Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Monitoring and Assessment Systems in the Canadian North and the Siberian Federal District (SFD) [Socio-economic, Health, Environmental, Cultural]  

Outline
This proposal is jointly presented by a public-private partnership comprised of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND), a Canadian federal government department, and IRIS Environmental Systems Inc. (IRIS), an independent, wholly Canadian private sector corporation, in collaboration with the administration of the Siberian Federal District (SFD) of the Russian Federation. The scope of this socio-economic and environmental monitoring project for the Canadian North and the SFD is to gather, organize and analyze relevant and reliable data upon which to base decision-making at national, regional and local levels. The vision for the monitoring project is to promote good governance and sustainable northern communities with the implementation of a monitoring system and Best Practices. The project will monitor social (including health), cultural, economic and environmental aspects of the Canadian northern region(s) using a sustainable development framework, with particular emphasis placed on monitoring and improving the well-being of Aboriginal peoples. All relevant levels of government in Canada and the Russian Federation are in agreement with the development of this initiative, as are key Aboriginal organisations. Canadian expertise in socio-economic and environmental monitoring, northern governance initiatives and multi-stakeholder consultation strategies with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal organizations and communities will help to inform the project at key stages of its development and implementation. This application brings forward a proposal to complete the research and scientific decision making process for the implementation of best practices that may be utilized in the northern region(s) of Canada and the Siberian Federal District of Russia. There will be numerous documents that will serve both to solicit the implementation of the program for the Canadian North that will assist in guiding all levels of government(s) with the ultimate realisation of the processes for the long-term sustainability of the communities.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The concept envisions an assessment and strengthening as well as harmonizing of Canada’s administration’s capacity to effectively monitor and measure socioeconomic and environmental factors that impact the well-being of the population of the Canadian North, which are made up in large part by Aboriginal peoples. The monitoring and assessment system itself is to serve as an administrative and decision-making tool, enhancing all levels of government’s capability of governance. The initiative is to be developed by sharing Canadian governance and participatory decision-making models to facilitating effective interaction between different levels of government, the private sector and community stakeholders in the northern regions. The Canadian Best Practices can be shared with the SFD in Russia for the improvement and implementation of sustainable development in their northern regions.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The joint Proponents of this initiative are DIAND and IRIS in collaboration with the SFD administration (detailed information on these entities is available at the following web-sites: • DIAND www.ainc-inac.gc.ca • IRIS www.irisenvironmental.ca • SFD www.sfd.ru In Canada, the following organisations have participated in the described process to date, and have expressed an interest in participating, in a contributory manner, to the further development and ultimate implementation of the initiative: • Environment Canada • Statistics Canada • National Roundtable on the Economy and the Environment (NRTEE) • Yukon Bureau of Statistics • Arctic Energy Alliance • Arctic Athabaskan Council • University of Laval • Carleton University • Canada Eurasia Russia Business Association In the Russian Federation, the following organisations, many of whom have participated to date, have made commitments to continuing collaboration in the design and implementation of a Monitoring Assessment System for the Siberian Federal District: • Plenipotentiary of the President for the Siberian Federal District • Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation • Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation • Ministry of State Statistics for the Siberian Federal District • The Administration of the Irkutsk Oblast, and of the Taymir and Evenk autonomous districts • Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences • Institute of Construction and Architecture of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences • Institute of Petroleum Geology of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences • The Novosibirsk City Chamber of Commerce and Industry • Russian Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) • Aboriginal Association KMNS “Kolta Kup”

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
The three recommended regions in Canada are: Old Crow, Yukon - Old Crow is the farthest northern community in the Yukon Territory and was established in 1898, two years after the Klondike Gold Rush. The community has a population of roughly 350 and is only accessible by air. Lat: 67:33:00N (67.5499) Lon: 139:54:45W (-139.9126) Igloolik, NU Canada – Igloolik is located in the middle of a passageway between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula. This is a unique area as the Inuit culture remains spiritually and economically formed around natural resources and hunting and the community is not a member of the First Nations. Population is approx. 1,286. Lat: 69:23:27N (69.3909) Lon: 81:39:57W (-81.6659) Rae Lakes (Gameti), NWT, Canada – Rae Lakes (Gameti) has no legal municipal status and has an economy that is primarily based on domestic hunting, fishing, and trapping. There is the potential for mining of uranium in the area however no commitment has been made to continue exploration. The population of the community is roughly 300. Russian Pilots will be determined in the regions of Krasnoyarsk, Tomsk and the Lake Baikal region in Irkutsk.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 10/2005 – 11/2005 05/2005 – 06/2005      10/2006 – 11/2006 05/2007 – 06/2007 10/2008 – 11/2008      05/2009 – 06/2009 10/2009 – 11/2009
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
Due to the research and planning that has been completed there will be no significant logistic support/facilities required outside of the local and regional transportation to and from communities that have been chosen for the case study projects.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The objectives are for the building of a very strong participatory stakeholder process, which will be demonstrated during the implementation of monitoring and assessment system, by incorporating best Canadian and Russian practices in northern regional development, is to meet a number of objectives: • Optimize data collection and assessment of economic, health, ecological and cultural conditions to improve information for decision-makers, strengthening governance capability and the well being of the people. • Develop institutional and administrative systems (including software) for data collection and information dissemination between federal, regional and local authorities and civil society institutions.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Consortium
National agency
Own support
Other sources of support

