Learning from BC Coastal Environment 2006 Part I: Consulting with Audiences and Experts Lynne Bonner Linda Gilkeson

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Learning from BC Coastal Environment 2006Part
I Consulting with Audiences and ExpertsLynne
BonnerLinda Gilkeson
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Goal Improve Our Reporting

• Province-wide reports to alternate with special
  reports
• With environmental indicators, provide
  information on solutions
• Work toward user needs driving monitoring
  indicator development
• Involve partnerships to leverage resources,
  provide consistent information
• Meet policy makers reporting needs
• Provide information to suit different audiences

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Accordingly.

• The BC Coastal Environment project
• Was the first of our special subject reports
• Included both federal and university partners
• Identified and consulted with audiences at outset
• Documented desired indicators before looking for
  data (knowledge gaps captured in separate report)
• Produced a variety of information products with
  different levels of detail

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Partners Contributors

• BC Ministry of Environment
• Fisheries and Oceans Canada
• University of BC Fisheries Centre
• University of Victoria, Geography Dept.
• Environment Canada
• Over 140 people from 30 agencies
• organizations

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Audiences for SOE Reporting

• Established audiences, high priority for
  consultation and input
• Governments (all levels)
• Stewardship, environmental groups
• Educators
• Target audiences, extension required
• Tourism, ecotourism operators
• Recreational boaters fishers
• Professional associations
• Green industries
• First Nations

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Audience Consultation

• Regional meetings provincial staff,
  representatives from external organizations
• Who are the important audiences?
• What issues should be addressed?
• E-mail survey regional districts (8) coastal
  stewardship groups (7)
• What are you interested in?
• How do you use environmental information?
• What report formats are most useful to you?

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Indicators Workshop

• Experts
• What should people know about the condition of
  the coast and marine environment?
• What are key pressures (impacts) on the coast and
  marine environment?
• Audience
• What do you want to know about the condition of
  the coast and marine environment?
• What do you think are important pressures
  (impacts)
• on the coast and marine environment?

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Content?

• General agreement
• Loss and degradation of habitat
• Protection of marine areas
• Impacts of salmon aquaculture
• Status of commercial fisheries
• Toxics and pollutants in marine environment
• Climate change impacts ecosystems, sea level
• What individuals can do
• Most issues in 6 themes Population Economic
  Activity Climate Change Industrial
  Contaminants Ecosystem Protection Biodiversity
  Fisheries

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More Content Ideas

• Other areas audiences wanted covered
• In-depth, background information
• Socio-economic costs, impacts
• Human health risks
• First Nations involvement
• Community sustainability
• Many ideas for stories to
• supplement indicators
• Concerns to address in text

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Format?

• Web information essential
• Hard copy products still very important
• Well digested information
• for general public (brochures)
• Access to local data for
• communities, regional
• districts

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Role of Traditional Ecological Knowledge

• Need time and resources to undertake a meaningful
  (long-term) involvement
• Find the right people or population work with
• Establish relationships
• Agree on methods, uses of results
• May be more meaningful at local scale than on
  province-wide scale of SOE reporting
• community driven processes, relationships
• joint problem-solving, monitoring, planning
• understanding environmental conditions, long term
  change

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What Did We Learn?

• There were audiences and end-users interested in
  every level of informationfrom original data to
  high level summaries.
• Asking priority audiences what they wanted to
  know and what they needed enriched the report.
• Non-experts and scientists were generally
  concerned about the same issues, but provided
  different perspectives.
• A variety of reporting formats continues to serve
  the widest range of people.

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www.env.gov.bc.ca/soe/bcce/