Kitselas First Nation Land Use Plan

The Project

Meraki worked closely with Kitselas First Nation on a comprehensive review and update of the Nation's 2012 Land Use Plan. The Kitselas First Nation Land Use Plan is a long range visioning document that captures existing knowledge and helps the Nation make more informed, consistent decisions about how land is used and protected in the future. Developed with extensive input from Members living on and off-Reserve, the Kitselas First Nation Land Use Plan was comprehensively updated to reflect current community priorities and values and consider a sustainable path forward, balancing social, cultural, economic and environmental principles.  A clear implementation plan was included as part of this initiative as the Nation indicated that they had difficulty moving the previous plan forward.  Several of the plan's priorities have already been implemented and others are currently underway.  

This project was awarded a National Award of Excellence from the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP) in 2021.  From the CIP:

"The Kitselas First Nation 2019 Land Use Plan takes a unique approach which is grounded in the needs of its community can be a model for other Indigenous communities and consultants working in partnership with First Nations. The plan was developed in collaboration with the seven Kitselas communities, and included input from all generations to identify objectives which were relevant to the Kitselas people, and stressed the importance of integrating a strong element of relationship-building into the methodology. Kitselas culture and identity were infused throughout the plan in the form of artwork by Kitselas youth, photos, and stories, representing a third dimension of inclusion. The plan considered cultural artefacts and landscapes which provides an important consideration for others working in the First Nations planning sphere.”