National Action Plan on Open Government Commitment

C01.1.3 - Climate Change and Sustainable Growth

Commitment:
Climate Change and Sustainable Growth
Milestone:
Through the Open Science and Data Platform make information related to cumulative effects, including climate change and sustainable growth, easier for people in Canada to find and understand
Indicator:
C01.1.3 - Engage with governments, Indigenous Peoples, and external groups (e.g. industry, environmental non – government organizations) to verify that cumulative effects are better understood, new content is identified (data, publications) and overall use of the platform is increased
Lead Organization:
Natural Resources Canada
Deadline:
By 2023
Summit for Democracy:
No

Updates

2024-09
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

OSDP has engaged extensively this past quarter with different levels of government, Indigenous Peoples and external groups to support better understanding of cumulative effects and to identify new content. User analytics reveal a doubling in usership of the platform over the past 6 months to over 40,000 returning users, and a steady increase since the public launch of the platform in 2021.
Federal-provincial-territorial and even municipal governments are increasingly called upon to work together to advance regulatory efficiency in support of clean growth. By bringing together otherwise disparate data and information and making it accessible to planners, project proponents, decision-makers and the public, including Indigenous communities, the OSDP is a powerful tool for facilitating all regulatory stages, for enabling meaningful consultation and for supporting evidence-based decision making. The role of OSDP in regulatory efficiency was presented recently to all levels of government at various fora, including Northern Review Boards meetings, Impact Assessment Federal Authority Director General Leadership Committee, the federal Assistant Deputy Minister Impact Assessment Committee, Ontario Association of Impact Assessment, Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador committees, just to name a few.
As part of the Terrestrial Cumulative Effects Initiative (TCEI) State of Knowledge work, the OSDP is conducting in-person tailored workshops in Fall 2024 with 46 Indigenous communities in six watershed regions in British Columbia and Alberta. The TCEI is an accommodation measure for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion designed to support of Indigenous-led cumulative effects studies and to support knowledge sharing and capacity building. More updates and lessons learned to come in the next reporting cycle.

Challenges:

Key challenges continue to revolve around prioritization of content onboarding, technical efforts to make enhancements to related to the functionality of the Platform, and engagement and outreach efforts, all of which are equally important. It is also a challenge to find the right balance between supporting existing priorities and adapting to new priorities (e.g., climate change, clean growth, regulatory efficiency) in an evolving landscape that requires proactive and strategic planning across diverse teams involved in the OSDP.

2024-06
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

Engagements this quarter have focused on presenting the OSDP to various audiences as a tool to inform impact assessment, regulatory efficiency, and the understanding and evaluation of cumulative effects, engaging with contributor organizations to discuss the onboarding of new content, and engaging with users to inform enhancements to better meet user needs.
The OSDP has been featured prominently as part of the Terrestrial Cumulative Effects Initiative State of Knowledge work in support of Indigenous-led cumulative effects studies in six watershed regions in British Columbia and Alberta under the TCEI accommodation measure for the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project. The OSDP was presented in the Initiative-wide meeting on June 5 to Indigenous partners where the content collections recently enhanced to support TCEI were presented. Planning is underway for TCEI-specific OSDP training for interested Indigenous partners, tentatively planned for fall 2024, where OSDP team members will travel to communities to offer in-person, tailored training to support knowledge sharing and capacity building in support. More updates to come in the next reporting cycle.
The OSDP User Experience (UX) Hackathon in partnership with Dalhousie University concluded in May with presentations focused on unique use-cases for OSDP and related recommendations for how to improve the UX of the Platform.
The OSDP was presented at the International Association of Impact Assessment Conference (IAIA) in Dublin, Ireland in April 2024 where NRCan presented the Platform as a key tool to support the Impact Assessment process during a session on open data for evidence-based decision making.
The OSDP was also presented to the Regional Assessment committees for the Regional Assessment of Offshore Wind in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador as a resource for data to support the assessments.