The project proponents are aware that there are a number of relevant systems of indicators already developed (for example: those of the Arctic Council’s Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP), Survey of Living Conditions in the Arctic (SLiCA), the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe based on the Fifth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” held in Kiev, Ukraine last May and the environmental indicators list developed by the United Nations Statistical Division in collaboration with the Inter-Governmental Working Group on the Advancement of Environmental Statistics – framed within the context of Agenda 21 and the 2002 Environmental Sustainability Index that resulted from the World Economic Forum, as developed by the Yale Centre for Environmental Law and Policy and the Centre for Earth Science Information Network. This initiative is not meant to work outside these parameters; rather, it is intended to develop and capture the unique aspects of the Canadian North and enable the appropriate integration into the long-term execution of the MASCN.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
Yes - At the North to North Symposium convened in Ottawa in December, 2001 co-chaired by Canada’s Mr. Robert Nault, Minister of DIAND, and Mr. Drachevsky, Presidential Representative of the SFD, agreement was reached to share with the SFD Canadian best practises in northern governance and economic development. Subsequent discussions have centred on the development of concrete activities that would contribute to sustainable development in the shared Arctic environment. A project concept emerged from these discussions for the development of a regional monitoring and assessment system for northern regions of Canada and the Russian Federation. At meetings in June, 2002 Canadian experts collaborated with their Russian counterparts in Novosibirsk, SFD on a preliminary framework for project development. Recognising a need for the Russian partners to become more closely acquainted with Canadian institutions and models for northern governance and development, a reciprocal visit to Canada was made by Russian experts in February, 2004. A Canadian mission that included DIAND and IRIS travelled to Moscow and Novosibirsk in late March 2005 to meet with members of the Russian Academy of Science, Siberian Branch, to garner support from Aboriginal organizations, and to reaffirm commitments from various levels of Russian government officials. An action plan was collaboratively developed in support of this proposal to attract the resources necessary to develop the initiative to the status, as aforementioned, of a fully-viable project.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?


Canadian and Russian participants in the process to date have been strongly consistent in their agreement concerning the need to develop the MAS by incorporating and adapting best Canadian practises as a management tool to enhance good governance of the SFD through strengthening civil society and environmental, health, and socio-economic sustainability. In consultations with the public and private sectors in both countries it was determined that the northern regions of Canada and Russia must be measured for the incorporation and adaptation of a MAS in both countries. From this, in a participatory manner, issues have been identified that must be assessed in both countries and an official application has been submitted to Advisory Committee on Protection of the Sea (ACOPS) for the consideration of a parallel project in the SFD. This will allow for Canadian and Russian participation in the formation of a northern community MAS, best practices and management tools for the sustainability of the northern communities.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Work conducted further to this proposal will be jointly managed by IRIS – DIAND and the SFD Institute of Economics and Industrial Engineering. These entities have significant experience in managing complex, international multi-stakeholder initiatives. It is expected that with the implementation of the MASCN project, IRISDIAND would continue to co-manage the project while the SFD Institute(s) would revert to a technical role. IRIS, as an independent third party, will conduct the administration components of the project.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
INAC, as a partner in the development of the MAS project, brings forward vast experience and logistical partners in the on-going improvements and formation of education and outreach and communication programs, developments and partnerships within the communities. The MAS will develop a tool that will allow information, strategies, programs, seminars and workshops, and conferences that will be targeted to local, regional and national, and Aboriginal community decisionmakers. This will better the sustainability of education and the community with the distribution of northern community information and well-being strategies.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The project will develop institutional and administrative arrangements for the implementation and use of the monitoring system (and software program) and will include the existing and required databases and technologies that will support the sustainability of the program. Key components of this approach for the data base management will include: • development of institutional and administrative arrangements that will show real-time evaluations, especially of the impacts of resource development, for effective decision making; • implementation of pilot monitoring programs in northern regions of Canada and SFD that will be used as a vehicle for training and familiarising administrators, researchers and community representatives who will be involved with the use of the monitoring program; and • overall improvement of information and technology sharing between federal, regional and municipal governments, and aboriginal organizations to initiate environmental, health, socio-economic and cultural measures for the longterm sustainability of northern and aboriginal communities.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
DIAND in collaboration with the Northern Dimension of Canada’s Foreign Policy Program led by Foreign Affairs Canada, IRIS Environmental Systems and the Siberian Federal District have provided financing in the scoping out of the initiative. Funding Proposal has been submitted to the Russian led National Action Plan financed within the framework of the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and ACOPS. Funding is being sought from IPY and other International donors.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The Goal and Purpose statements for this proposal will reflect the joint efforts and positions of the Canadian and Russian delegations. The goal of the project is to fully prepare, in a co-operative and participatory manner, the MASCN project for implementation. The purpose of this project is to fully explore the best methodologies and practices, most appropriate institutional mechanisms, and the level of Canadian and Russian technical and human resources necessary to achieve the project. This strategy will be put in place to improve the well-being of northern and aboriginal peoples of the northern regions of Canada and the SFD by strengthening the information tools for all levels of the civil society. The overall objectives of the MAS project will be to optimise the existing monitoring systems in Canada to ensure its effectiveness in addressing socio-economic, health, ecological and cultural conditions while exploring and demonstrating mitigative measures that will promote long-term sustainable results. To achieve these objectives the Canadian and Russian partners will develop institutional and administrative arrangements for the implementation and use of the monitoring system and will include the existing and required databases and technologies that will support the sustainability of the program.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Principal Brian Smythe
IRIS Environmental Systems Inc
635 – 36th Ave NE
Calgary, AB
T2E 2L8
Canada

Tel: 403-543-4455 or 403-762-3166
Mobile: 403-760-0183
Fax: 403-543-4455
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation