Firelight’s Carolyn Whittaker is attending a two-day forum this week (Feb. 23-24) on the environmental and social assessment process in BC and Canada. The forum is taking place on the traditional territory of the Ktunaxa Nation, who are helping to host the event.

Organized by the Columbia Mountains Institute of Applied Ecology in partnership with the College of the Rockies, the forum includes five sessions exploring the BC and Federal environmental and social assessment process from both the proponent’s and community members’ perspectives.  Firelight is one of the sponsors of the event, along with Vast Resource Solutions and the College of Applied Biology.

Carolyn Whittaker is co-presenting with Don Sam (Ktunaxa Nation Council Language Director) on the Ktunaxa’s approach to cultural and environmental impact assessments. She is also speaking on a panel with Nicole Kapell (Ktunaxa Nation Council’s Environment and Archaeological Stewardship Manager) discussing how both processes can be improved.

The forum promises to be an interesting couple of days – stay tuned for a report back on what we heard at the forum and implications for First Nation communities.

For information, please see the conference or the forum schedule, or contact Carolyn Whittaker, Firelight Director and Ecology Lead