Marine planning engagement and communications

Council of the Haida Nation

Photo Credit: Alan Dolan

Alan provided planning and strategic advice on engagement and communications for the Council of the Haida Nation’s involvement in two major processes: Marine Planning Partnership (Province of BC, 17 First Nations) and Marine Protected Areas Network Planning (Province of BC, Government of Canada, 17 First Nations).

Work included assistance with stakeholder engagement strategies, writing terms of reference for advisory committees, facilitating public meetings and meetings with key stakeholder sector representatives (commercial fishers, environmental groups, recreational anglers), and strategic communications advice.

Alan facilitated a two-day workshop on Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) Marine Monitoring. Attendees participated from First Nations, provincial and federal governments and US agencies. Objectives included learning what EBM marine monitoring was occurring on Haida Gwaii and exploring opportunities for partnerships and data sharing between different agencies.

Alan wrote a communications and engagement plan for the Council of the Haida Nation’s marine initiatives on Haida Gwaii. Alan developed terms of reference for a Haida Gwaii-based integrated Marine Advisory Committee (IMAC) whose members provide input on a range of different marine initiatives rather than having a separate advisory committee for each initiative. The IMAC helps to reduce duplication of effort by stakeholders and government staff, and is a more cost-efficient method for seeking input at both the regional and provincial scale.