Cross-cultural Governance of Okanagan Lake from a Systems Perspective

The research contributes to the k?usxnitk? (Okanagan Lake) Responsibility Planning Initiative (OKLRPI), a syilx Indigenous-led process coordinated by the Okanagan Nation Alliance, the Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program, and regional and provincial authorities. The OKLRPI responds to the Okanagan Lake Foreshore Inventory and Mapping reports which documented large-scale losses in natural areas. In 2022, OKLRPI will prepare a first-ever syilx responsibility plan for official endorsement, which will support co-governance structures for addressing the institutional, multi-jurisdictional and cross-cultural complexity associated with the long-term viability of the Okanagan Lake ecosystem to provide clean drinking water, fish and wildlife habitat, erosion and flood control, and climate change resilience. This research analyzes co-governance models for implementing the syilx responsibility plan, based on an analysis of existing and proposed governance arrangements in the context of BC’s new Declaration for the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act.

Faculty Supervisor:

Aleksandra Dulic

Student:

Partner:

Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Administrative and support, waste management and remediation services; Other services (except public administration); Professional, scientific and technical services; Public administration

University:

The University of British Columbia - Okanagan

Program:

Accelerate