2024-03
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

This past quarter we have focused on presenting the OSDP to various audiences as a tool to inform cumulative effects and impact assessment, onboarding of new content with contributor organizations, and gathering user feedback. A key focus of engagement efforts the past two quarters has been the User Needs Assessment, undertaken to understand the content and technical needs of existing and potential OSDP users working in the fields of impact assessment and cumulative effects assessment. Interviews concluded in January 2024 with a total of 26 interviews completed with individuals from across the federal government, private sector and industry, Indigenous organizations, academia, and ENGOs. Efforts are now focused on analyzing the feedback from interviews alongside enhancement ideas, taking into consideration technical feasibility, implementation timelines, and value to users. The end goal of the User Needs Assessment is to inform evidence-based enhancements to the OSDP including its content offerings and functionality to improve overall use and user experience.

Other engagements this quarter included workshops in support of the Terrestrial Cumulative Effects Initiative (TCEI) State of Knowledge Toolkit. This work is led by Environment and Climate Change Canada and Fisheries and Oceans Canada with support from Natural Resources Canada. The OSDP has been featured in the State of Knowledge Toolkit as a resource to support Indigenous-led cumulative effects studies under the TCEI and the team has supported various engagements with communities throughout Alberta and British Columbia throughout February and March 2024.

The User Experience (UX) Hackathon being lead in partnership with Dalhousie University was commenced in March and will conclude in May 2024 and is a virtual event that aims to bring together scientists, researchers, academics, postgraduate students, high school students, government figures, general members of the public, non-profit organizations, and Indigenous communities across Canada to interact with publications and datasets available through the OSDP. Participants will share their experiences of navigating the OSDP and provide creative insights that will help inform improvements to the user experience of the platform.

2023-12
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

Noteworthy OSDP engagements last quarter included two conferences and several User Needs Assessment interviews. Co-leads at Environment and Climate Change Canada represented OSDP on a panel at the Forward 50 Conference in Ottawa and NRCan presented OSDP at the Cumulative Effects Assessment and Environmental Management Eastern Canada Conference in Halifax.
The User Needs Assessment is an engagement exercise created to understand the content and technical needs of potential OSDP users in the fields of impact assessment and cumulative effects assessment. The outcome of this assessment will inform future enhancements to the OSDP including its content offerings and functionality in the interest of improving overall use and user experience. To date, 27 individuals have been interviewed from across the federal government, private sector and industry, Indigenous organizations, academia, and ENGOs. Analysis of the results from the User Needs Assessment is currently underway, with final presentation of results planned by end of fiscal year 2023.

2023-09
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

In November the OSDP team will present at two conferences, namely the Forward 50 Conference in Ottawa and the Cumulative Effects Assessment and Environmental Management Eastern Canada Conference in Halifax.

Planning is also underway for a User Needs Assessment which will engage OSDP user groups to survey overall user experience of the platform, content requirements and technical needs. The outcome of this assessment will inform future enhancements to the OSDP in the interest of improving overall usability and user friendliness.

2023-06
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

In May, the OSDP team attended and presented at the Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects “Sharing Knowledge to Take Action” Conference. Co-leads from NRCan and ECCC presented an overview and demonstration of the OSDP in a concurrent workshop session at the conference.
In May the OSDP team attended the TBS-led implementation meeting with Multi-Stakeholder Forum (MSF) members to provide an update on the progress toward milestones under the Climate Change Sustainable Growth theme.
Planning is underway for a User Needs Assessment which will engage OSDP user groups to survey overall user experience of the platform, content requirements and technical needs. The outcome of this assessment will inform future enhancements to the OSDP in the interest of improving overall usability and user friendliness.
The social media campaign for Release 7 (launched in January) has continued throughout this last quarter to promote new OSDP content and features, including the addition of a new homepage Web gallery: In the Spotlight (Top 4 content and/or news items), as well as the addition of 'May 2023' What's new gallery section, including an article on the Northern Ontario curated content collection.

