CPCIL Past and Future History
Both professional development among federal, provincial, and territorial park agencies and collaborative research about parks and protected areas took root in the 1960s. While each area of work has grown through decades of courses, working groups, conferences, summits, and research project, the recent development of the Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership has blossomed into an interface between research and practice.
Created in 2018 by a multi-party collaboration of park agencies and academic collaborators, CPCIL has since connected with other agencies and institutions with mutual interests related to effective and equitable park leadership. Parks Canada supported the development of the CPCIL Parks and Protected Areas Research Network and the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership offers guidance for working with Indigenous conservation leaders in ethical space.
In the future, the Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership will thrive through more cooperation within the parks system, more collaboration among the broader protected and conserved areas community, more integration of research with practice, and more effort to weave together different worldviews and knowledge systems.
The Collective Timeline
While CPCIL was only formed in 2018, the values of the collective came from decades of professional, academic, and inclusion-focused initiatives that are still evolving today. The CPCIL community gratefully acknowledges those who have guided this history and the many knowledge holders, practitioners and curious youth who are guiding us now.
Canadian Parks Council
Canadian Parks Council (CPC)
Hinton Park Managers Training Program
Parks for Tomorrow Conference
Nelson, James Gordon. & Scace, Robert C. & University of Calgary. & National and Provincial Parks Association of Canada. (1969). The Canadian national parks: today and tomorrow. Proceedings of a conference organized by the National and Provincial Parks Association of Canada and the University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, October 9th-15th, 1968.
Parks for Tomorrow II & III Conference
CPC Park System Leadership Course
40th Anniversary Parks for Tomorrow Conference
Full Proceedings are available on line at the linked URL (https://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/100012)
CPC Youth Engagement Working Group
Parks For All
• PROMOTE social equity, diversity, and inclusion in staffing and leadership across the parks community
• ESTABLISH practical, robust, and accessible platforms for sharing and supporting information about parks, with options for sharing all forms of traditional knowledge.
• DEVELOP a National Centre of Excellence in park management, in which the parks community can convene to share knowledge and best practices and deliver training.
CPC Professional & Personal Development Working Group
Final Park System Leadership Course: Doing Better Together
Pathway to Target One
• We Rise Together - Report of the Indigenous Circle of Experts
• One With Nature - A Renewed Approach to Land and Freshwater Conservation in Canada
• Canada's Conservation Vision - A Report of the National Advisory Panel
Canadian Parks Conference (Banff)
Parks and Knowledge Mobilization
CPC Call for Proposals for Professional Development
Canadian Parks Collective for Innovation and Leadership
The first Leadership Development Program of CPCIL was held in fall, 2018 in the Rocky Mountains. As of 2021, over 100 mid-career leaders and nearly twenty young professionals have participated in the revitalized program.
Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership
A key objective of CPCIL leadership development is to ensure parks and protected areas leaders are aware of the Conservation Through Reconciliation Partnership and can look to it for guidance.
Canadian Parks Conference II (Québec City)
CPCIL played a supporting role by bringing transformative learning approaches to the conference planning process and hosted the closing plenary panel of non-park perspectives ("unusual suspects") who reflected the conference messages back to attendees.
CPCIL Pan Canadian Parks and Protected Areas Research Network
Knowledge Gatherers Program
CPCIL Pan Canadian Parks and Protected Areas Research Summit
Future Directions
As we approach the renewal of the Partnering Agreement, it is clear that the CPCIL platform offers value to leaders beyond federal, provincial, and territorial park agencies. The Collective can benefit protected and conserved areas, landscape-level conservation, and partners in community conservation.
It is also clear that the success of CPCIL will depend on braiding Western natural and social sciences with Indigenous conservation leadership and local, professional knowledge.