NADF and EcoPlan
NADF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION TOOLKIT: BUILDING BIMADIZOWIM:
As a follow-up to Nishnawbe Aski Development Fund’s (NADF) Comprehensive Community Planning Toolkit, the Project Implementation Toolkit is a practical guide, grounded in the context of First Nations in Northern Ontario. The Toolkit provides guidance, tools, examples and best practices, in a format that breaks down the implementation phase into a manageable, approachable process. It was written to be relevant and accessible to community staff tasked with “getting projects done” (plans, policies, programs or infrastructure), regardless of their experience or training.
The Toolkit is intended to help fill a gap in planning resources and supports, a role often taken up by outside consultants, and responds to this real need in First Nations communities to develop local capacity, knowledge, and project ownership. It was developed in collaboration with an Advisory Group of First Nations representatives, whose years of experience ensure it reflects and is relevant to the specific context of First Nations community development. As governments, organizations and institutions work to support reconciliation, nurturing the means for First Nations to determine their own trajectories is a key component.
OPPI has recognized its responsibilities in responding to the Calls to Action set out by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, which include Indigenous capacity building in the realm of community development and recognizing Indigenous knowledge within the planning profession. The Toolkit demonstrates Indigenous leadership and the valuing of Indigenous perspectives in an immediately relevant and applicable resource. It’s designed to foster in-situ capacity of First Nations practitioners who either choose to remain in their community or don’t have the ability to travel and live outside for educational/ training opportunities.
It also fills a gap in resources developed by Indigenous practitioners for community practitioners, and for non-Indigenous planners to better understand First Nations contexts.