ICCE Releases First Annual Report

Greetings Colleagues and Friends of ICCE,

It is with great pleasure that I announce the release of ICCE’s first Annual Report. It covers this past exceptional year, but also the overall growth since the Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects (ICCE) was incorporated in November 2019.

Through the Centre, we have an extraordinary opportunity to share knowledge and best practices and to develop networks to help create the conditions for the well-being of future generations. 

Our Two-Eyed Seeing approach, which respects and balances both Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge systems, will benefit the people and the life with which we share our lands for years to come.

We are proud of our accomplishments and growth. Over the past 2.5 years we have expanded our Board of Directors and Technical Advisory Committee, recruited a small but talented team, and developed tools to support First Nations, Inuit, and Metis communities to undertake cumulative effects work in their territories.

The development of a Knowledge Centre, Guidance Documents, an interactive map of cumulative effects practitioners, virtual conferences, and our community funding program, are just a few of our accomplishments. In addition, this past year we conducted a national needs assessment that identified community capacity needs and gaps that will inform our Strategic Plan and guide our work in the coming years. 

photo of two women and a man making a talking stick
photo of talking stick

I am truly proud of the work our small team has accomplished.

Our vision is that all Indigenous people have the capacity the require and the ability to assess, monitor and manage the cumulative effects occurring on their lands, waters and communities. We are excited for the future as we continue to share knowledge to empower community-based approaches to culturally relevant cumulative effects assessment, monitoring and management to support Indigenous well-being and decision-making.

I would like to say Chi Miigwetch to our Board of Directors, Technical Advisory Committee and partners for their ongoing support, knowledge and guidance.

In good spirit,

Leea Litzgus
ICCE Executive Director

Read More

ICCE Launches Revised Community Funding Program

scenic photo of wetland and mountains

The Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects (ICCE) is pleased to launch the revised Community Funding Program (CFP). We invite Indigenous communities and organizations to apply for funding to support cumulative effects initiatives.

The main objective of ICCE’s Community Funding Program is to support community-led projects to help build and enhance the capacity of Indigenous communities for cumulative effects management, monitoring, and assessment in their territories, using a Two-Eyed Seeing approach. 

There are two streams of CFP funding:

1) Developing Capacity  to support hiring and training in-house staff to better understand cumulative effects and develop or implement a cumulative effects plan for their community.

2) Enhancing Capacity  to enhance existing cumulative effects expertise.

The current envelope for this round of funding is $2.5 Million available. This amount covers the full two fiscal years of 2023–2024 and 2024-2025. The level of funding for each application will be determined on a case-by-case basis up to a maximum of $350,000 on two years.

Read More

Our Team is Growing!

ICCE is very pleased to announce two additions to our team in the positions of Associate Executive Director, and Executive Officer and Entrepreneur-in-Residence.

photo of treena wynes
Treena Wynes
Associate Executive Director

Treena Wynes is a member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band in Northern Saskatchewan. She comes to ICCE with six years of experience leading Indigenous agencies in Director positions. She most recently held a Director position at the Saskatoon Tribal Council where she built their new child and family services agency from the ground up. 

Treena was also an Executive Director for the Heiltsuk Nation’s child and family services agency in Bella Bella where she lived for two years. She found the experience of living in the Heiltsuk community rewarding as she was able to learn about the rich and vibrant culture of the Nation she served. 

Treena attained her social work degree from the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (now First Nations University) in 1999. She is a registered social worker and published author. 

Fun fact about Treena is she was in a Dierks Bentley/Deric Ruttan music video which made the CMT’s Top 20 for six weeks.

photo of sean power
Sean Power
Executive Officer, Entrepreneur-In-Residence

Sean Power joins ICCE as Executive Officer and Entrepreneur-in Residence (EIR ). Sean brings 20 years of private-sector entrepreneurship experience. 

His work has directly contributed to the eventual acquisition of some of the companies he has been involved in, most notably by Dinnerlab (Dishcrawl), BMC (Coradiant), Salesforce (CoTweet) and Google (PostRank). He has fundraising expertise in both the public and private sector and has advised many company and non-profit founders to help them scale. 

Sean has written books on the topic of business metrics (one of which was translated into nine languages and sold around the world) and has spoken about this topic at countless private and public events, including giving lectures at universities such as McGill University and Utrecht University.

Please join us in welcoming Treena and Sean to the ICCE team!

Read More

ICCE Launches Cumulative Effects Knowledge Centre

ICCE is excited to announce the launch of its Knowledge Centre, which contains information, resources, and best practices related to cumulative effects. ICCE developed this Knowledge Centre, with two main objectives: to bring together documentation available on the subject of cumulative effects and to make it easily available for Indigenous communities to access.

ICCE’s mission is to create networks, develop and share knowledge that empowers community-based approaches to culturally relevant cumulative effects assessment, monitoring, and management, that supports Indigenous well-being and decision-making.

Our Knowledge Centre is an important new tool to help build and enhance the technical and scientific capacity of Indigenous communities. It will help us address cumulative effects, based on the values of First Nations, MÃĐtis, and Inuit communities across Canada.

