| Summary: | This thesis sheds new light on the growing role of First Nations in sustainable forest management. Through a qualitative and longitudinal approach, this thesis examines the evolution of collaboration between the indigenous Nehirowisiwok (Atikamekw Nation) and Quebec’ industrial and governmental actors in forest planning on Nitaskinan during the period 1990 to 2013. It aims to better understand the factors and conditions that influenced the evolution of collaborative forest governance. This thesis also aims to identify and characterize interrelations between the collaboration processes analyzed and others processes to determine how these relationships have influenced the development of collaborative efforts in time and space. During the study period, the Nehirowisiwok engaged in a myriad of approaches and initiatives related to forest planning. This study examines three distinct processes that took place at key stages during the period, analysing critical dimensions of each process. The results show that collaborative efforts were greatly influenced by a changing environment, particularly the revision of the forestry regime in the late 1990s, the Haïda and Taku River judgements in 2004 and the adoption of a new forestry regime in 2010. Importantly, although collaborative processes are distinct, the dimensions of these processes are intertwined. Changes in, or caused by, one process can have a “domino effect” on dimensions of the other collaborative processes. Finally, although most previous authors agree that collaboration is an emergent and dynamic process in time, the results indicate that these changes may be partial, rather than complete. This research highlights the interactions between the conditions for collaboration and the effects of this collaboration in the context of forest planning. Indeed, without the learning arising from previous collaborations, collaboration tends to deliver unsatisfactory results. This mostly happens when actors do not have a prior history of collaboration. Consequently, in ...
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