NORDIK Institute and NOSCP to Host 1st Interdisciplinary Conference to advance community-based forest management
From the Northern Ontario Sustainable Communities Partnership and the Northern Ontario Research, Development, Ideas and Knowledge Institute
Building Resilient Communities Through Community-Based Forest Management
ALGOMA UNIVERSITY, SAULT STE MARIE, ON
JANUARY 16-18, 2013
NORDIK Institute and the Northern Ontario Sustainable Communities Partnership (NOSCP) will host the first ever interdisciplinary conference to advance community-based forest management (CBFM) as a model for collaborative decision-making in Canada and to spearhead the formation of a pan-Canadian CBFM network of research, practice and knowledge mobilization. The conference welcomes CBFM practitioners and researchers, students, environmental NGOs, First Nations and Métis, unions, forest industry and government representatives, and the general public with an interest in CBFM. The main conference will include formal presentations and interactive discussions, including a “talking circle” to share experiences about CBFM. Dr. Jesse Ribot, a leading expert on democratic decentralization of natural resource management from the University of Illinois, is the keynote speaker. Canadian speakers include two prominent economists who examine CBFM as a strategy for development, a post-doctoral fellow editing a forthcoming book on community forestry in Canada, an executive director and a manager of non-governmental organizations that promote community forestry in B.C. and New Brunswick, three First Nations representatives who are developing CBFM initiatives in B.C., Quebec and Northern Ontario, and an Ontario government representative responsible for forest tenure policy. An international speaker (TBA) will share international experiences in building networks to support CBFM. Theentire main conference will have simultaneous French translation and will be live-streamed and electronically archived. On the afternoon of January 16th, a pre-conference tour shall include visits to government forestry research facilities in Sault Ste Marie and a tour of the Shingwauk Archives and Centre. There will also be a book launch for a new book by Ryan Bullock and Kevin Hanna, Community Forestry: Local Values, Conflict and Forest Governance (Cambridge University Press) in the late afternoon of the 16th Sponsors:
- Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada,
- Algoma University NORDIK Institute,
- Lakehead University Faculty of Natural Resources Management,
- True North Community Cooperative,
- Canadian Model Forest Network/Northeast Superior Forest Community.
Conference Partners:
- B.C. Community Forest Association,
- Canadian Environmental Network,
- Northwatch,
- Northeast Superior Regional Chiefs Forum,
- Town of Atikokan,
- Township of Nipigon,
- Hearst Economic Development Corporation,
- School of Environment and Sustainability,
- University of Saskatchewan,
- Nishnawbe Aski Nation.
Travel subsidies are available by application for a limited number of post-secondary students undertaking research on CBFM in the Canadian context and community representatives. Conference details and registration information are available on the NOSCP website (click)
For further Information contact: Dr. Peggy Smith, pasmith@lakeheadu.ca, (807) 346-4704; 343-8672 or Dr. Gayle Broad, gayle.broad@algomau.ca, (705) 949-2301 ext. 4351
