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

The report details a joint project between the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) and the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) to develop culturally specific sustainability indicators for Winnipeg's First Nations population. Using a bottom-up approach, the project engaged the community through a series of forums to identify key issues and propose measures of well-being. The framework is based on the traditional Medicine Wheel, organizing well-being into four domains: environment, economic, social, and cultural. The report identifies critical community concerns—including housing, employment, health, and cultural identity—and recommends continuing the project to develop a future vision and improving the coordination of services and communications for urban First Nations people.

• The project utilizes a framework based on the traditional Medicine Wheel to ensure a holistic approach to well-being, recognizing that social, cultural, economic, and environmental relationships are interconnected.
• Community engagement through 'Feast & Forum' sessions identified a wide array of issues impacting well-being, which were sorted into four domains: Environment (e.g., security, housing), Economic (e.g., governance, employment), Social (e.g., health, education), and Culture (e.g., cultural identity, community services).
• The community proposed specific quantitative measures to track progress, such as the number of First Nations people who own homes, the number of First Nations teachers, and the number of people speaking native languages.
• Participants highlighted a significant disconnection between urban First Nations people and their leadership, noting that those living in urban environments lack the same engagement opportunities as those on reserves.
• The report recommends improving the coordination of communications and services to address the duplication of services and the lack of awareness among organizations regarding existing programs.
• There is a strong community desire for the project to move beyond a static report toward a long-term, manageable indicator system that helps the community set goals and monitor progress toward a shared vision for the future.

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} }