The HEC Lab https://heclab.com Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:40:40 +0000 en-CA hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.4 https://heclab.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/cropped-H-favicon-32x32.jpg The HEC Lab https://heclab.com 32 32 SMART Displacement: Place-Based Policy and Praxis Labs https://heclab.com/smart-displacement-place-based-policy-and-praxis-labs/ https://heclab.com/smart-displacement-place-based-policy-and-praxis-labs/#respond Mon, 26 Jan 2026 19:40:40 +0000 https://heclab.com/?p=10021 (SMART = Systems Mapping and Policy Redesign for Adaptation and Resilience Transformation)

This is an international project proposed to use a decolonial planetary health framework that integrates artistic, place-based, digital approaches to redesign systems and policies for climate disasters and displacement.

The goal of the project is to move away from deficient, top-down, reactive climate displacement policy approaches to ones that centers planetary health and equity-denied communities’ expertise. The team wants to connect their lived and living experiences with real-time, place-based data. From there we will redesign decision-making systems for equity, justice, and resilience using community-driven arts-based methodologies and sciences to create digital twin platforms that will enable pre-disaster climate displacement policies that are respectful and resilient.

Funding Source: New Frontiers in Research Fund (Notice of Decision: August 2026)

 

]]> https://heclab.com/smart-displacement-place-based-policy-and-praxis-labs/feed/ 0 Our Ancestors Are in Our Lands, Water, and Air (Phase I) https://heclab.com/our-ancestors-are-in-our-lands-water-and-air-phase-i/ https://heclab.com/our-ancestors-are-in-our-lands-water-and-air-phase-i/#respond Mon, 19 Aug 2024 16:59:32 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=9276 The lands, water, and air known as A’se’k (or Boat Harbour, in English) have provided for the Mi’kmaq of Pictou Landing First Nation (PLFN)  since time immemorial. But in 1967, a pulp mill began piping its waste effluent into the water and pumping its particulate matter out the stacks into the prevailing winds, which directly targeted PLFN. This is a clear-cut case of environmental racism and a clear-cut case of activism and research. Worried for their children’s health and all their relations, the Pictou Landing Native Women’s Group (PLNWG) approached Dr Castleden and Dr Diana Lewis in 2010 to use Indigenous and western sciences to address their concerns. The PLNWG worked tirelessly for five years, engaging their community’s youth and Elders in research and community activism and by 2015, the Provincial Government passed the Boat Harbour Act, requiring the mill to cease the effluent flow by 2020 and determine an alternate treatment handling system. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

]]> https://heclab.com/our-ancestors-are-in-our-lands-water-and-air-phase-i/feed/ 0 Archipelagos of Indigenous-led Resurgence for Planetary Health https://heclab.com/archipelagos-of-indigenous-led-resurgence-for-planetary-health/ https://heclab.com/archipelagos-of-indigenous-led-resurgence-for-planetary-health/#respond Fri, 24 May 2024 18:45:40 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=8007 Drivers of the triple planetary crisis (climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution) are colonialism, capitalism, extractivism, globalization, and racism, underpinned by policies, systems, and structures that reinforce these worldviews. For collective futures that sustain all planetary life, we must respond with urgency and creativity across political and epistemic boundaries toward reconciling the damage we have done to the planet’s health, our health, and the health of all our relations. Led by co-directors, Dr Castleden and Dr Hōkūlani Aikau, the aim of this three-year proof-of-concept project is to demonstrate how place-based evidence for Indigenous-led resurgence can be synergized across “Island” sites to create an “Archipelago” of transformative change for planetary health. For more details, check out IndigenousPlanetaryHealth.ca. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

View Website

]]> https://heclab.com/archipelagos-of-indigenous-led-resurgence-for-planetary-health/feed/ 0 A SHARED Future: Indigenous-led Renewable Energy for Planetary Health https://heclab.com/a-shared-future-indigenous-led-renewable-energy-for-planetary-health/ https://heclab.com/a-shared-future-indigenous-led-renewable-energy-for-planetary-health/#respond Fri, 24 May 2024 18:38:27 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=7995 The Achieving Strength, Health, and Autonomy through Renewable Energy Development for the Future (A SHARED Future) program is wrapping up seven years of research about reconciliation between knowledge systems; it was foundational to our work together. A SHARED Future supported several thematically-linked projects across Canada that explored Indigenous-led and Indigenous-engaged partnerships, with an overall focus on Indigenous peoples’ leadership in renewable energy. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.


