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University of Victoria

Indigenous-led impact assessment training could change the game

June 17, 2026

Close up shot of two arms holding hands
Credit: Balance Co-Lab

As Canada moves to fast-track major infrastructure projects, the importance of cumulative impacts assessment—the process of understanding how a proposal's economic, environmental and social effects will compound over time and in combination with past, present, and future human activities—is absolutely vital to assess a project's suitability.

A challenge for First Nations facing such decisions, however, is that impact assessment rarely aligns with local ways of knowing and there are few opportunities for Indigenous communities, organizations, and advisors to gain the practical skills necessary to develop their own Indigenous-led impact assessment processes. But a new course designed by the Balance Co-Lab and launching this fall with the University of Victoria (UVic) Division of Continuing Studies is changing this. 

The Balance Co-Lab is a multi-institutional and transdisciplinary research program at UVic, funded by a SSHRC Partnership Grant awarded in 2023, that supports research and training for the development of an adaptable Indigenous-led cumulative impacts assessment system. The Balance Co-Lab's approach to impact assessment is grounded in Indigenous rights, knowledges, perspectives, cultures, values, and governance systems, drawing on western science where it can support community-defined goals and well-being. This is a fundamental shift from provincial and federal assessment models, which typically fail to account for Indigenous values, governance systems and knowledges.

Balance Co-Lab has partnered with CIFAL Victoria, an initiative of UVic and the United Nations Institute of Training and Research (UNITAR) focused on delivering training in support of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), to offer learners UN accreditation for completing this 8-week training course.

CIFAL Victoria works with research teams across UVic, like Balance Co-Lab, to support and augment research projects and grant applications through knowledge translation and mobilization, and accredited training services. As a research partner, CIFAL Victoria amplifies communications and outreach efforts, connects UVic researchers to the CIFAL Global Network and at UNITAR, and offers support on grant applications, for various activities, including:

  • reports or publications co-published with UNITAR,
  • UN-certification for training workshops, modules, or learning materials,
  • amplification of public events, conferences, webinars, and outreach efforts,
  • advice on best practices for environmental sustainability in program activities.

Learn more about opportunities for research and training partnerships with CIFAL Victoria.

By Bethany Woodbridge, CIFAL Victoria Program Officer