Stories and News

October, 2011 - PlanLab works with the Mi'gmawei Mawiomi Secretariat (MMS) to develop new tools for tracking and evaluating consultations.
The MMS have a very advanced consultation and accommodation program. This includes policies and procedures for managing a high volume of consultation correspondences which flow to, and from, the MMS office. PlanLab was invited to work with the MMS to develop new web-based tools for tracking and evaluating consultations, including the integration of calendars, tasks, email notifications and file management. PlanLab was honoured to be a part of this important project.

July, 2011 - PlanLab completes a consultation procedures workshop and blueprint with the Ojibways of the Pic River First Nation.
In October of 2008, Pic River's Lands and Resources Department put in place an innovative Consultation and Accommodation Law outlining basic principles for meaningfull consultations. PlanLab was recently contracted to work with the Lands Department to streamline their administrative procedures for managing the growing requests to consult. This includes mapping and analyzing the development footprint and using social networking tools to communicate concerns internally for each proposal. The resulting procedures bluprint, combined with the Consultation Law, creates an effective strategy for managing consultations with industry and government.

June, 2011 - PlanLab completes a data familiarization workshop with the Mississaugas Of Scugog Island First Nation (MSIFN).
PlanLab worked with the MSIFN on a workshop to become familiar with geosptial data and their respective data providers. Workshop covered both framework and thematic data at a variety of scales, including site-specific, regional, provincial and national. The workshop concluded with an overview of standards and good practices for data management.

May, 2011 - PlanLab works on pre-planning with the Nunavik Marine Region Planning Commission
As part of the Nunavik Inuit Land Claims Agreement (2006), the Commission is drafting a management plan for the offshore islands and intervening waters of approximately 5,100 square kilometres. PlanLab is working with the Commission on pre-planning work to help launch this initiative.

April, 2011 - PlanLab completes a GIS needs assessment with the Grand Council Treaty #3 (GCT#3)
PlanLab worked with the Territorial Planning Unit to conduct a comprehensive GIS needs assessment for the Council. The assessment documented the needs for mapping, along with issues to be considered when implementing a mapping program including: funding, human resources, harware, software, data management and reporting.

March, 2011 - PlanLab and Wolf Lake chart internal consultation procedures
PlanLab and the Wolf Lake First Nation worked together on drafting internal consultation procedures for the Nation. The blueprint documents the flow of information at each step of the consultation process, from letter of receipt through to analysis, decision making, and moninoring. Wolf Lake adopted innovated tools to support this work, including shared calendars, internal blog, news feed services and the Algonquin Consultation Tracking System (ACTS)software.

January, 2011 - PlanLab moves to new space
PlanLab has moved its location to a larger space to accommodate on-site community mapping workshops and training. Call us today to book a mapping workshop in our new "lab".

November, 2010 - PlanLab welcomes Murray X. White to the team
We are pleased to welcome Murray White as our new Community Cultural Planner. Murray brings with him experience in municipal and heritage planning, along with strong skills in mapping and community engagement. Welcome Murray.

September, 2010 - The Land That Talks - Algonquin Google Toponomy Map
Place names tell stories. These stories connect people to the land and to the cultural identify of a region. PlanLab has completed a Google Mapping application to help record and explore Algonquin toponyms, place names which have long since been removed from our maps.

August, 2010 - Land Use Workshop with Nunavik Marine Planning Commission
PlanLab joined together with GeoPraxis to deliver a land use planning workshop with the Nunavik Planning Commission. Workshop covered good practices and elements of success in designing and administering a regional planning process. We look forward to new opportunities in supporting this exciting project.

February, 2010 - Use and occupancy mapping with the Mikisew Cree and KI
PlanLab has partnered with Tobias and Associates and GeoPraxis to complete cultural use and occupancy mapping with the Mikisew Cree First Nation in Alberta and the Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation in Ontario. The Mikisew data is being collected to assist in land use planning and consultations regarding development in the region. Work with KI is being completed as groundwork for a customery lands documentation process.

December, 2009 - Closing the Gap: green infrastructure as a cultural resource
Senior planning students from Ryerson's School of Urban and Regional Planning completed a study for PlanLab to document the contributions of natural heritage and green infrastructure in municipal cultural planning. The report helps to fill significant gaps in the field through its literature review, new definitions, and examples in how to measure assets through indicators and maps. Congratulations to the team for the successful completion of a challenging project. A full copy of the report can be downloaded here [PDF, 1.6MB].

October, 2009 - Planlab awarded contract to develop management plan for the mouth of the Pic River
The mouth of the Pic River has been the gathering place and settlement site for the Ojibways of the Pic River since the origins of the Pic Nation. The community continues to actively use this area for recreational and ceremonial purposes, including a gathering site for the annual Pic River Pow Wow. PlanLab is pleased to be invited to help develop a management plan for the site, to protect and enhance the cultural and natural heritage values of this important area.

