Feb 26, 2026 to May 28, 2026 (Multiple Dates): Indigenous Relations Committee 2026 Webinar Series
The CWRA Indigenous Relations Committee is hosting a webinar series focusing on discussions from Indigenous people working on water projects together with engineers and scientists educated in Western knowledge systems. Presenters will discuss how they built relationships, what they learned from working together, and how they relied on both Indigenous and Western Knowledge to advance their work.
Date: Thursday, May 28, 2026 – 1 pm ET
Topic: From Knowledge to Action: Building Leadership Capacity Through a Two-Eyed Seeing Approach
Speakers: Richard Roulette, Thomas McKay, Hank Venema
Description:
Over the past two years, Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation (SBOFN), The Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), and Strategic Systems Engineering (SSE) have worked together to develop a Water Resiliency Master Plan rooted in SBOFN’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan (CCAP). Built through seven community meetings, the WRMP focused on water-related climate risks, drainage, retention, and long-term water management. Beginning in 2026, SBOFN has been leading the Knowledge Mobilization Project to move the WRMP from technical planning into community understanding, leadership, and action. Through a Two-Eyed Seeing approach, the project brings together Elder guidance, youth leadership, storytelling, art, land-based knowledge, and Western science where memory meets the modeling to support meaningful, community-led climate action.
Date: Tuesday, April 21, 2026 – 11 am CST
Topic: Collaborative Work in the Saskatchewan River Delta
Speakers: Nadina Gardiner and Graham Strickert
Description:
Climate change is destabilizing water systems. Many changes are emergent and not well understood (e.g., invasive plants, changes in flows, ice conditions, wildlife declines), all impacting Swampy Cree Culture. Elders, youth, and communities downstream of industrial water resources management (e.g., dams, irrigation, oil and gas, mine) face increased water insecurity. Despite 15 years of collaborative research, major gap persists between local lived experience, scientific modeling, water resources management decisions, and socioeconomic decision-making often reinforced by bias. Using design thinking workshops, hydrological modelling, research and artist explorations, and transforming climate scenarios into interactive storylines in theater plays, we expect to strengthen watershed restoration by supporting communities’ creation of the decision space—creatively, inclusively, and collaboratively.
Date: Thursday, Feb 26, 2026 – 11 am PT/2 pm ET
Topic: Indigenous and Western Knowledge: Working Together
Title: Two Eyes Seeing: An Example of a Shared Standard of Delivery
Speakers: Rick McKamey and Andrew Wiens
Description:
Our first speakers are Rick McKamey from Willow Creek Environmental, and Andrew Wiens from Associated Engineering.
Interested in this webinar series? Check out the upcoming AB Branch Webinar on “Water is Life: Collaborative Partnerships for Indigenous Water Stewardship in Alberta’s Boreal Region – A Case Study” with speakers Fabian Grey and Zoey Wang here.
