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Bioenergy development and the implications for the social wellbeing of Indigenous peoples in Canada

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Abstract

In this article, we focus on wellbeing as an important concept relating to bioenergy development in Canada. We use a three-dimensional or social approach to understanding wellbeing, which includes subjective and relational aspects in addition to the more traditional material dimension of wellbeing (e.g. financial resources, a healthy environment). Indigenous business leaders engaged in forestry, energy, and related resource sectors were recruited through our partner organization, the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business, as a representative sample of key people to be engaged in the scoping of existing and future bioenergy partnerships in Canada. Participants often responded in ways that did not discretely fit into categories, but instead reflected a perspective on their own and their community’s dimensions of social wellbeing, which we captured through open coding for emergent themes. Our findings on material wellbeing illustrate that relationships between different wellbeing dimensions need to be considered for community-appropriate bioenergy development.

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Notes

  1. We use the term ‘Indigenous’ as the more globally accepted term for First Peoples, which in the Canadian context includes First Nations, Métis, and Inuit people. We use the term “Aboriginal” only when it is part of a formal name (e.g. Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business).

  2. Reserve lands are held by the Crown rather than by individuals or organizations and First Nations have the “right to exclusive use and occupation, inalienability and the communal nature of interest” (AANDC 2018).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada (#872-2016-1036), SSHRC Canada Research Chair in Human-Environmental Interactions (950-231641), and BiofuelNet Canada (#SO-3-Bullock). In-kind support was provided by the Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. The authors thank the study participants for sharing their knowledge. Thanks also to our capable research assistants, Shannon Ganter and Miranda Hamilton. Any errors or omissions are our own.

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  1. School for Resource and Environmental Studies and the College of Sustainability, Dalhousie University, Kenneth C. Rowe Building, 6100 University Ave., PO BOX 15000, Halifax, B3G 4R2, Canada

    Melanie Zurba

  2. Environmental Studies and Sciences, The University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Canada

    Ryan Bullock

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  1. Melanie Zurba
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Correspondence to Melanie Zurba.

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Zurba, M., Bullock, R. Bioenergy development and the implications for the social wellbeing of Indigenous peoples in Canada. Ambio 49, 299–309 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-019-01166-1

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