Regions: North Slave Region
| Principal Investigator: | Mulders, Tamika (1) |
| Licence Number: | 16980 |
| Organization: | University of British Columbia Okanagan |
| Licensed Year(s): |
2022
|
| Issued: | Feb 28, 2022 |
Objective(s): To understand how food security is addressed in environmental assessment processes and can be better addressed in project and development reviews, approvals, setting of conditions, and monitoring and follow-up, and to outline best practices for inclusion of community and Indigenous food values in decision-making.
Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5026. The objective is to understand how food security is addressed in environmental assessment (EA) processes and can be better addressed in project and development reviews, approvals, setting of conditions, and monitoring and follow-up. And, to outline best practices for inclusion of community and Indigenous food values in decision-making. The project involves a mixed-methods approach involving a literature review, an analysis of environmental assessment documents, and interviews with northern EA practitioners. These will explore how food security has been considered in the past and will gather input from northern EA professionals to create guidelines and recommendations. The document analysis will be conducted using the qualitative data analysis software NVivo, of EA documents for four completed development projects in the Northwest Territories. Using a list of keywords relating to food security, the principle investigator will find relevant sections and concerns raised in different stages of the EA processes. Next, interviews and/or focus groups with EA practitioners and experts from organizations involved in EA processes will be conducted to confirm findings, request feedback and recommendations. Together, these will contribute to a more meaningful consideration of food security concerns in future EA processes. Communication and dissemination of results will be assisted by Government of Northwest Territories and Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board partners. Plain language summaries will be provided in print and digitally, and made available through UBC and NWT partners' websites. Conference participation and presentations in 2022, depending on Covid-19 restrictions and whether events will occur in person or virtually. Collaboration with NWT partners on the creation of a plain language guidance document for EIA practitioners based on the research results, which will be shared with NWT communities and regulators. The master's thesis will produce two academic journal papers and, if possible, abstracts in Indigenous languages. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from February 28, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
