- Page navigation anchor for RE: A proof-of-concept for systemic change in water crises managementRE: A proof-of-concept for systemic change in water crises management
Though published over six years ago, the need for drinking-water advisories remain in a number of First Nations and Indigenous communities across Canada as they suffer from a shortage of clean, running water.
The use of community-academic partnerships in the Flint water crisis down South offers a proof-of-concept for both the challenges and success of a joint community-academic joint venture in addressing a critical water crisis. From this, we need to recognize a critical gap existed in how information was translated from knowledge to action. An expanding priority is the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems within the context of issues such as management of water and land.
Not only is there a need for Indigenous stakeholders in these partnerships, ensuring a common system of transparent communication that accounts for language, levels of education, and other barriers relating to collaboration with academics must be accounted for. Moreover, translation to action, involvement of policymakers, and geographical barriers in terms of access pose a challenge. Nonetheless, I believe this model should be feasible and a significant advancement for addressing the ongoing water crisis in many Indigenous, rural communities in areas like Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Alberta, and parts of Ontario.
Competing Interests: None declared.References
- Laura Eggertson. Canada has 1838 drinking-water advisories. CMAJ 2015;187:488-488.
- E. Yvonne Lewis & Richard C. Sadler. Community–academic partnerships helped Flint through its water crisis. Nature 594 (2021), 326-329. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-01586-8
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