Nature for All Project
Project Overview
Funded by a SSHRC Partnership Development Grant, the Nature for All project is housed at the University of Northern British Columbia and driven by a network of partners with a shared mission to enhance inclusivity and accessibility of nature-based tourism and recreation spaces.
Through an interdisciplinary partnership that involves the co-creation of new tools and knowledge, this project seeks to advance the collection of accessibility standards evidence and the mobilization of this evidence into policy, management practices, and infrastructure investments that promote a barrier free Canada. Key activities that activate this goal include:
- The production of a new open-source data collection tool and database platform to support collection, storage, analysis, and use of standards-based accessibility evidence.
- Deployment of new tools through fieldwork to assess the state of accessibility across the suite of nature-based tourism and recreation spaces housed across British Columbia.
- Collaborative dialogues that support efforts to mainstream an evidence-based approach to standards-based accessibility assessment within the management cultures and planning processes of agencies that enable access to nature-based tourism and recreation spaces.
Project Activities (Overall)
Project Knowledge Products
The Nature for All project includes a series of collaborative activities including technology development, dialogues across an engaged community of accessibility practice, and applied research and reporting. The project reports, demonstration videos, and academic outputs below articulate the vision and activities of the project.
See a collaborative dialogue and tool demonstration in action at Alice Lake Provincial Park
(Video produced by Spinal Cord Injury BC)
See the Nature for All team on the road completing collaborative fieldwork and accessibility audits.
(Video produced by Spinal Cord Injury BC)
– COMING SOON –
Learn how Nature for All approaches the process of co-creation in a report prepared from the first Nature for All project workshop.
Find out how an interdisciplinary group of conservation and accessibility specialists picture the future of accessibility in BC Parks.
Knowledge Resources
AccessBC Blog Posts
Community Partners
Project Research Team
Christopher Lemieux is an Associate Professor and John McMurray Chair in Environmental Geography at Wilfrid Laurier University in the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies. For more information, click here.
Don Carruthers Den Hoed is a Research Associate at the University of British Columbia and lead for the Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership. For more information, click here.
Jennifer Wigglesworth is an Assistant Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. For more information, click here.
Mark Groulx is an Associate Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia in the School of Planning and Sustainability and is the lead for the Nature for All project. For more information, click here.
Pamela Wright is a Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Management. For more information, click here.
Piper Jackson is an Assistant Professor in Computing Science at Thompson Rivers University. For more information, click here.
Shannon Freeman is an Associate Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia in the School of Nursing and Academic Director of the Centre for Technology Adoption for Aging in the North. For more information, click here.
Theresa Healy is Senior Lab Instructor in at the University of Northern British Columbia in the School of Planning and Sustainability. For more information, click here.
Waqar Haque is a Professor at the University of Northern British Columbia in the Department of Computer Science and School of Business and is the lead of the Business Intelligence Research Group. For more information, click here.