Practices, events, and effects: Improving causal analysis with the geographic information from cultural mapping in Canada

Abstract

Most questions that environmental impact assessments (EIAs) aim to answer are not statistical but seek to understand the interactions between proposed projects and valued components representing local environments. Assessing causality provides critical insights into the potential impacts of project proposals, informing decisionmaking processes aimed at sustainable development. However, despite wellestablished causal analysis techniques in EIAs, these procedures are rarely adapted to incorporate the unique traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and circumstances of Indigenous peoples. This paper modifies the stepped matrix by integrating TEK with geographic qualities from cultural mapping studies to enhance causal analyses involving events of cultural practices and project proposals. The modified procedures employ both theoretical and empirical approaches, accounting for the historical and contemporary contexts of Indigenous peoples, the spatiotemporal traits of their cultural practices, and the challenges of cultural mapping. The results demonstrate that the TEK-modified stepped matrix improves causal analysis by identifying sub-patterns, differences in geographic scales, interdependencies of cultural events, and causal networks, while refining the understandings of potential direct and indirect project-related effects, cumulative effects, and the efficacy of mitigation measures.