ID: 2233
Presenting Author: Tamlyn Botel
Session: 591 - Managing the right to privacy in impact assessment
Status: pending
Data to assess Indigenous interests are often imperfect, misleading assessors and decreasing community confidence. Understand the reasons to generate solutions like data collection protocols and ILAs.
Impact assessments are exercises in analysis and decision-making under imperfect information. We explore some common data collection and interpretation challenges for analysts assessing effects to Indigenous interests, and their implications for the accuracy and integrity of assessment.
A scarcity of information increases the risk of misinterpretation and misrepresentation, even by well-meaning analysts and assessors. Historical misuse of Indigenous and community knowledge has contributed to information scarcity, raising concerns about data privacy and ownership. This risk increases as information decreases; the subject of assessment drifts further away from the experience and expertise of analysts; and the focus of assessment moves from the tangible to the intangible.
An underappreciated source of risk is that available information may itself be misrepresentative, for example, due to sampling biases and systemic errors in data collection, as well as past misinterpretation. Available information may also be legitimately interpreted in different ways to different outcomes depending on the analytical approach and lens used. For example, Indigenous-led assessments (ILAs) may interpret the available information using a longer timescale, whereas conventional assessments focus on project lifespans.
These risks can impact the ability to properly assess project effects and community confidence. Potential solutions include ILAs; collaborative assessments; enhancing community capacities; proactive and conscientious data collection protocols; and land use planning.
Tamlyn is passionate about weaving ways of knowing to support robust decision-making throughout the natural resource lifecycle. She is a proud member of the Nlaka’pamux Nation.
Coauthor 1: Jordan Tam