PARTNER NATION

Skeetchestn Natural Resources Corporation

PROJECT TYPE

Data Sharing & External Relationships

STATUS

In Progress

Project Overview

Skeetchestn Natural Resources (SNRC) is improving how natural resource data are organized, stored, and shared.

The project includes restructuring datasets, improving file systems, and developing data sharing agreements and guidance for external partners.

This supports more consistent data use across projects and strengthens how information is shared with others.

"Once [a Nation] has really good data sharing agreements and they understand what all the clauses mean... what does this mean for the community... then when you go and have conversations with people, you know what you're advocating for and the reasoning why."

— SNR Team Member

Case Study Highlights

  • SNR shifted from reactive data storage to an intentional system, standardizing naming conventions, strengthening digital field forms, and reorganizing storage to make data easier to find and use.

  • SNR established secure processes for transferring and preserving data, including secure transfer of large datasets and approaches to long-term storage and sharing with external partners.

  • SNR and the BC RIGC co-developed Nation-defined Data Sharing Agreement templates for different partnership contexts, helping reduce the burden of starting agreements from scratch and allowing SNR to proactively set terms with external partners.

  • The project developed practical guidance for external relationships, including a Respectful Relationship Guide and Data Transfer Guidelines that communicate Skeetchestn’s expectations for data sovereignty, file structure, naming conventions, and documentation.

  • SNR can now request environmental monitoring data directly from external partners, review raw datasets alongside its own monitoring data, and contribute its analysis to conversations about Skeetchestn Territory.

The outcome of the project will put Skeetchestn in control of their data, address the need to allow data to "speak to each other" across years and projects, and introduce systems that would outlast staff turnover and project-specific funding so that knowledge was not lost or fragmented.

"So in 10 years, somebody can go do that exact same study again and compare it and see how our watersheds [are] different."

— SNR Team Member