ARTICLE: Planet Reconciliation – Interweaving Indigenous knowledge and western science to make water-first decisions through Blue Ecology (published in Water Canada magazine, March-April 2017)

Note to Reader:

The March-April 2017 issue of Water Canada highlights the nature of problems in First Nations communities and explores a variety of solutions that have proven successful in Indigenous and remote communities across Canada. The March-April issue also includes an article that introduces Blue Ecology as a way to provide a holistic cultural context to enhance Western science’s knowledge of the water cycle for the benefit of hydrologists and water managers.

Blue Ecology – interweave best threads of Indigenous and Western Science

“Warming of the planet’s atmosphere is causing water to move more quickly and disruptively through the global water cycle. Flood, drought, fire, wind and cold – extreme events are becoming the norm,” stated the co-authors in their opening paragraph. “Instabilities in the water cycle are increasingly apparent. Impacts are magnified by human interventions. We have arrived at a fork in the road.”

“The situation calls for a whole-systems approach to managing the water balance distribution. The risks are too high, and the margins for error too small, to view water and watersheds only through narrow technical lenses. Adapting to changes in the water cycle and restoring the water balance starts with re-visiting our relationship with nature.”

To Learn More:

Download Planet Reconciliation to read the complete article co-authored by Kim Stephens, Michael Blackstock and Bob Sandford.

Download Water Protectors – Roles and Rights of Indigenous Canadians to read the complete set of articles in the March-April 2017 issue of Water Canada magazine.

Blue Ecology water cycle and principles, designed by Michael D. Blackstock as a companion to the conventional science-based Water Cycle.