The Knowledge Centre is available on our website at www.icce-caec.ca

If you have any comments or issues with the Knowledge Centre please contact us.

Read More

Regional Dialogue Sessions Now Open for Registration

The Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects (ICCE) is excited to be hosting regional dialogue sessions across Canada as part of its National Needs Assessment to inform its strategic planning, and ultimately the future of the organization.

A key objective of the Needs Assessment is to assess the ongoing need in Indigenous communities for awareness and education around cumulative effects. The needs assessment will also help inform the development of new and effective tools, capacity building, and supports to address cumulative effects.

These sessions will be held across Canada at the following locations:

Session Location Date & Time 
Eastern Session Dartmouth, Nova Scotia September 23, 2022 – 8:00 am
Northwest Session Fort McMurray, Alberta October 4, 2022 – 9:00 am
Arctic Session To Be Confirmed To Be Confirmed
Central Session Ohsweken, Ontario October 13, 2022 – 9:00 am
Virtual Metis Session Virtual via Zoom October 19, 2022 – 9:00 am
Prairie Session To Be Confirmed To Be Confirmed

The capacity for these sessions is limited, so please register as soon as possible by browsing our online calendar.

Compensation for travel and accommodation expenses will be available for one representative per community or organization.

If you have any questions in regards to the regional dialogue sessions please contact us.

Read More

ICCE Develops Directory of Cumulative Effects Practitioners and Projects

ICCE announces the launch of Canada’s first-ever Directory of Cumulative Effects Practitioners and Projects.

The cumulative effects practitioners featured in this new interactive portal represent a range of diverse backgrounds including Indigenous communities and organizations, academia, consultants and government. These practitioners are plotted on an interactive map linked to professional profiles and related projects within the directory.

screen capture of icce directory of cumulative effects practitioners and projects

Users of this online directory can easily search for practitioners and projects using various filters, including:

  • Practitioner
  • Project
  • Organization
  • Address
  • Province/Territory
  • Type of Work
  • Focus

This new directory aims to facilitate nationwide networking via knowledge sharing relevant to cumulative effects engagement, assessment, monitoring, and management. It also includes a compilation of additional resources comprising cumulative effects regulations, reports and issue papers.

The goal is to ensure that connecting with these practitioners is seamless and easy. Users can reach out directly to the various practitioners via the secure contact form on each profile page.

The development of this and other online resources are part of ICCE’s strategic plan to support Indigenous communities in the development of resources, protocols, and frameworks to better address cumulative effects issues in communities and territories across Canada.

If you are a cumulative effects practitioner and are interested in having your profile and projects added to this directory, please contact us. 

Read More

Regional Dialogue Sessions

The Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects (ICCE) is hosting regional dialogue sessions across Canada as part of a National Needs Assessment for the organization that will better inform its strategic planning, and ultimately the future of the organization. A key objective of the Needs Assessment is to assess the ongoing need in Indigenous communities for awareness and education around cumulative effects. The needs assessment will also help inform the development of new and effective tools, capacity building and supports to address cumulative effects. 

Capacity for these sessions is limited, so please use this forum to express your interest in attending and we will follow-up with you with more details.

Compensation for travel and accommodation expenses will be available for up to one representative per community or organization.

Read More

Atlantic Policy Congress Study Reflects Concerns Over Cumulative Effects

The Atlantic Policy Congress (APC) are fast becoming leaders in addressing cumulative effects in Canada.  Recently, APC hosted its first Cumulative Effects Conference on June 2, 2022 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. The conference included a presentation on a study of cumulative effects of human activities and natural processes on Indigenous communities in Atlantic Canada.  The participants were provided some of the findings of a local study on cumulative effects. The study involved a series of key informant interviews, with environmental staff, community leaders and subject-matter experts.  An online survey was also used to gather important data.  The presentation was led by Julia Purcell, Cumulative Effects Project Researcher for APC.
photo of salmon jumping up river
Among the biggest concern for Atlantic First Nations was the salmon fishery. Salmon has been among the most important species for many Mi’gmaq and Maliseet peoples for centuries. One key informant in the study said:

Salmon are an essential indicator of the health of the whole ecosystem. If the habitat quality declines, then we don’t have salmon anymore. Salmon is so central to the culture and the community here that if salmon where to die off we would lose a whole part of our identity.

The study also found that there is concern about certain key human factors including mental health, well-being, and impacts to cultural practices and traditions. Findings also showed concern over environmental costs and impacts to the economy.  One participant shared: 

If climate change and environmental issues keep accelerating, it is going to cost our community millions of dollars for damage control. Nothing is more detrimental than having to move a whole community. It’s not just about the dollars, it’s about losing sacred traditional lands and the fear of having that land disappear.

The study identified that the most concerning stressors for First Nations in Atlantic Canada were land use practices, and concerns over federal and provincial policies respecting the environment. Next steps include the identification of new tools and resources for First Nations to use to assess, manage and mitigate cumulative effects throughout the region.

The APC also plans on developing a new cumulative effects web portal for First Nations to facilitate knowledge sharing and encourage collaboration across the region. 

The APC Cumulative Effects Conference was proudly funded by the Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects (ICCE).

Read More