Spring 2021 ECHO NETWORK UPDATE
An evening photo of the blood moon on Lheidli T’enneh Territory taken by Mackenzie Kerr
Welcome to our Spring 2021 ECHO Network Quarterly Update!
Welcome to the Spring 2021 ECHO Network Update. We hope this update finds you well and looking forward to a safe and healthy summer (or winter in some parts of our Learning Community) after the converging, and in many ways, cumulative, impacts of the last year.
We acknowledge the particularly challenging period of loss and grief that many have been navigating as a result of the discovery of the remains of 215 Indigenous children uncovered by Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School. Our team has been inspired by the courage, care and conviction among Indigenous friends, colleagues, and communities, as well as by the deep reflection required as we navigate the ongoing implications of this unfathomable loss.
These experiences are accompanying a change of seasons, that will also be reflected by new activities, interactions and knowledge exchange efforts across the ECHO Network. Some examples of this include:
the new look and feel of our ECHO Network Updates. We would welcome your feedback and suggestions about these at echonetwork@unbc.ca.
an increase of cross-ECHO activities, including workshops, knowledge exchange conversations, and moving into action.
Despite the uncertainty and challenges of this year, our team has managed to engage, learn, and share in many different spaces across our Regional Cases.
News & Updates
Recent Presentation or workshop highlights
Melissa Lem, Jennie McCaffrey, Sonya Jakubec (2021). "Parks, Prescriptions and Possibilities: A new pan-Canadian parks prescription initiative". Webalogue moderated by Chris Buse, May 18, 2021. Available here https://bit.ly/3wBj0IM
Namaste Marsden, Ashley Henry, Dawn Hoogeveen, Helen Chan (2021). “Indicators of First Nations Health and Wellness - First Nations Well Being Fund: Measuring Wellness Developing Indicators for Community Priorities”. May 5, 2021. Online. Available at https://vimeo.com/545716998
Sarah Skinner, Amanda Rooney, Negar Zangi (2021). "Climate Risks and Resilience: Protecting People, Communities, and Ecosystems in the Battle River and Sounding Creek Watersheds". Battle River Watershed Alliance; ECHO Network. May 5, 2021.
Raina Fumerton & Sally Western (2021). “Visual Tools and Processes for Engaging Intersectoral Partners on the Health Impacts of Resource Development". NCCEH Environmental Health Series. April 29, 2021. Recording accessible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcVlYton5RQ
Lars Hallstrom (2021). “ECHO Network Policy Brief Writing Workshop”. Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy, University of Lethbridge, Alberta; ECHO Network. April 28, 2021.
Ben Brisbois, Dawn Hoogeveen, Sandra Allison & Donald Cole (2021). “Storylines of research in resource extraction and health in Canada: Identifying unstated assumptions to inform policy and practice”. Webinar hosted by the Rural, Remote & Northern Public Health Network (RRNPHN). March 19, 2021. Recording accessible from https://echo.gis.unbc.ca/s/c39TZ6t2WsiZadi.
Maya Gislason (2021). "Preparing for the Future: Using an Equity Lens to Inform a New Generation of Evidence Building on Environments and Health". Keynote presentation: Prentice Institute Annual Meeting. University of Lethbridge. June 9, 2021.
If you're interested in viewing the recordings of these sessions (as available), please email us at echonetwork@unbc.ca.
ECHO Critical Reading Group
ECHO Critical Reading Group met on April 6th for a session co-led by Ben Brisbois and Meg Labron on Racial Environmental Justice. The group discussed two readings (Contradictions of Solidarity: Whiteness, Settler Coloniality, and the Mainstream Environmental Movement and Geographies of race and ethnicity II: Environmental racism, racial capitalism and state-sanctioned violence) and some notes were taken during the session, thank you Ben for your impressive dual role facilitation and note-taking!
We’re looking forward to hosting future activities similar to the Critical Reading Group but shifting this activity slightly with the new title "Conversations with Authors". This new activity will be an opportunity for Network members to engage with literature produced by ECHO colleagues, have discussion with authors of the article, and collectively create a short summary, for example a policy brief for general public, about the article discussed as an output for the Network. We plan to host the first Conversations with Authors in early July 2021.
ECHOs from Across the Regional Cases
Click here to see what the ECHO Regional Cases have been up to!
Team Updates
ECHO&YOU(th)
The ECHO&YOU(th) team is focusing on sourcing artifacts, documents, pictures, videos, and other resources of previous youth engagement activities within or in collaboration with the Network to upload to the official ECHO Portal. Currently, each regional case has been asked to forward any relevant youth-related activities to Makayla to be uploaded to the ECHO Portal or upload their resources themselves using their Portal account!
