Pr. Pln (SA), MPh Env Mngt, BURPL

Adina Israel (she/her) is the founder and principal at Confluence Lab, a planning spatial and environmental planning practice working to affect positive spatial change in rural and urban areas by breaking down silos to re(connect) people to land, place and each other. Adina comes from a multicultural background: Romanian-born, raised in Israel, grew up as an immigrant settler in Canada and set some roots in South Africa. She has a true appreciation and curiosity for all cultures and landscapes. Adina is an environmental and urban planner focused on working with communities and organizations to balance multiple land uses while supporting community and Indigenous-led conservation.

Adina has worked across Canada and abroad, across the public, private and NGO sectors, applying an environmental sustainability and equity lens to a variety of local and regional projects. These include land use strategies, natural resource planning, open space network planning, public investment frameworks, municipal and provincial policy development, qualitative and quantitative analysis, participatory mapping and cartographic design.

Adina is passionate about analyzing and understanding the complexity of rural systems and looks for opportunities to use integrative techniques such as participatory mapping, the integration of traditional and Indigenous knowledge and science, and multifunctional landscapes. Adina aspires to use mapping and co-design to weave as many voices into a practical and actionable strategy. Adina holds a Master of Philosophy in Environmental Management from the University of Cape Town.

M.Sc., B.Sc.

Lara (she/her) has resided in the Northwest Territories for over twelve years after studying arctic ecology and environmental science at Trent University. Her love of northern, rural and remote comes from her mother’s ancestral roots of Karelia, a Finnish speaking region now partly in Russia and Finland, a heritage deeply connected to the seasons, forests and vast number of lakes. Growing up on a small farm in the Ottawa Valley, Lara spent the majority of her summers exploring her woods and many creeks. She was inspired to enroll in Trent University where she earned an undergraduate degree in Biology and Environmental Science and a Masters of Science, focussed on arctic ecology and plant communities. Lara was a member of Trent’s varsity Rowing Team and Nordic Ski team.

After graduating from Trent University, Lara felt the draw of the north and moved to Sǫ̀mba K'è (Yellowknife) on Chief Drygeese Territory in Treaty 8, in 2011, where she has since resided with her young family. Over the last twelve years, Lara has worked across many sectors such as the private sector, an environmental non-governmental (ENGO) organization and with the territorial government since 2015. Lara brings over a decade of professional northern, rural and remote environmental experience where she has worked on infrastructure projects providing wildlife and wildlife habitat technical advice from both the developer and intervener perspective. As a policy analyst specializing in protected and conservation areas, she was involved in furthering the establishment of northern Indigenous protected areas projects across the NWT. When not at work, Lara can be found collecting plants, painting and walking in the woods with her young children and giant Samoyed dog, at their off-grid cabin in Northern Canada.

BURPL

Ciara (she/her) recently completed her Bachelor of Urban and Regional Planning from Toronto Metropolitan Universityand is a Pre-Candidate Member of the Canadian Institute of Planners and the Planning Institute of British Columbia.  She lives gratefully on W̱SÁNEĆ and Lək̓ʷəŋən lands with her two teenage children, as a single parent.  Ciara is a member of 1Up Victoria Single Parent Resource Centre and has volunteered with the ‘Mom and Mentor’ program for four years.  Yoga is an important part of her life, and she is a member of both the Iyengar Yoga Association of Canada and the Iyengar Yoga Centre of Victoria, where she is  apprenticing to become a teacher.   Ciara has dedicated decades to her meditation, yoga and contemplative writing practices; she values being in and sharing with community and has facilitated numerous workshops and classes with the intention of creating spaces of safety and belonging where people feel seen and heard.