Evidence:

Cumulative Effects in Northern Ontario article] (https://osdp-psdo.canada.ca/en/resources-understand-cumulative-effects-northern-ontario)

[LinkedIn post highlighting Canada Energy Regulator BERDI data accessible via OSDP] (https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7059953668598427648)

2023-03
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

Engagement activities in the previous quarter included presentations and demonstrations of the OSDP to various key user groups, including government partners, Indigenous groups, and external partners. Presentations and demonstrations of OSDP focused mainly on Release 7 new content and functional enhancements, including the presentation to the interdepartmental Cumulative Effects Assistant Deputy Ministers meeting, and the NRCan-hosted Knowledge Sharing Series, attended by members of the scientific community within and outside of NRCan (including ECCC, DFO). An update on the Northern Ontario content collection was provided to the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada during the Federal Authority on the Regional Assessment in the Ring of Fire meeting to highlight the new collection as a tool to support the ongoing work within the region. An in-person presentation was delivered at the Impact Assessment Ontario Region Open House in Toronto in March to provide an overview of OSDP as a tool for impact assessment and cumulative effects.

A widescale social media campaign was launched February 6th running through end of April 2023 to promote the new content, tools and features of Release 7 of the OSDP. The campaign utilized Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

2022-12
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

Engagement activities in the previous quarter included presentations and demonstrations of the OSDP to various key user groups, including government partners, Indigenous groups, and academia. In October graduate students at Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies were engaged in a presentation and interactive demonstration of the OSDP in an in-person session followed by a collection of feedback from the students. Indigenous groups with membership under the Terrestrial Cumulative Effects Initiative (TCEI) were engaged through the TCEI Knowledge Sharing Workshop hosted by ECCC’s TCEI team in November, where a presentation and demonstration of OSDP followed by a discussion session. OSDP’s interdepartmental Advisory Working Group on Content was engaged in a November meeting where updates to the OSDP were presented and discussed. NRCan provided an update on our progress toward our milestone in November to TBS at the 5th National Action Plan meeting government meeting with Multi-Stakeholder Forum and Implicated Departments. Follow up with Multi-Stakeholder Forum members to discuss OSDP further are planned for the new year. Planning for engagement with the Indigenous Centre for Cumulative Effects is planned for next quarter, as is social media planning to promote the new content and features of OSDP that will be publicly available when Release 7 launched January 17, 2023.

2022-09
Status:
Substantial progress
Evidence of progress:

The Open Science and Data Platform team collaborated with a wide range of partners to obtain advice and feedback to guide content onboarding and enhancements, which included a Government Advisory Working Group on the Platform, Indigenous organizations, academia, non-government environmental and industry organizations. A user experience survey was developed and made available through the Platform between January and April 2022 to guide future enhancements and user experience, and to confirm the value and utility of the Platform for improving understanding and access to information related to cumulative effects, climate change and sustainable growth. There were a total of 52 respondents, 11 of whom participated in one-on-one follow up interviews to glean further insight from the perspective of user experience. Interview participants included students and academics, public servants, and interested citizens. Results from the survey continue to be used to inform user analytics and enhancements to the platform’s content. A second user survey was launched in May 2022 which continues to receive responses, which will be reported on in the third quarter.
Ongoing engagements continue to identify new federal, provincial, and territorial data and content providers, currently numbering 16 federal, seven provincial and one territorial with data currently accessible through the Platform, and increasing over time. Release 6 of the OSDP launched publicly in May 2022 included 100+ new provincial datasets from Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, and 34 new datasets from Natural Resources Canada, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and Transport Canada. Collaborations with Indigenous organizations were commenced to explore Indigenous perspectives and knowledge, as well as ways to make this information openly accessible while respecting key principles including ownership, control, access and possession. Web analytic results indicate the use of the Platform is increasing over time with over 11,000 visitors in total since the public launch of the Platform in March 2021. There were a total of 215 downloads of cumulative effects records (data and publications) and 208 returning visitors, and 178 downloads and 161 returning visitors in the first and second quarters of 2022, respectively.

Engagement activities that occurred in this quarter included demonstrations of the Open Science and Data Platform to parties internal and external to government, including Indigenous groups. Demonstrations of the Platform were also offered to NRCan’s new Chief Science Advisor and Chief Scientist in June and September, respectively. A social media campaign was held between June 30 and August 10, 2022, to highlight the Platform’s new features and content. The campaign included 66 posts, earning a total of 132,000 impressions, 690 reactions, 157 shares and 2112 link clicks. User analytics for this quarter saw a total of 179 downloads of cumulative effects records (data and publications), 76 new users, and 533 returning users.