The Yukon Chapter welcomes Melanie Harding (RPP, MCIP) who will speak about her experiences in planning the Sahtú region of the NWT where planning, relationships with land and wildlife, land use, conservation, wildlife, and co-management intersect at the Ɂehdzo Got'ı̨nę Gots'ę́ Nákedı (Sahtu Renewable Resources Board). Melanie will share about the SRRB's Hı̨dó Gogha Sę́nę́gots’ıɂ́á (Planning for the Future) approach which works to center Indigenous knowledge and Dene and Métis approaches to planning, and how that is shifting the context of how planning is done and what planning can do in the face of so much change and uncertainty. Melanie's experiences working with First Nations, conservation planning, and regional planning offer a valuable perspective to Yukon planners. 

Melanie Harding is the Manager of Community Conservation Planning at the Ɂehdzo Got'ı̨nę Gots'ę́ Nákedı (Sahtu Renewable Resources Board). After 8 years living in the Sahtú, Melanie moved to Whitehorse in 2025, and continues to work for the SRRB.  Melanie was awarded the CIP Excellence in Planning Award (2018), and the CIP Emerging Planner Award (2024) for work she supported. She has spent time working in northern Ontario, B.C., and the Sahtú. She has two daughters, loves spending time near water, and is enjoying living in a "big" city after nearly a decade farther north!