A group of students at Ecole Grande-Digue, NB recently utilized the SMASH app on their school iPads to collect field data while participating in a watershed exploration walk!
Team Geospatial ECHO (GECHO)
The ECHO Network Portal is now live http://echo-portal.gis.unbc.ca/ and ready for uploading documents, data, maps, events for archiving and sharing. The Portal is a tool that can help Network members and beyond practice their E-C-H lens. For additional information, support and training contact echoportaladmin@unbc.ca. GECHO team conversations happen about every 6 weeks, at the latest meeting there was an introduction to the portal with a log-in and an invitation to start contributing content. There has also been work and discussions around creating a standard for tracking and citing spatial datasets created and/or used for mapping or analysis and loading this into the ECHO Zotero library. The three regional EnviroScreen pilots/trials are working on manuscripts, future iterations and share-able outputs. We're excited to share with you that the ECHO Network Geospatial Portal is now live! You can access a 1-page introduction to the Portal here: https://echo.gis.unbc.ca/s/Q6ipBFgjkY88qfA
Land, Health & Healing Project Update
The Land, Health & Healing Gathering co-hosted by Lheidli T'enneh First Nation and UNBC is taking place on June 17 & 18th, Pacific Time! The Land, Health and Healing Planning Team has recently received renewed commitment and the go ahead from Chief & Council at Lheidli T'enneh First Nation. The Gathering is also embarking on a partnership with the University of Northern British Columbia's Office of Indigenous Initiatives' 4 Connections Series, which we will have the opportunity to join on the afternoon of day one. If you are interested in attending, please express your interest to attend here: https://forms.gle/G2rSAKuvtn44g898A. A detailed program is forthcoming, including a sunrise and sunset ceremony, and a host of wonderful speakers and workshops.
Zotero Library
Our collective ECHO Zotero library is growing! Research Assistant, Makayla Skrlac is keeping our Zotero library updated and is also here to help new trainees and members access the library. She gave a brief presentation to the UNBC ECHO Team on March 16, 2021 to discuss these updates, you can access a recording of this presentation here: https://bit.ly/2RxvJgH. Find our respective Zotero Protocol at https://echo.gis.unbc.ca/s/wHntHQfDXd3nHHN.
Team Equity
Team Equity members continue to work on a suite of outputs to be profiled at upcoming Cross-ECHO connections and workshops. To fuel this effort and support the team, we are pleased that Angel Kennedy (with the FNHA-SFU Regional Case) is joining the ECHO Team at UNBC for the next two months. A first touch-point with Team Equity is currently planned for a regularly scheduled ECHO Trainee Meeting on June 11, 2021, 9:00-10:30am PST. If you would like to join this meeting, please email us at echonetwork@unbc.ca (all are welcome).
Team Watersheds
On May 5th, the Battle River Watershed Alliance (BRWA) hosted a presentation on Climate Risks and Resilience: Protecting People, Communities, and Ecosystems in the Battle River and Sounding Creek Watersheds. Working within the "Health in the Watershed" indicator framework, the BRWA has been looking into the wide-ranging connections between climate change and health. The focus of this BRWA project has been to identify:
1) potential climate-related risks to ecological, community, and public health that may impact our watershed, and
2) mitigation/adaptation strategies that may help us address these risks.
During this session, the BRWA's two "Climate Change and Health" Project Assistants shared their findings and welcomed participants to join them in a discussion about climate change and health related challenges and opportunities. The session also explored how an “integrative tool and process” like the "Health in the Watershed" Atlas can feed to inform other activities across the ECHO Network and beyond. In particular – as some of you are aware - the Nechako Watersheds Roundtable in northern BC is preparing for some strategic planning processes in 2021, and we’re hoping that some of the tools we are working on for this can be informed by the BRWA “Health in the Watershed” work. If you’re interested in the recording of this workshop, please contact us at echonetwork@unbc.ca.
Upcoming; Watershed Atlas and developments with the Alberta Regional Case
The Alberta Regional Case is continuing active work on the Watershed Atlas project that is also now being supported from Dr. Lars Hallstrom's new role as Director of the Prentice Institute for Global Population and Economy at the University of Lethbridge (https://www.uleth.ca/prenticeinstitute/). We look forward to sharing more about this in our next update.
