Advancing Indigenous Leadership and Collaborative Governance Across Canada
The Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER) will now offer Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders across Canada greater access to the skills, knowledge, relationships, and the support they need to strengthen collaborative governance and address shared environmental, social, and economic challenges. Through a US$4.5 million (approximately CAD$6.5 million) grant from the BHP Foundation, CIER will scale and expand its Collaborative Leadership Initiative (CLI) to advance effective collaborative leadership and governance.
Across Canada, Indigenous Nations, governments, and communities are navigating increasingly complex challenges that cross jurisdictional boundaries. While there is growing recognition of the importance of collaboration and Indigenous leadership, the leadership capacity, institutional frameworks, and trained facilitators needed to sustain effective collaboration are not yet available at the scale required.
To bridge that gap, CIER has supported collaborative governance across Canada, grounded in trusted partnerships with Indigenous Nations, municipalities, and other governments, for nearly a decade. Through CLI, CIER has worked alongside leaders in communities and regions including Fort Smith, NWT; Okanagan, B.C.; Winnipeg, MB, and the Mackenzie River Basin (covers 5 provinces and territories) to strengthen relationships, build leadership capacity, and address complex shared challenges.
Building on this experience, the BHP Foundation’s four-year investment will advance the next phase of CLI, known as CLI 3.0, with a focus on strengthening the capacity of Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders and governments to work collaboratively. It aims to contribute to a broader shift in how leadership and collaboration are understood and practiced – from individual leadership skill to an organizational and systems-level capability that can be developed, supported, and sustained.
Importantly, CLI 3.0 will connect leadership development with action. The initiative will support leaders and practitioners in applying the collaborative governance approaches to real-world initiatives focused on lands, waters, and other shared priorities. By fostering a growing network of practitioners and facilitators who can support leaders in applying the Collaborative Leadership (CL) Method within their own jurisdictions, the initiative will help create the conditions, practices and systems needed for collaborative governance to take root and contribute to lasting change across Canada.
Hear from the teams
Merrell-Ann Phare, Executive Director, CIER:
“The most important thing we learned is that collaboration doesn’t happen simply because you put people around a table. It happens when people are willing to build relationships, listen differently and find ways to work through difficult issues together.”
Alyna Wyatt, Country Director, Canada and U.S., BHP Foundation:
We are facing an inflection in Canada and are having to make significant changes in terms of how we work as a nation. Many new opportunities are emerging. Collaboration and engagement between Indigenous and non-Indigenous leaders is one of our competitive advantages to harness how we move forward as a nation. CIER’s collaborative leadership method is a key in setting the groundwork for this collective work.
About the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources
The Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER) is an Indigenous-directed charitable organization that works with Indigenous Nations, governments and communities across Canada to build capacity and advance solutions to environmental and sustainability challenges. Founded in 1995 by eight First Nations Chiefs, CIER supports Indigenous leadership and knowledge in environmental stewardship, climate action, water governance and collaborative approaches to complex challenges.