Visit A SHARED Future

 

]]> https://heclab.com/a-shared-future-indigenous-led-renewable-energy-for-planetary-health/feed/ 0 Indigenous Environmental Health Risk Assessment (IEHRA) https://heclab.com/indigenous-environmental-health-risk-assessment-iehra/ https://heclab.com/indigenous-environmental-health-risk-assessment-iehra/#respond Fri, 24 May 2024 18:36:03 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=7990 The IEHRA project, led by Dr Diana Lewis, explores the community health impacts of living near oil and gas extraction (Mikisew Cree First Nation, Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, Fort Chipewyan Métis Nation) and a landfill site (Oneida Nation of the Thames). Through a community-engaged process and informed by our previous research with Pictou Landing First Nation (Lewis et al., 2020, 2020a, 2020b), we are developing culturally relevant, gender inclusive, Indigenous-led frameworks that respond to these different community contexts, ecologies, and industrial experiences. For more details, check out Indigenera.ca. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

]]> https://heclab.com/indigenous-environmental-health-risk-assessment-iehra/feed/ 0 Climate Change Displacement and Public Health https://heclab.com/intersectional-perspectives-on-climate-change-and-public-health/ https://heclab.com/intersectional-perspectives-on-climate-change-and-public-health/#respond Fri, 24 May 2024 18:30:49 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=7983 Extreme weather events, including wildfires, floods, heatwaves, droughts, atmospheric rivers, hurricanes and other storms, displace millions of people around the world every year. These events displace hundreds of thousands of people in Canada, cost tens of billions of dollars, and exacerbate a wide range of health inequities, disrupt homes, livelihoods, education, community cohesion, and have direct and indirect impacts on health and well-being.  Yet, little empirical work has explored the specific effects of climate displacement on health in Canada. Led by Dr Castleden, this project explored the public health effects of recent displacements in British Columbia, particularly within equity-deserving populations (see Report). We are now developing a nationwide project; contact the HEC Lab if you are interested in learning more and getting involved. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

CCDH Final Gathering Report

]]> https://heclab.com/intersectional-perspectives-on-climate-change-and-public-health/feed/ 0 Our Ancestors are in Our Lands, Water, and Air (Phase II) https://heclab.com/our-ancestors-are-in-our-lands-water-and-air/ https://heclab.com/our-ancestors-are-in-our-lands-water-and-air/#respond Fri, 24 May 2024 18:10:38 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=7944

PROJECT

Our Ancestors are in Our Lands, Water, and Air (Phase II)

In 2020, Northern Pulp in Pictou County, Nova Scotia, closed its doors, failing to meet the legislated requirement of the Boat Harbour Act. The Mi’kmaq of Pictou Landing First Nation are finally breathing fresh air again, the plants and animals are slowly returning to the region, and there is a sense of hope and optimism for the future of A’se’k. When the mill closed, we began a documentary film project about our integrative research, using it as a catalyst to explore how a Two-Eyed Seeing approach can support reconciliation in Canada. We have produced a number of digital stories about the project over the years from our team’s leaders and, most recently, we  have five new stories from youth who were youngsters at the time of our initial work, and who were inspired to continue to build on the work their mothers, aunties, and grandmothers by going on to undertake studies and careers in environmental science, data sovereignty and governance, and arts-based environmental studies. The film is set to be released in 2025; contact the HEC Lab if you are interested in getting involved in the post-production research. Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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]]> https://heclab.com/our-ancestors-are-in-our-lands-water-and-air/feed/ 0 Responding to the TRC: Institutional Accountability https://heclab.com/relational-accountability/ https://heclab.com/relational-accountability/#respond Fri, 24 May 2024 18:06:30 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=7936 After 15 years of research efforts towards decolonizing the Settler-dominated academy, Dr Castleden found renewed inspiration from reading Adam Gaudry and Danielle Lorenz’s 2018 publication “Indigenization as inclusion, reconciliation, and decolonization: Navigating the different visions for indigenizing the Canadian Academy”. Their work prompted a new trajectory for Dr Castleden, exploring how institutional environments are responding to Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) calls to action in curriculum, pedagogy, research, and administration. This work aligns with the TRC’s Call to Action #53, which asks for research into the reconciliation progress across all sectors of Canadian society. The HEC Lab is interviewing Department Heads in health, environment, and social science disciplines across the country, adding important insights about how things are going: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Have a look at a couple of her recent publications with graduate students below and contact the HEC Lab if you are interested in learning more and getting involved. Funding: Canada Research Chairs Program.

