ID: 2267
Presenting Author: Colter Kelly
Session: 675 - Transparency to Trust: Communicating Complex Science and Data Effectively
Status: pending
Demonstrate how the Open Science and Data Platform helps communicate impact assessment information clearly to build trust, transparency, and engagement in key regions of interest.
In an age of heightened scrutiny and diverse stakeholder expectations, effective and inclusive science communication is essential for credible and transparent regulatory processes including impact assessment (IA). This presentation will showcase how Canada’s Open Science and Data Platform (OSDP) is helping to close the communication gap between technical experts, decision‑makers, and communities, particularly in regions subject to regulatory review and development. The OSDP aggregates curated datasets, publications, information on project-level development activities, and cumulative effects information across thematic and geographic domains to understand impacts of development to support better decision-making
This presentation will highlight the use of educational static pages on key themes like cumulative effects, and development activities , as well as case studies from key regions of interest (e.g. watersheds, Indigenous territories, and resource‑intensive landscapes) where tailored content curation has supported more inclusive dialogue and trust-building.
By discussing successes and challenges encountered in uptake, engagement, and interpretability, this presentation will offer actionable lessons for practitioners in government, industry, and civil society. Our goal is to illustrate how a centralized open science platform, carefully curated for regulatory contexts, can transform how complex data is communicated to foster credibility, accountability, and public trust in impact assessments.
Colter Kelly, PhD, is a Senior Impact Assessment Officer at NRCan specializing in cumulative effects and regional assessment.
Coauthor 1: Jessica Coulson
Coauthor 2: Kelsea Deblois