We have put together this kit of information to provide practical assistance to community policy
makers and those who assist them (policy analysts, etc.) in development of Knowledge Translation (KT) policy. The specific focus is on health related knowledge translation.
The toolkit has been developed for use at the First Nation, Inuit or Métis community level, understanding that regional, provincial/territorial and national organizations may provide assistance to communities. These organizations may also need KT policy to guide their internal knowledge processes as well as their support of the grassroots communities.
The request for this information came from the KT Summit hosted in March 2006 by the Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre (IPHRC) and other organizations in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Summit provided an opportunity for researchers, community members and organizational representatives from Canada and the international community to gather to discuss KT as it affects Indigenous people. The dialogue throughout the four day summit and the discussions held with a small group during the last day informed this toolkit. The call from the participants at the summit was to provide practical assistance to communities planning to develop policy to guide their decisions about knowledge development, translation and use in and with their communities.
Seeing Indigenous and non-Indigenous knowledge and ways of translating knowledge fully respected, side-by-side, in knowledge translation processes is also a desired outcome of KT policy processes.
