Addressing the environmental, community and health impacts of resource development: Challenges across scales, sectors and sites

Work that addresses the cumulative impacts of resource extraction on environment, community, and health is necessarily large in scope. This paper presents experiences from initiating research at this intersection and explores implications for the ambitious, integrative agenda of planetary health. The purpose is to outline origins, design features, and preliminary insights from our intersectoral and international project, based in Canada and titled the “Environment, Community, Health Observatory” (ECHO) Network. With a clear emphasis on rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, environments, and health, the ECHO Network is designed to answer the question: How can an Environment, Community, Health Observatory Network support the integrative tools and processes required to improve understanding and response to the cumulative health impacts of resource development? The Network is informed by four regional cases across Canada where we employ a framework and an approach grounded in observation, “taking notice for action”, and collective learning. Sharing insights from the foundational phase of this five-year project, we reflect on the hidden and obvious challenges of working across scales, sectors, and sites, and the overlap of generative and uncomfortable entanglements associated with health and resource development. Yet, although intersectoral work addressing the cumulative impacts of resource extraction presents uncertainty and unresolved tensions, ultimately we argue that it is worth staying with the trouble

Addressing the environmental, community and health impacts of resource development: Challenges across scales, sectors and sites

Work that addresses the cumulative impacts of resource extraction on environment, community, and health is necessarily large in scope. This paper presents experiences from initiating research at this intersection and explores implications for the ambitious, integrative agenda of planetary health. The purpose is to outline origins, design features, and preliminary insights from our intersectoral and international project, based in Canada and titled the “Environment, Community, Health Observatory” (ECHO) Network. With a clear emphasis on rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, environments, and health, the ECHO Network is designed to answer the question: How can an Environment, Community, Health Observatory Network support the integrative tools and processes required to improve understanding and response to the cumulative health impacts of resource development? The Network is informed by four regional cases across Canada where we employ a framework and an approach grounded in observation, “taking notice for action”, and collective learning. Sharing insights from the foundational phase of this five-year project, we reflect on the hidden and obvious challenges of working across scales, sectors, and sites, and the overlap of generative and uncomfortable entanglements associated with health and resource development. Yet, although intersectoral work addressing the cumulative impacts of resource extraction presents uncertainty and unresolved tensions, ultimately we argue that it is worth staying with the trouble

Climate Change and Vibrio cholerae in Herring Eggs: The Role of Indigenous Communities in Public Health Outbreak Responses

Climate change brings about novel types of public health emergencies. Unforeseen challenges put additional pressure on health systems and require innovative approaches to address emerging needs. The health of Indigenous Peoples is particularly impacted by the changing climate, because of their close connection to the land. For instance, the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being of coastal First Nations in British Columbia (BC), Canada, is interconnected with the abundance of healthy marine food sources that form the base of local traditional diets. The 2018 discovery of Vibrio cholerae illness in those who had eaten contaminated herring eggs not only had a clinical health impact but also created concerns for the safety of local food systems. The limited magnitude of the outbreak demonstrates the critical importance of collaborative partnerships between coastal First Nations communities in BC and health authorities working together in outbreak investigations. Yet, the lack of procedures that address cultural and institutional differences led to unnecessary discrepancies in the approach. This paper introduces the public health intervention used during the first ever Vibrio cholerae outbreak in coastal BC. The intervention has the potential to inform best practices when developing emergency response protocols potentially affecting Indigenous people and traditional foods. In this qualitative case study of the formal institutional documents and narratives of the key partners involved in the response, we assess the intervention, highlight the challenges and enablers, share lessons learned, and identify knowledge requirements to improve confidence in the traditional food system and support early warning systems