Team Learning & Impact
Team Learning and Impact is looking forward to a new phase of interaction in the 2nd half or 2021 focused on identifying and communicating outcomes and learning from the ECHO Network initiative at the 'meta' or overarching ECHO Network level. To do this we will be working more closely with Team Learning and Impact member Rachael Trotman, who will be drawing on extensive experience in complex and developmental evaluations through her leadership of WEAVE (https://weavingchange.nz/). Our Learning and Impact team are looking connecting across the Learning Community to consolidate lessons to inform the final phase of the current ECHO Network and related future work. Team Learning and Impact will also be supporting the ECHO Trainees with their ECHO journey reflection exercise, which will inform a trainee-led manuscript effort.
Above: ECHO Network Framework: Integrative approaches to connecting knowledge and action to address the cumulative impacts of resource development. *Adapted from “Five Ways to Wellbeing” (https://www.ids.ac.uk/publications/five-ways-to-wellbeing-the-evidence/)
ECHO Network Team Member Profiles
Mackenzie Kerr – New UNBC ECHO Research Assistant
Mackenzie has lived on Lheidli T'enneh territory in Prince George for 15 years. Her childhood was spent living in the Yukon (Dawson City and Whitehorse). She recently completed her undergraduate degree in Forest ecology and management with a minor in environmental studies after 6 years of post-secondary. Her passion for community engagement led her to becoming politically involved with the Greens and she ran for office in the 2019 federal election. She then ran again in 2020 in the provincial snap election, while finishing her degree. She is also currently working for John Prince Research Forest as a communications Intern part time focusing on research education to the public. She hopes to bring her experience with social media management and research translation/education to her new position with ECHO as a research assistant. She is grateful for the opportunity to make connections with the ECHO participants and add value to the team with her optimism and creative social media ideas.
Dawn Hoogeveen – Cross-Appointment with SFU and FNHA!
Dawn Hoogeveen has a new position as a University Research Associate in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, cross-appointed as a Senior ECHO Research Fellow with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA). She is looking forward to progressing Indigenous public health research on community led health and wellness indicators and health impact assessment with the SFU/FNHA regional case. Dawn also looks forward to her continued collaboration with Margot Parkes, Diana Kutzner, Tim Takaro, Maya Gislason, and FNHA staff Namaste Marsden, Paul Broda, Ashley Henry, and Dionne Sanderson as well as the broader FNHA and ECHO communities.
Adam Breton - NBEN Regional Case, New ECHO Network Trainee at UdeM
I grew up in Edmundston, New Brunswick. I recently completed my Bachelor’s degree in Science with a major in chemistry at the Université de Moncton. Throughout my academic journey, I had the chance to attend courses that helped me learn more about the interconnection of chemistry and the environment. These courses also allowed me to develop a certain interest on how different chemistry concepts can be utilized to resolve environmental problems. This is why I’m starting my Master’s degree in September with a project that is going to be related to environmental chemistry and the impacts of certain environmental issues on the population. I’m very glad to be joining the ECHO network as a trainee. This opportunity will give me the chance to work with people that are specialized in different fields. I’m eager to learn more on how the environment can affect communities and the well-being of people and on how these environmental risks can be minimized.
Randy Paquette – Former ECHO Trainee is off to new adventures
This is a shout-out to Randy Paquette who has moved onto a new exciting job with Oldman Watershed Council. Randy is a former ECHO RA who worked with the Alberta/BRWA Regional Case. You can read a bit more about his new exciting role here https://oldmanwatershed.ca/blog-posts/2021/5/4/2021-outreach-assistants. Best wishes to Randy from the ECHO team!
Meg Labron- Former ECHO Project Assistant and Trainee - update
Meg was the Project Assistant to the ECHO Network from October 2019 to March 2021. She now works in Child & Youth Mental Health with Carrier Sekani Family Services, and is still working hard alongside various ECHO folks to bring the Land, Health & Healing Gathering to life this coming June 17th and 18th. Currently in the data collection stage for her thesis research, she is exploring land-based and environmental social work practice in the Northwest Territories, where she lived prior to moving to Lheidli T’enneh territory. Meg is grateful to the ECHO Network for being a space where interdisciplinary and future-oriented thinking was encouraged and valued. She looks forward to one day living in the woods and never gazing upon a screen again.
Louisa Hadley - Former ECHO Trainee – work with Galiano Conservancy Association
Louisa was recently featured in this great educational Ecological Footprint video produced by the Galiano Conservancy Association and during her time working with the Association.
Check it out here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cej3fRCbrcY!
