Indigenizing climate change health impact assessments and action plans: the Swinomish health template
Presentation Abstract
Increasingly over the past decade, local and regional governments have begun developing climate change impact assessments and action plans for planning and decision-making purposes. Indigenous Nations are leading this work with the overall goal to protect the health and wellbeing of their members, lands, waters, and air. Evaluating potential human health effects is an integral part of these climate change plans, yet the majority of the plans are unable to employ the health values and priorities of Indigenous communities because there are no established metrics with which to do so. We will present our methods and findings from a recently completed project assessing community health implications and priorities in relation to projected changes in the habitats of salmon, crabs and clams due to sea level rise and storm surge on the Swinomish Reservation. We will discuss how Swinomish define health—based on the concept of resilience—and provide a template for other Indigenous communities to tailor and adapt for their own needs in evaluating community health impacts and priorities moving forward. This work demonstrates the importance of working from the ground up by involving the community in the assessment and planning processes and ensuring that the health information—what health means, what may be effected and how, and priorities, originate from the community members themselves.
Session Title
Panel: Towards Resilience Through a Socio-Ecological Paradigm
Conference Track
SSE8: Policy, Management, and Regulations
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2018 : Seattle, Wash.)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE8-584
Start Date
4-4-2018 3:30 PM
End Date
4-4-2018 3:00 PM
Type of Presentation
Oral
Genre/Form
presentations (communicative events)
Contributing Repository
Digital content made available by University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Environmental protection--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.); Swinomish Indians--Health risk assessment--Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Geographic Coverage
Salish Sea (B.C. and Wash.)
Rights
This resource is displayed for educational purposes only and may be subject to U.S. and international copyright laws. For more information about rights or obtaining copies of this resource, please contact University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9103, USA (360-650-7534; heritage.resources@wwu.edu) and refer to the collection name and identifier. Any materials cited must be attributed to the Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference Records, University Archives, Heritage Resources, Western Libraries, Western Washington University.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Indigenizing climate change health impact assessments and action plans: the Swinomish health template
Increasingly over the past decade, local and regional governments have begun developing climate change impact assessments and action plans for planning and decision-making purposes. Indigenous Nations are leading this work with the overall goal to protect the health and wellbeing of their members, lands, waters, and air. Evaluating potential human health effects is an integral part of these climate change plans, yet the majority of the plans are unable to employ the health values and priorities of Indigenous communities because there are no established metrics with which to do so. We will present our methods and findings from a recently completed project assessing community health implications and priorities in relation to projected changes in the habitats of salmon, crabs and clams due to sea level rise and storm surge on the Swinomish Reservation. We will discuss how Swinomish define health—based on the concept of resilience—and provide a template for other Indigenous communities to tailor and adapt for their own needs in evaluating community health impacts and priorities moving forward. This work demonstrates the importance of working from the ground up by involving the community in the assessment and planning processes and ensuring that the health information—what health means, what may be effected and how, and priorities, originate from the community members themselves.
