This project builds on the longstanding recognition that the people and communities nearest prospective offshore oil and gas development need to be fully engaged in all aspects of possible development, and that to do this, they need information and understanding about key issues. Communities and their leaders are very much aware of the offshore issue and they know that the answers to their concerns and questions often really are "somewhere out there." But accessing quality information and finding ways for the citizens and leaders to "process" that information is a major gap. Sophisticated data bases are being developed but the challenge for small, remote and understaffed coastal communities is accessibility and an opportunity to learn.
Our team for this project built its own network of community-based resource people and then fanned out to do extensive discussion and interviews to see what people knew and didn't know about offshore oil and gas. They also reviewed the wide array of information initiatives now underway in BC to begin to see how these can connect with communities. There was also a survey of possible models from outside the region, again so that designs for a community information and learning strategies could take into account "best practices" elsewhere.
On the basis of what they found, the team proposed a multi-faceted strategy for an "information, knowledge and learning" system. Key elements include refashioning the externally-generated vast quantities of data and information into a "knowledge base" managed by the communities for the communities. They have also proposed ongoing dialogue processes for various sectors to do their own talking and thereby learning about this knowledge base.
UNBC, 3333 University Way, Prince George, BC, Canada, V2N 4Z9
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This project builds on the longstanding recognition that the people and communities nearest prospective offshore oil and gas development need to be fully engaged in all aspects of possible development, and that to do this, they need information and understanding about key issues. Communities and their leaders are very much aware of the offshore issue and they know that the answers to their concerns and questions often really are "somewhere out there." But accessing quality information and finding ways for the citizens and leaders to "process" that information is a major gap. Sophisticated data bases are being developed but the challenge for small, remote and understaffed coastal communities is accessibility and an opportunity to learn.
Our team for this project built its own network of community-based resource people and then fanned out to do extensive discussion and interviews to see what people knew and didn't know about offshore oil and gas. They also reviewed the wide array of information initiatives now underway in BC to begin to see how these can connect with communities. There was also a survey of possible models from outside the region, again so that designs for a community information and learning strategies could take into account "best practices" elsewhere.