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Fire With Fire

Initiative Overview

Location:

Samson Cree, Piikani, Kainai, and Dene Tha' First Nations, Alberta, Canada

Duration:

3 years (2019 - 2021)

Major Supporters:

Natural Resources Canada, Government of Alberta, Canadian Mountain Network, Calgary Foundation

Fire with Fire is a multi-year, multi-partner initiative aimed at building capacity for climate adaptation by braiding Indigenous, local, and scientific knowledge. Building understanding hinges on having access to the best available knowledge irrespective of its origin.

The goals of Fire with Fire are to:

  • Develop and deliver workshops with participating Indigenous communities.
  • Mobilize best available Indigenous and scientific knowledge by using the participatory video method.
  • Hold knowledge-sharing workshops to improve local climate change adaptation responses.
  • Establish respectful knowledge co-production between Indigenous, local, scientific and decision-making communities.

Outcomes of the First Multi-Partner Workshop

There are numerous opportunities to scale-up this initiative by engaging with supporters to sponsor the multi-partner workshops. For interested supporters, please contact admin@resilienceinstitute.ca

Keeping the Fire Burning Webinar Series

Keeping the Fire Burning Webinar #1: Climate Change from a Regional and Global Perspective:

Keeping the Fire Burning Webinar #2: Indigenous Perspectives on Climate Change:

Indigenous Peoples Relationship with Fire: national and global experiences

Ethical Considerations and Guidance for Ethical Participatory Video Practice – Webinar 4

Prescribed Burning in Canada – Part 1 – Webinar 5

Prescribed Burning in Canada – Part 2: Fire Management in the Mountain National Parks – Webinar 6

Sara Walsh, PhD

Board Member

Dr. Sara Walsh is a disaster risk reduction and climate resilience specialist with more than 15 years of experience spanning Canada, Nepal, the Middle East, and North Africa. Until November 2025, she served as Thematic Lead for Climate and Resilience with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), where she supported Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to strengthen their climate and risk reduction work across the region. Sara currently works as a freelance consultant with the United Nations, governments, and humanitarian organizations on recovery, risk governance, and community-based resilience. She teaches at a Canadian university and holds a PhD in Disaster Risk Reduction. Her work emphasizes anticipatory action, equity, and bridging research with practice to shape more resilient and sustainable futures.

Alison Criscitiello

Board Member

Ice core scientist and high-altitude mountaineer Alison Criscitiello explores the history of climate and sea ice in polar and high-alpine regions using ice core chemistry. Criscitiello’s work also focuses on environmental contaminant histories in ice cores from the Canadian high Arctic and the water towers of the Canadian Rockies. In 2010, she led the first all-women’s ascent of Lingsarmo, a 22,818-foot peak in the Indian Himalaya. Criscitiello has earned three American Alpine Club (AAC) climbing awards, the John Lauchlan and Mugs Stump alpine climbing awards, as well as the first Ph.D. in Glaciology ever conferred by MIT. Criscitiello is an Assistant Professor and the Director of the Canadian Ice Core Lab at the University of Alberta. She is the co-founder of Girls on Ice Canada.