at the University of Alberta, Augustana Campus. My current interests involve anything politics related or soccer-related. My work for the ECHO network deals with creating policy briefs surrounding the 44 indicators that have been previously chosen to assess the current health in the Battle River Watershed. These policy briefs detail the policy design past and present political and ministerial officials have developed, the current legislation in place around the indicators, and what needs to be done to ensure and increase the health in the Battle River Watershed.
Demi Vemeer, BRWA/UofA Regional Case Research Assistant
Publications of Interest
McKimm J, Redvers N, El Omrani, O, Parkes M, Elf M, Woollard R. (in press, for 2020 release) Education for Sustainable Healthcare: Leadership to get there from here. Medical Teacher. 10.1080/0142159X.2020.1795104. (MS ID: IMTE 1795104)
Picketts, I. M., Déry, S. J., Parkes, M. W., Sharma, A. R., & Matthews, C. A. (2020). Scenarios of climate change and natural resource development: Complexity and uncertainty in the Nechako Watershed. The Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe Canadien, https://doi.org/10.1111/cag.12609
Hoogeveen, D., Gislason, M., Hussey, A., Western, S., Williams, A. (2020). Gender Based Analysis Plus: A knowledge synthesis for the implementation and development of socially responsible impact assessment in Canada. Available at https://ecohealthkta.net/publications/
Buse, C. G., Friberg, R., Arnold, L., Hanna, K. (2020). Unlocking the promise of ‘integrated’ regional and strategic environmental assessments based on a realist review of the scholarly literature. Prepared for Centre for Environmental Assessment Research, Kelowna, BC: University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus.
J. Brubacher, D.M. Allen, S.J. Déry, et al., Associations of five food- and water-borne diseases with ecological zone, land use and aquifer type in a changing climate, Science of the Total Environment (2020), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.138808
Parkes, M. W. (2020). Working together for WHOLE systems: Approaching Well-being and Health, while Oriented to Living-systems and Equity. In. In C. Stephens (Ed.), Animals, Health and Society: Health Promotion, Harm Reduction and Health Equity in a One Health World. CRC Press.
Buse C, Cole D, Parkes M. (in Press, 2020 release). Health security in the context of social-ecological change. In Lautensach AK and Lautensach SW (eds). Human Security in World Affairs: Problems and Opportunities, 2nd edition. Vancouver, Canada: BC Campus and UNBC.