NEWS

St. George Island is located in the Bering Sea, with approximately 60 on-island residents. Recognizing an urgent need to act, the City of St. George undertook an innovative economic development strategy with EcoPlan International. The January 2020 strategy had to be one-of-a-kind to address the unique conditions facing the Island.

The Ka:’yu:’k’t’h’/Che:k’tles7et’h’ First Nation (KCFN) is one step closer to joining the Strathcona Regional District, as the two bodies met last week to look into details around the process and what to look forward to after KCFN becomes a full member on April 1, 2021.

In January 2020, EcoPlan International helped St. George with the development of their Economic Development Strategy: Rebuilding Our Future – Kayutuuxtxin Tanagnangin Igayuusalix angagiimchin agnaxtxichin ( https://www.stgeorgealaska.org/). A key component of this was the development of a new harbour. In December 2020, the US Federal Government passed the Water Resources Development Act approved St. George Harbor development. The bill will authorize $164 million for St. George’s navigation improvements. The project will provide for the operability, safety, and reliability of the St. George Harbor, as promised by the federal government, to aid the economic transition from fur seals to commercial fishing on the Pribilof Islands.

In the fall of 2019, the Coastal Stewardship Network (CSN), a program of Coastal First Nations – Great Bear Initiative (CFN), retained EcoPlan International to support an evaluation of their Stewardship Technician Training Program (STTP). The evaluation  informed on-going program design and delivery of STTP; shared the STTP story with stewardship departments, participating communities, and funders;  and, provide information for other on-the-land/ on-the-water training programs, communities or institutions currently conducting, or interested in creating, Indigenous stewardship training programs. CFN decided to conduct a participatory co-evaluation of STTP with EcoPlan to bring forward the program and students’ successes and learnings. EcoPlan provided experience and expertise in program evaluation and working with coastal First Nations. The evaluation drew on the experience and perspective of those involved as well as academic literature and case studies. Click here to view.

ECOPLAN INTERNATIONAL IS WORKING WITH UNITED NATIONS TO SUPPORT THE PROJECT: “GLOBAL BUILDING OF  ECONOMIC RESILIENCE DURING AND AFTER COVID-19”
October 1, 2020

Surrey Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy wins Award of Planning Excellence (Merit) for Climate Change Planning: The Coastal Flood Adaptation Strategy (CFAS) is a multi-year undertaking that identified the current and potential impacts of climate change on Surrey’s large coastal floodplain area—a  long-term strategy to reduce climate change-driven coastal flooding risks. Launched in 2016, and one of the first programs of its kind in Canada, CFAS blended a value-based, participatory planning approach with an innovative structured decision-making component. The in-depth, robust technical analysis helped develop a range of strategic actions to make coastal communities more resilient to the challenges ahead.

The seminar is presenting a framework applications and case studies for using multicriteria attribute theory and structured decision support to avoid impacts, mitigate for, or restore cultural services.

Older residents still make about a sizeable portion of Village population. If Cumberland has young families moving in, there are still many seniors in the community. At the same meeting as a presentation on local child care demand and resources, council was presented with a report on how to make Cumberland more “age-friendly.”