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Can Indigenous community-based monitoring act as a tool for sustainable self-determination?


This study seeks to gain a better understanding of the implications of Indigenous community-based monitoring (ICBM) for Indigenous governance in resource extractive regions. Using a comprehensive review of the literature and the author team's personal involvement, we review an ICBM program in the oil sands region of Alberta, Canada. We use sustainable self-determination, as a sub-set of Indigenous governance, as a critical theoretical lens to assess outcomes of this program and its role in the broader environmental governance of the oil sands region. To conclude, we propose some recommendations to advance a sustainable self-determination lens for ICBM. As these programs continue to proliferate across the country, now is the time to incorporate such a lens in order to simultaneously support meaningful monitoring of environmental, economic, and social change, while also advancing the resurgence of Indigenous Nations.


Country
Canada
Language
English
Publication date
2020
Resource type
Case studies


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