Clayoquot 10 years later - much has changed

The decade since the massive protests in Clayoquot Sound has produced dramatic change in community relationships and civil society organizations in the region, says Dr. Rod Dobell, of UVic’s school of public administration, who leads a research partnership working with groups in the area. “Approaches to consultation with First Nations and other communities have changed,” Says Dobell. “There’s recognition that local people have the right not just to be informed, but to participate effectively in decisions about what’s happening in their area.” Dobell’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council-funded CURA (Community-University Research Alliance) partnership with the Clayoquot Biosphere Trust reflects that new-found attitude. (www.clayoquotalliance.uvic.ca)

Through this project, the Clayoquot Alliance for Research, Education and Training, UVic faculty and graduate students are working with Nuu-chah-nulth and non-aboriginal people from the region on a wide range of undertakings, including one to document standards of conduct expected of researchers working in the region. Work is being done to build the research tools, information base and capacity of citizens in the region to be effective and informed participants in research studies, community-based resource management bodies, and planning processes. A UVic graduate student is also working with Nuu-chah-nulth elders to produce a series of CD-ROMs to contribute to revitalizing their endangered language and document existing knowledge, songs and stories in secure hypermedia form.

Dobell hopes to be in the Clayoquot Sound region on Aug. 9 to participate in events marking the 10th anniversary of the protests.

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