Participants of the Watershed Ecosystems Project Community Engagement Event held in the District of Peachland.
Photo credit: Rheanne Kroschinsky
The Watershed Ecosystems Project, an interdisciplinary initiative integrating six key research areas, hosted an open house with the District of Peachland last November to deepen community engagement and foster collaborative discussions on watershed science and governance.
Amidst various environmental pressures, the Peachland community is faced with managing and preserving the ecological health of the Peachland Creek watershed. However, the watershed Ecosystems Project addresses this need by promoting collaborative discussions between researchers, Syilx community members, and local residents to develop sustainable governance and ecological practices.
“The workshop was very productive and provided robust opportunity for Peachland interest groups to offer insights into their distinct relationships with the watershed, ask questions of the Watershed Ecosystems Project research teams, and provide suggestions toward the design of future research.”
– Rheanne Kroschinsky, IGS, Irving K. Barber
The Watershed Ecosystems Project has successfully integrated hydrology, fish, urban water, integrated modeling, Syilx knowledge, and governance into a comprehensive research framework, promoting a “whole-of-watershed” understanding. This interdisciplinary collaboration has enhanced community engagement, particularly with the Syilx community. This led to hosting an open house in November to share research findings, engage with local residents, and incorporate community feedback, advancing research, teaching, and learning by creating a collaborative platform for knowledge exchange and sustainable watershed management.
See below for project details and a Q&A with project co-lead, Rheanne Kroschinsky
Project Details
Project Title: Watershed Ecosystems Project Community Engagement Event
Project co-leads:
- Shawn Grundy, Director of Operations, District of Peachland
- Rheanne Kroschinsky, Graduate Student, IGS, Irving K. Barber, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
Project duration: November 17, 2023
Learn more:
- Read more about the Watersheds Ecosystems Research Cluster
This project was supported by the Partnership Recognition and Exploration (PRE) Fund.
Q&A with Co-Lead Rheanne Kroschinsky
Why is this project important and how is it supporting the District of Peachland’s goals?
This event marked the first in a planned series of immersive, community-engaged workshops held in partnership with the District of Peachland. The intention of the workshop was to promote dialogue and the two-way sharing of information with the community regarding important ecological facets and governance frameworks of the Peachland Creek watershed, as well as an exploration of the future trajectory of this community-academic partnership. Overall, the workshop was very productive and provided robust opportunity for Peachland interest groups to offer insights into their distinct relationships with the watershed, ask questions of the Watershed Ecosystems Project research teams, and provide suggestions toward the design of future research. Additionally, providing neutral and collaborative spaces for interest groups to create progressive dialogue around the impacts of activities within, and decision-making processes surrounding the watershed is a key strength of this academic-community partnership. Toward this, this workshop engaged 41 attendees from a diverse variety of interest groups including Syilx Traditional Ecological Knowledge holders and community representatives, District of Peachland Mayor and Council, Regional District representatives, source water users, and community organizations.
What strengths did each party bring to the project?
The event was organized and facilitated through the governance activity and Watershed Management Research Extension arms of the Watershed Ecosystems Project. The six interdisciplinary Watershed Ecosystems Project teams each brought pertinent research findings and process updates, contributions to the design and flow of the workshop proceedings, as well as open and inquiring minds to listen to and engage with interest group representatives. The District of Peachland, represented by Operations Manager, Shawn Grundy, played an essential role in the facilitation of the workshop, providing logistical coordination, communications insight, and consulting on workshop design.
During the project, what opportunities did participants have to teach, learn, or do research?
During the workshop, participants had frequent opportunities to verbally contribute to the discussion regarding the six distinct aspects of Watershed Ecosystems Project research, as well as in written form. The workshop participants engaged in a preworkshop Padlet exercise, allowing them the opportunity (if chosen) to introduce themselves and share their motivations for joining the workshop. During the workshop, the group participated in a collaborative activity, creating a word cloud describing the values that they individually associated with the Peachland Creek watershed. Writing materials were placed in the center of each table, allowing participants to provide written submissions of their questions or comments, if they preferred this over verbal sharing. A post-workshop feedback survey was distributed as well, inviting participants to share insights from their experiences, as well as actively participate in the design of future workshops. Verbal contributions were made throughout. A post-workshop follow-up email provided a clear invitation for those interested in co-designing facets of the future research trajectory.
What was your favourite outcome or experience from the project?
The robust engagement demonstrated by frequent questions and verbal contributions from interest group representatives. This project is demonstrative of the capacities of community-academic partnerships in the channeling of institutional academic resources toward the addressing of community-identified needs.
Can you share a few lessons you learned during your project?
There were many lessons learned from this pilot workshop project. One being in the collaborative effort it requires to facilitate a community meeting like this. This event really was the result of a large amount of intention and effort on behalf of Watershed Ecosystems Project teams and District partner representatives.
A second lesson is the need for adaptive responses to unpredictable climate conditions. As this event was originally scheduled for August 21, 2023, and needed to be canceled the day before due to the McDougall Creek Wildfire, there was a great lesson in the realities of event planning in modern times – particularly, within the semi-arid Okanagan region. This occurrence required a quick pivot on behalf of our research teams and District partners and was demonstrative of the need for this type of research toward the more sustainable and integrated management of watershed ecosystems amidst a changing climate
What is next for this project?
We are grateful to the Community Engagement office for assistance in facilitating this important aspect of our community engaged research. The engagement from the community (registration for this event was full the day after publication), is reflective of the interest in and long-term community support for this research partnership. In June 2024, the Governance and Syilx Knowledge arms of the WEP applied to the provincial Watershed Security Fund to support an extended phase of this work in partnership with Syilx communities and the District of Peachland. If successful, this funding will support engagement with diverse community interest groups toward the goal of collaboratively designing a basin-level decision making, or governance structure for Peachland Creek.