Past Events

Information about past ACAIA events will be posted here, including links to presenters' bios, presentations, or other materials, if applicable and available.

April 22, 2025:  Dr. Ian Stewart, University of King's College

The first event of ACAIA's new speaker series was held on Tuesday, April 22.  Our first speaker was Dr. Ian Stewart, Associate Professor of Humanities at the University of King's College, Halifax, Nova Scotia.  Dr. Stewart shared his presentation entitled "Protecting Indigenous IP [Intellectual Property]: Knowledge Sovereignty in Green Energy Project Impact Assessments."  

Dr. Stewart's slide deck is provided below. Unfortunately, the session recording was corrupted, so we can't share it.  

May 27, 2025:  Dr. Alana Westwood, Dalhouse University

Dr. Alana Westwood, Associate Professor at Dalhousie University, delivered her IAIA25 presentation, "Unearthing trends in impact assessments for mines and quarries across Canada."  Dr. Westwood presented the first comprehensive database of mines subject to IA across Canada, and presented spatio-temporal trends in mine development as related to IA laws. This webinar revealed the first summary of national and regional trends on scale and size of mine development, target minerals for extraction, and the laws and policies associated with mining in Canada.  The database is available in an open-access repository to facilitate transparent research and informed decision-making about mining development in Canada. 

Dr. Westwood's slide deck and a recording of her presentation are provided below.  

June 12, 2025: Dr. Steve Bonnell, Impact Assessment Agency of Canada/Memorial University of Newfoundland

Dr. Steve Bonnell (IAAC/MUN) shared his IAIA25 presentation, entitled "Regional Assessments: Implications for IA Effectiveness and Efficiency."   This presentation explored potential objectives, approaches, outcomes and uses for regional assessments (RAs), including how RA planning and conduct reflect the dual but inter-related objectives of improving both IA “effectiveness” and “efficiency”. This included the role of RAs in assessing and managing cumulative effects, and approaches to maximizing their utility for this purpose. Some key principles, considerations, and lessons from practice were highlighted to help inform future RA planning, conduct and use.

Dr. Bonnell's presentation is provided below.