A national conversation: exploring interest in a national urban research network
On September 17 2024, Environment and Climate Change Canada hosted a national virtual meeting. The aim was to bring diverse stakeholders and rightsholders together to explore interest in building a national urban research network to support nature in Canadian municipalities.
The urban research network could enable:
- Connections across sectors. Bringing together urban researchers from across sectors, including all levels of government, academia, non-for-profit organizations, municipal practitioners and decision-makers, educators and youth groups.
- An “interdisciplinary” approach. Sharing knowledge and assembling expertise from across related disciplines of urban ecology and biodiversity, human health and well-being and climate research, with a focus on social justice.
- A diverse knowledge base. Weaving together of Indigenous and Western knowledge systems and enabling co-production of knowledge to strengthen evidence-based action and broaden our understanding of our interactions and connections with nature.
- Research mobilization and implementation. Moving research beyond journal publications to guide action at the local level, and having research informed by on-the-ground needs.
An inclusive meeting design
To enable relationship building and knowledge exchange across sectors, the meeting followed a very inclusive and dynamic format.
Find out more about the meeting design in our What We Heard report.
A productive conversation!
Approximately 260 people from coast to coast to coast and across sectors, interests and groups joined our session. A post-meeting survey was also issued to gain additional feedback.
Participants shared many valuable insights on network building, current challenges and opportunities, as well as lessons learned and best practices at the national meeting and within the post-meeting survey.
- Key takeaways are captured in our National meeting Executive Summary.
- For a more in-depth look at the meeting conversations and post-meeting survey results, see our full What We Heard report.