July, 2009 - PlanLab partners with CIER, Makivik Corporation, Strata360 and GeoPraxis to write good-practices guidebook on community mapping
There is a recognized gap in the literature regarding good-practices in the set-up, and maintenance of successful community mapping programs. There are even fewer resources tailored for mapping in the context of Aboriginal governance. PlanLab was pleased to be awarded a contract in partnership with the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources (CIER), Makivik Corporation, Strata360 and GeoPraxis to help fill this gap. With funding from GeoConnections Canada, this work will build on the experiences of over 30 communities across Canada and take 6 months to complete. Stay tuned.

April, 2009 - PlanLab redesigns Simcoe County Farm Fresh website, with custom Google map interface
"We wanted a simple user interface where we could administer our membership ourselves." This was one of the design requirements of Simcoe County Farm Fresh (SCFF), a marketing association representing farmers and food producers in the Simcoe region. With our associates at BadMath, we created drag-and-drop Google mapping and edit-in-place administrative tools to support SCFF in updating their site. "We have received a lot of compliments from our members on the new site, and I really like the ease of doing everything in one place and the way of plotting a farm on the map", said Sandra Trainor at the launching of their new site.

March, 2009 - PlanLab completes bioregional mapping training and atlas with Algonquin Communities
As a project of the Algonquin Nation Secretariat, PlanLab completed training in bioregional mapping with the Algonquins of Barriere Lake, Timiskaming and Wolf Lake First Nations. The training culminated into the creation of a Fish Atlas, a management tool to support the Algonquins in fisheries management and habitat restoration activities.

January, 2009 - Planlab partners with the Algonquin Nation Secretariat to launch web-based Algonquin Consultation Tracking System (ACTS)
Having a centralized storage and retrieval system to manage consultations is a fundamental aspect of good government. PlanLab, with their associates at BadMath, created a web-based consultation tool to allow local decision makers to access communications and correspondences relating to consultation requests from industry and government. The tool sends notifications to the desktops of the leadership, assisting in the timely follow-ups and reporting.

Completed Projects

2011
Mi'gmawei Mawiomi Secretariat consultation tools and tracking system
Mapping and GPS training workshop with Pic River's Youth Development Camp
Consultation procedures workshop and blueprint with Pic River First Nation
Phase II landuse planning workshop with the Nunavik Marine Region Planning Commission
Mapping and data support to the Algonquin comprehensive and specific claims research
A report with Ryerson University on natural heritage asset integration in cultural planning
Data familiarization workshop with the Mississaugas Of Scugog Island First Nation
Internal Consultation Procedures Blueprint with Wolf Lake First Nation
GIS Needs Assessment with the Grand Council Treaty #3

2010
Natural Heritage asset mapping workshop, Belleville, Ontario
Land use planning workshop with the Nunavik Planning Commission
Data audit of Algonquin cultural maps
Mikisew Cree First Nation use and occupancy data processing
Ecotrust Australia, new programs - scoping and evaluation
Scugog Island First Nation GIS needs assessment and consultation capacity development
CIER good practices guidebook to Aboriginal GIS
Pic River First Nation sensitive areas mapping workshops
Pic River First Nation Mouth of the Pic visioning workshops

2009
Algonquin Nation Secretariat shoreline inventory tool development and training
Timiskaming First Nation consultation capacity workshop
Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade community mapping prospectus
Algonquin Nation Secretariat bioregional mapping training and construction of Fish Atlas
Algonquin Nation Secretariat web-based consultation tracking system
Simcoe County Farm Fresh website redesign and custom Google Map application

2008
Pic River First Nation Alienation Study and consultation framework
Makivik Corporation Land Use Plan Review
Pinehouse Village Use and Occupancy Mapping
Alliance for a Better Georgina Asset Mapping Website and Google Map application
Wolf Lake First Nation mapping support for protected areas negotiations
Maiyoo Keyoh needs assessment for cultural asset management system
Algonquin Nation Secretariat information management and mapping capacity programme

2007
Doig River First Nation Land Selection
Nunavut Planning Commission / GeoPraxis & Tobias use and cccupancy mapping
Pic Mobert First Nation with Brian Kelsey, use and occupancy mapping
Algonquin Nation Secretariat mapping and information management user needs assessment
Wolf Lake First Nation canoe route mapping
Pic River First Nation analysis to support consultation review

2002-2006
Simcoe County Farm Fresh website and custom Google Map application
Nature Conservancy of Canada report on First Nation conservation transactions
Kawartha Heritage Conservancy bioregional atlas mapping
Toronto Bay Initiative Campaign of Discovery and Google Map application
Doig River First Nation / GeoPraxis & Tobias use and occupancy mapping
Social and Enterprise Development Innovations (SEDI) community asset mapping
Pic River First Nation / GeoPraxis & Tobias use and occupancy mapping
Maiyoo Keyoh & Tobias use and occupancy mapping
Human Resources Development Canada asset mapping guidebook

“ In this sensibility, a map can be seen as the culmination of a process of exploration, discovery, meaning-making and story-telling—what Carruthers has called, a campaign of discovery.“

from Nina-Marie Lister's Map-Making as Place-Making: Building Social Capital for Urban Sustainability, 2008