Odonaterra is an organization committed to ongoing learning and professional development.
As a team, we are dedicated to meeting the highest ethical and professional standards, and individually, hold designations and certifications that similarly require us to align our conduct with the granting institutions’ principles.
To meet our responsibilities and requirements for continuous professional learning in our fields and specializations, we regularly engage environmental assessment colleagues to discuss changes to relevant legislation and explore best practices through conferences and networking. We also complete ongoing training to stay current with trends and deepen our understanding of environmental impact assessment processes, reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples, lands and resources planning, and engagement and consultation strategies, to increase our capacity in these areas. This enables us to continually apply innovative solutions when helping clients to plan, study, assess, and monitor projects.
Ontario Association for Impact Assessment (OAIA) Conference 2021
Earlier this fall, we attended the OAIA Conference 2021 which focused on achieving common goals for engagement, project management, and impact assessment following uncommon pathways. Themes included collaborative consultation practices with Indigenous Peoples that respect free, prior and informed consent and the implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Discussions further looked at best practices for Indigenous-led impact assessment, an approach that is increasingly used to support holistic project evaluation and that our team regularly endorses and facilitates.
Regulatory effectiveness and lessons learned from the evolution of multijurisdictional approaches, including regional and strategic level effects assessment, were also presented as tools to better inform decision-making. Additionally, the growth of equality, diversity, and inclusion analyses, and opportunities for integrating science and Indigenous Knowledge into impact assessment, were considered. The future of impact assessment and the need to consider climate change moving forward were also discussed.
Although offered online, the conference provided opportunities for conversations about problems and solutions to support impact assessment processes. Participants included environmental impact assessment professionals, researchers, Indigenous people, lawyers, government officials, and students from many backgrounds providing diverse insights and visions for impact assessment in the coming years.
Each team member had unique highlights and takeaways from the event based on their areas of interest and responsibilities that will be applied to continually improve our service delivery and client experience while contributing to best practices in the field of impact assessment.
OCAP® Training
Our team is also currently completing OCAP® training which is offered online through Algonquin College to introduce the First Nations principles of ownership, control, access, and possession.
OCAP® asserts that First Nations have control over data gathering processes and how the information collected can be accessed and used. These principles are intended to ensure that data is shared to benefit communities while minimizing potential harms and supporting meaningful, participatory, and respectful research.
However, as noted in the training, legislative barriers exist for preventing the full application of OCAP® principles. These include the Privacy Act, the Access to Information Act, and the Library and Archives of Canada Act which do not include community-level privacy protections. This can make First Nations vulnerable to information sharing without permission as government institutions may be subject to Access to Information and Privacy requests. Departments and institutions subject to these Acts may be required to release information held about First Nations without the consent of communities thus undermining ownership, control, access, and possession.
Our goal is to integrate these principles into What we do to support the interests and well-being of First Nations and encourage policy amendments to better align legislation with OCAP® principles and community privacy.
We continue to develop as individuals and as a team in this space, and depend on the ongoing guidance, advice, and collaboration of our clients, partners, and colleagues to stay abreast of trends and innovations. We are looking forward to conferences and other professional development opportunities in 2022 to continue our learning! Let us know if there are other courses or conferences you believe could strengthen our future professional development so that we may better serve you.