Read The Canadian Geographer Publication

Read Canadian Journal of Public Health Publication

 

]]> https://heclab.com/relational-accountability/feed/ 0 Carving out Climate Testimony https://heclab.com/spirit-of-the-lakes/ https://heclab.com/spirit-of-the-lakes/#respond Fri, 24 May 2024 18:01:48 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=7928 Temperatures in the Arctic are rising several times faster than elsewhere in the world. This is resulting in ecological changes that are impacting the mental health and well-being of Inuit communities. This collaborative project is working with youth to address climate change. We are co-led by Inuk scholar Dr Karla Jessen Williamson and Dr Jen Bagelman, a non-Indigenous scholar, exploring two questions: (1) how does climate change impact Inuit youth and (2) what are the resilience factors that enhance mental health and well-being? Echoing the National Inuit Strategy on Research, we are exploring how changes to terrestrial, freshwater and coastal ecosystems impact mental health and well-being among Inuit youth. Our project supports an Inuit youth-led methodological pathway of unikkausivut (‘storytelling’) to document how this approach can be used as material and intergenerational methods to convey climate realities and shape policy that enhances resilience strategies. Dr Castleden was invited to join the team as a co-investigator for her experience in community-based participatory research. Funding: Canada-Inuit Nunangat-United Kingdom Arctic Research Programme.

]]> https://heclab.com/spirit-of-the-lakes/feed/ 0 tašiiʔakqin ʔuyaqḥmisukqin (Our Journey, Our Story): huuʕiiʔatḥ Perspectives on Modern Treaty Implementation https://heclab.com/tasii%ca%94akqin-%ca%94uyaq%e1%b8%a5misukqin-our-journey-our-story-huu-ay-aht-perspectives-on-modern-treaty-implementation/ https://heclab.com/tasii%ca%94akqin-%ca%94uyaq%e1%b8%a5misukqin-our-journey-our-story-huu-ay-aht-perspectives-on-modern-treaty-implementation/#respond Tue, 21 May 2024 19:57:20 +0000 https://indigenousplanetaryhealth.ca/heclab.com/?p=7869 Tasii?akqin ?uyaqhmisukqin is the continuation of Dr Castleden’s long-standing research collaboration with huuʕiiʔatḥ (Huu-ay-aht First Nations), one of the five First Nation signatories of the Maa-nulth Treaty. Since 2005, we have undertaken a community-driven comprehensive study about the multi-faceted experiences of becoming a Modern Treaty Nation, contributing to the negotiation process and the first 15 years of the implementation journey from community perspectives. The goal of the current project is to identify, document, critically understand, and analyze how huuʕiiʔatḥ citizens are experiencing implementation as the Nation prepares for the 2026 ‘Periodic Review’ of the Maa-nulth Treaty. We are guided by a 7-person huuʕiiʔatḥ research advisory committee, and use community-driven approaches to analyzing data, collected through interviews, community engagement sessions, survey, archival materials, and photovoice. This collaborative study aims to contribute to the Nation’s ability to adequately and effectively implement its Final Agreement, it also adds to contemporary academic critiques of modern treaties, and contributes to policy and process alternatives. Contact the HEC Lab if you are interested in learning more and getting involved. Funding: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

 

 

Our project logo was designed in 2021 by huuʕiiʔatḥ youth artist, n̓aasʔiyiłʔimʔas (Naaseealthimus John).

Artist Statement: The Moon design shows huuʕiiʔatḥ’s journey as a modern treaty Nation by being able to constantly change its phase and seek new beginnings. This moon is surrounded by our ocean waters and there it finds our next beginning within our children and begins to nurture the next generation. A moon strongly represents huuʕiiʔatḥ and its research advisory committee’s importance to its people’s future.

 

In Partnership with Huu-ay-aht First Nations
View Huu-ay-aht First Nations website: www.huuayaht.org
View on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HuuayahtFN
View on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/huuayahtfn/?hl=en

Advisory Committee: Tayii Ḥaw̓ ił ƛiišin, Edward Johnson Jr., Jane Peters, Stella Peters, Mercedes Williams, Simon Dennis

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