ID: 1795
Presenting Author: Kristina Maud Bergeron
Session: 610 - Reaching the Unheard: Inclusive Public Engagement in Practice
Status: pending
Using a Gender-based Analysis Plus approach is a way to integrate voices from community organisations working with overlooked population groups. Cases of mining projects’ IA are presented.
An internationally recognized best practice, the Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus) approach is now required by the Canadian government for projects undergoing an impact assessment under the federal jurisdiction. The GBA Plus approach points out that multiple identity factors such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age and mental or physical health -- and their intersection--, influence our experiences and, thus, how we may be impacted by a project. It highlights the risks of negative effects that certain population groups (women, Indigenous peoples, immigrants, people with disabilities, low-income individuals, low-educated individuals, etc.) could suffer disproportionately, while revealing the positive benefits to which they could have limited access.
The paper will relate the experience of deploying a GBA Plus approach in the context of impact assessments for mining projects. This approach is a way to reach out to a wide range of organisations, including some that are usually not identified as community interlocutors for the promoter. Consultation with organisations working at the community level with people experiencing various difficulties is a way to integrate voices that are often overlooked in economic project development.
The analysis revealed several findings related to social vulnerabilities in the host community, while identifying concrete courses of action to address the anticipated changes and improve community resilience. Steps were also taken to share the results with the communities concerned, in a spirit of transparency and shared accountability.
Part of the MU Conseils team since 2020, Dr. Bergeron advises various organisations on social acceptability, relations with Indigenous communities and community-corporate relations
Coauthor 1: Jessica Prescott