Publications of Interest
Brisbois, B.W., Hoogeveen, D., Allison, S., Cole, D., Fyfe, T.M., Harder, H.G., Parkes, M.W. (2020). Storylines of research on resource extraction and health in Canada: A modified metanarrative synthesis. Social Science & Medicine. 277. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953621002318
Came, H. A., S. Herbert, and T. McCreanor. (2021). “Representations of Māori in Colonial Health Policy in Aotearoa from 2006-2016: A Barrier to the Pursuit of Health Equity.” Critical Public Health 31, no. 3 (May 27, 2021): 338–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/09581596.2019.1686461.
First Nations Health Authority and Office of the Provincial Health Officer. (2021). First Nations Population Health and Wellness Agenda. First Nations Health Authority and Office of the Provincial Health Officer. https://www.fnha.ca/Documents/FNHA-PHO-First-Nations-Population-Health-and-Wellness-Agenda.pdf
Geddes, B. (2015) “Measuring Wellness: An Indicator Development Guide for First Nations.” First Nations of British Columbia, held in trust by Ktunaxa Nation Council, 2015. https://www.acc-society.bc.ca/resource/measuring-wellness-an-indicator-development-guide-for-first-nations/
Gislason, M. K., L.Galway, C. Buse, M. Parkes, and E. Rees. (2021) “Place-Based Climate Change Communication and Engagement in Canada’s Provincial North: Lessons Learned from Climate Champions.” Environmental Communication, January 21, 2021, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/17524032.2020.1869576.
Haugen, S., Hallstrom, L., Grant, P., Cha, J., & MacQuarrie, P. (2021). Policy Responses to Automation in Canada. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 16(1).
Hoogeveen, D., Klein, K., Brubacher, J., & Gislason, M. K. (2021). "Climate Change, Intersectionality, and GBA+ in British Columbia Summary Report". https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/climate-change/adaptation/resources/climate_change__gba_in_bc_summary_report.pdf
Hoogeveen, D. & Klein, K. (2021). "Social Impacts of the 2018 Grand Forks Flood. A Gender Based Plus Analysis of Climate Risk". https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/environment/climate-change/adaptation/resources/social_impacts_grand_forks_flood.pdf
Hoogeveen, D., A. Williams, A.Hussey, S. Western, and M. K. Gislason. (2021) “Sex, Mines, and Pipelines: Examining ‘Gender-Based Analysis Plus’ in Canadian Impact Assessment Resource Extraction Policy.” The Extractive Industries and Society, April 25, 2021, 100921. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exis.2021.100921.
Hvenegaard, G. T., Halpenny, E. A., & Bueddefeld, J. N. (2021). Towards Mobilizing Knowledge for Effective Decision-Making in Parks and Protected Areas. (Land 2021, 10(3), 254; https://doi.org/10.3390/land10030254.
Turpel-Lafond, M.E. “In Plain Sight: Addressing Indigenous-Specific Racism and Discrimination in BC Health Care, Full Report, November 2020.” Addressing Racism Review, 2021. https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/613/2020/11/In-Plain-Sight-Full-Report.pdf
Ween, G. “The Map Machine: Salmon, Sámi, Sand Eels, Sand, Water and Reindeer. Resource Extraction in the High North and Collateral Landscapes.” Polar Record 56 (ed 2020). https://doi.org/10.1017/S0032247420000236.
Upcoming Events of Interest
June 2021 is National Indigenous History Month & June 21st is Indigenous Peoples Day. For more information, resources, and activities see also here: https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1100100013248/1534872397533.
June 2, 2021. "Launch of NB Environmental Bill of Rights / Lancement de la charte des droits environnementaux du NB". New Brunswick Environmental Network. For further information see https://www.facebook.com/events/184334343562135/.
June 17-18, 2021. "Land Health and Healing Gathering". Hosted by Lheidli T'enneh First Nation and UNBC. This is an invitation-based event, please express your interest to attend here: https://forms.gle/G2rSAKuvtn44g898A.
Oct 6-8, 2021. "Public Health 2021". Canadian Public Health Association. https://www.cpha.ca/publichealth2021.
Dec 7-9, 2021. "2021 Northern BC Research and Quality Conference. Learning from Adversity: Pathways to Success". UNBC and Northern Health. For further information see https://www.northernhealth.ca/for-health-professionals/research/northern-bc-research-and-quality-conference.
Wishing all ECHO Network Members a safe next season regardless of hemisphere. We look forward to staying in touch with you over the coming weeks and months!