Developing a Sustainability Indicators System to Measure the Well-being of Winnipeg’s First Nations Community

This preliminary report details the development of a sustainability indicators system designed to measure the well-being of the urban First Nations community in Winnipeg. A joint project between the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC), the initiative uses a bottom-up approach to identify key issues and baseline measures through community engagement forums, utilizing the traditional Medicine Wheel as a holistic framework.

• The project utilizes the traditional Medicine Wheel as its conceptual framework to ensure a holistic approach to well-being, recognizing that social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues are interconnected and should not be addressed in isolation.
• Community engagement was conducted through a series of grassroots forums at the Ralph Brown Community Centre, including a Meet & Greet on April 9, 2008, and two 'Feast & Forum' sessions on April 30 and June 4, 2008, to identify priority issues and measures.
• The community identified a wide array of critical issues impacting well-being, which were sorted into four domains: Environment (including security and housing), Economic (including governance and employment), Social (including health and education), and Culture (including cultural identity and community services).
• Participants proposed specific quantitative measures to track progress, such as the number of First Nations police officers and people in jail for security, home ownership and homelessness rates for housing, and the number of First Nations people speaking native languages for cultural identity.
• The report recommends that the project move beyond the establishment of baseline indicators to develop a shared community vision for the future and build local capacity to maintain and manage the indicator system.
• Community members expressed a strong need for better coordination of services and communications to reduce duplication and improve awareness of available resources, noting that many organizations are unaware of each other's activities.
• There is a perceived disconnection between urban First Nations residents and their leadership, with participants noting that those living in cities lack the same engagement opportunities with leadership that exist on reserves.

APA

Rust, C. (2008). Developing a Sustainability Indicators System to Measure the Well-being of Winnipeg’s First Nations Community. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/amc_dev_indicators_wpg.pdf

Chicago

Rust, Christa. Developing a Sustainability Indicators System to Measure the Well-being of Winnipeg’s First Nations Community. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2008. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/amc_dev_indicators_wpg.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Rust |first1=Christa |title=Developing a Sustainability Indicators System to Measure the Well-being of Winnipeg’s First Nations Community |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=July 2008 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/amc_dev_indicators_wpg.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rust2008developing, author = {Rust, Christa}, title = {{Developing a Sustainability Indicators System to Measure the Well-being of Winnipeg’s First Nations Community}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2008}, month = jul, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/amc_dev_indicators_wpg.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }