Course:LFS350/Projects/2014W1/T2/Proposal

Version Control

The need to amend and change the project charter will inevitably be present. These changes should be well communicated between all project stakeholders and documented with a version control chart. An example version control chart follows.

Version	Author	Role	Changes	Date
2.0	All members (Follow-up: Silvia & Mei)	Silvia and Mei will ensure that all components of the charter are completed and the appropriate changes are made to reflect the most updated information.	Revised version	November 1, 2014
1.0	All members (Follow-up: Silvia & Mei)	Silvia and Mei will ensure that all components of the charter are completed.	Initial version	October 4, 2014

Project Background (__ / 10)

Gambier Island is located in Howe Sound in the Salish Sea. The island is the largest of the four in the area and covers approximately 25 square miles. There are 125 residents year-round, but that number fluctuates during the summer months. The Gambier Community Centre is the only public facility on the island. Gambier Island can be publicly accessed from Vancouver by water taxis leaving from Granville Island or Horseshoe Bay (Gambier Island, 2014).

On Gambier Island is the Gambier Island Sea Ranch (GISR), which is a 330 acre plot run by a strata community of 66 owners. The non-profit farm is run by two farm managers, Sharon and Jock, who are responsible for managing the farm year-round. Each spring, community members request how many chickens, pigs, sheep or turkeys they would like. An appropriate amount of each is purchased and brought to the farm by barge. They are raised there over the summer and slaughtered in the fall on site or in Chilliwack. The meat is then purchased by community members equivalent to market price. Laying hens live there year round and provide eggs that can be purchased for $5 a dozen. In addition, there is a community garden with plots for purchase at $10 a box (R. Boutler, personal communication, September 28, 2014). The GISR farm is a sustainable community food system that was created to provide a source of sustainable and ethically produced meat and produce. Animal welfare is also a significant component on the GISR farm and a large effort is ensuring the animals are raised ethically to better their quality of life. (Lund, V., 2006) Other members of the Gambier Island community dedicate their own time in maintenance of the farm and processing of the animals. As a collaborative effort, this sustainable system promotes food sovereignty, which is defined as "the right of peoples to healthy and culturally appropriate food produced through ecologically sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their own food and agriculture systems" In addition, to a sustainable farm, the farm is environmentally friendly using solar and hydro power with additional diesel or gas generators as needed.

Other structures on the property include 58 cottages, animal shelters, barns, seven fenced fields, and 66 lots. The ranch houses a variety of animals such as free range chicken, sheep, pigs, and turkeys. However, many of the animals have experienced at least one predator attack by animals such as: pine martens, wolves, cougars, bears, eagles, minks, and raccoons. In most recent months, the GISR farm manager Jock believes a pine marten has been breaking into the broiler chickens' run and taking chickens out. Only approximately 23 out of 99 chicken remained after multiple pine marten attacks (B. Katz, personal communication, September 28, 2014). Many steps have been taken in attempt to resolve this issue, including the use of electric fencing installed around the pigs to deter predators and purchasing new peacocks and peahens to help protect the layers. In addition, Muscovy ducks were introduced to protect chickens, however, the eagle took them almost immediately. Furthermore, a grid of wires run with flagging tape attached over the chicken/turkey run to deter eagles. This has proven to be successful in keeping eagles away from the laying hens.

If unaddressed, these predator attacks could greatly impact the economic success of the farm and cause less food to be available for the farm owners (Bevan et al., 2002). Because the land owners rely on the farm to produce food in a sustainable matter for themselves, the predators could be detrimental to a food secure environment within the GISR boundaries. Food availability, a pillar of food security, is having “sufficient quantities of food available on a consistent basis”(WHO, 2014). With many of the animals they raise being preyed on, the GISR runs the risk of localized food insecurity. As GISR invests and depends on the food being produced at this farm, a predator control plan can help them maintain a sustainable community food system and a food secure community.

Additionally, this research could be used by other Gulf Island communities hoping to raise animals. One specific farm on Pender Island has documented similar issues with multiple predators attacking their chickens and poultry in 2010. In all, the goal of this project is to develop a predator control plan, which can be used by the GISR to protect their farm animals and produce, promote a food secure and food sovereign community and help other farmers facing related issues.

Stakeholder Summary (__ /5)

Name, Role & Organization	Responsibilities
Student Team Members: Natalia Alvarez Veronika Bylicki Christine Chen Mei Ho Joelle Jacobsen Silvia Low Elizabeth Yu Denise Zhang	Charter: Silvia, Mei Research: Christine, Denise, Natalia Systems Model: Joelle Contact with Rosalie: Veronika, Joelle Progress Reports: Elizabeth Create project documents required to gather information (All Members) Lead and manage project team and inform Community Partner during all phases of project (All Members) Work collectively with Community Partner to propose anti-predator plan (All Members) Charter Revision: Project Background: Joelle, Mei, Elizabeth Methods: Natalia, Veronika Research: Christine, Denise, Natalie (All members responsible for assisting with finding research articles) Updating Charter (Communication Plan, Deliverables, Milestones): Silvia, Elizabeth
Community Partner: Gambier Island Sea Ranch (Rosalie)	Sign off on Charter & Plan Sign off on changes to Charter or Plan Introduce the GISR and its existing/previous systems Provide guidance to ensure adequacy of proposed solutions with consideration of their farm, budget and schedule Provide a list of possible GISR Community Service Opportunities Work collectively with students to develop anti-predator plan(s)
Farm Owners 66 residents own a share of the farm land	Contribute equal shares to purchase farm animals Contribute options and personal perspectives on changes to the farm Contribute maintenance and labour to farm
Gambier Island Sea Ranch Council	Have executive meetings for general sea ranch related matter Executive decisions on finances, and infrastructure improvement

Purpose and Research Question (__ / 20)

Purpose:

The purpose and goal of this project is to provide two effective approaches to control predator activity on the Gambier Island Sea Ranch and outline the benefits and consequences of these approaches. We have decided to focus our predator control solutions on the broiler chickens due to the increased attacks on them in recent months. However, our proposed solutions will address multiple predator species, such as pine martens, eagles, and mink, as they all prey on the chicken.

Our proposed solutions will not only address the predator activity on Gambier Island Sea Ranch but will also be:

• Respectful, ie. our solutions will not collide with the interests of other communities.

• Ethical, ie. predators will not simply be killed.

• Economical, ie. stay within our budget

• Lawful, ie. does not break BC Wildlife laws and Island Trust bylaws.

Research Question:

What are two methods to control predator activity towards the broiler chickens around the Gambier Island Sea Ranch?
Are these methods:

• Beneficial to the animals
• Beneficial to the ranch and residents of the island
• Lawful

Methods (__ / 20)

Our methods of research include the following:

Mixed Methods:
Consists of qualitative and quantitative data Will help us understand the research problem thoroughly and integrate information from scholarly sources and contextual information from site visits and community partners Can be general and detailed Will help us consider other perspectives and communities such as the indigenous people of the island, conservation groups, island trust, etc.
Analysis:
Using the results of other studies combined with the contextual characteristics of GISR, determine which two anti-predator methods are most likely to be successful on GISR Things to Consider: Animals that are most affected Budget Location of fields, rivers, frees, availability of fences & infrastructure at GISR Farm owners’ values and desires
Quantitative:
Research will be done via online resources and databases, key interviews with stake holders and participant observations of GISR Example research questions: What is the size of the farm? What is the size of the fenced infrastructure protecting the chicken, turkeys and broilers? How many animals are still there (ratio/percentage of before and after their budget for this predator plan? How many people are affected by the predation (do all permanent residents buy food from this farm as they are their major resource?) Advantages: Find current trends of farm animal populations Objective perspective: team members are able to provide an unbiased opinion on the farm practices and functioning based upon research instead of personal investment in the farm Facts will most likely be valid and reliable - provides further insight on whether the proposed solution is effective/ineffective Statistics and facts can be more easily obtained through research and direct questionnaires Disadvantages: Generalization of a population (the residents) - difficult to please many people with different perspectives Disregards smaller communities that may be affected by our actions - not addressing how changes will impact the broader community
Qualitative:
Research will be done primarily through key interviews with stakeholders and participant observations of GISR Example interview questions: How have other predator plan strategies worked in the past? How does the Islands Trust affects their farm? What policies and bylaws should we consider when devising our plans/strategies? How many people and how often are they working on the farm? Who works on the farm? What can we use to transport materials to the island? What are BC’s wildlife laws regarding predator control? Advantages: Can help us understand the complexity of the problem Be able to draw relationships between systems Can obtain information tailored to our issue at hand Can ask questions tailored to our research question Disadvantages: Could be time consuming interviewing a number of individuals May be difficult to find appropriate individuals to interview

Deliverables (__ / 5)

Systems Diagram	Prezi System boundary Level up, level down
Project Proposal Presentation	October 1, 2014 Powerpoint Overview of project Receive feedback
Final Presentation	November 26, 2014 Powerpoint Brief overview of project Final predator control plans Collaboration with community partner
Final Report	December 3, 2014 Executive summary Detailed overview Final anti-predator approaches Partner and stakeholder review

We will first use Prezi to outline the Gambier Island Sea Ranch's system boundary and the different levels of interaction within and beyond the system boundary. The initial project proposal will be presented to the class on October 1, 2014 and will introduce our project background, research question, methods of research, and personal thoughts about the project. Feedback from our initial presentation will be used to revise and improve our proposal. Once the research is completed, we will deliver a final presentation to the class on November 26, 2014 that will provide more detailed descriptions of our research question, research process, collaboration with our community partner, and the final predator control plans. Lastly, we will deliver a written final report on December 3, 2014 that will include an executive summary, detailed description of the issue and research questions, overview of our methods of research, and our findings. Our final anti-predator approaches will be supported by detailed pros and cons and these approaches will be sent to our partners and stakeholders for review.

Success Factors/Criteria (__ / 10)

Our success for our project will be determined by our research that will produce a report that is agreed upon by both parties, and that will provide the Gambier Island Sea Ranch decision-makers with strategies and methods to address the issue at hand. We feel that this matches the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, time-bound) criteria as we will be consulting and in conversation with our community partner to ensure that the strategies we propose are plausible. It is also time bound because of the time frame of our project and course. The community partner can then implement these strategies on the ranch and will be maintained by the onsite farm manager.

---

The overall success of the project can be determined by the implementation of the proposed Predator Control Plan. However, the Gambier Island Sea Ranch council must first approve the project and create a budget, which typically takes place at the end of year. Therefore, this success factor is time bound and we will not be able measure the success of our project based on whether the plan will be implemented. We will continue communication with GISR into the new year to follow up on the implementation of the predator control plans.

---

Along the way, we will measure success by achieving steps that will help us succeed in creating a report that will be agreed upon by both parties. For example, we celebrated our success of working together to create a proposal presentation that we are proud of.

Scope Change

Any scope change will be agreed upon, approved and signed by all stakeholders. This charter will be revised with version controls that are listed at the beginning of this charter.

Communication Plan (__ / 5)

Action Item	Deliverable	Dates	Accountable
Weekly Updates	Progress Report on Google Doc (bullet points)	Wednesdays	Elizabeth accountable; will send weekly updates to all student members. (Stakeholder requested for no updates)
Technical Meeting Attendance with group (in person where possible)	Progress Report on Google Doc	Weekly	All student members
First Meeting Attendance with Community Partner (in person)	Progress Report via Google Doc. Pictures	September 28, 2014	Christine, Denise, Elizabeth, Joelle, Mei, Natalia
Project Proposal Presentation to TA and Break Out Room Members	Powerpoint Presentation and Verbal Communication	October 1, 2014	All student members
Submit first draft of project proposal to TA	TA will check this page Receive feedback and ask for advice on how to improve project proposal through e-mail	October 4, 2014	All student members
Second Meeting Attendance with Community Partner (in person)	Progress Report via Google Doc. Pictures	October 26, 2014	Natalie, Veronika, Silvia
Submit the finalized Project Proposal to TA	TA will check this page Receive feedback from TA and request advice on how to enhance our project further	November 1, 2014	Elizabeth (on behalf of all student members)
Sharing the updated Systems Diagram and finalized Project Proposal to community partner (Rosalie)	Links will be sent through e-mail Request feedback for changes needed for our predator plan research and final report	November 1, 2014	Joelle (on behalf of all student members)
Contact community partner (Rosalie) to answer any questions and give/receive updates	Project Specific Information through E-mail	Ongoing	LFS 350 group 2 and community partner (Rosalie) to provide information in a timely manner and to provide prior and reasonable notice of dates when they will be unavailable
Contact our TA to answer any questions and for clarification	Email	Ongoing	All student members
Research sharing to student members	Google Drive and Facebook	Ongoing	All student members
Final Presentation to TA and Break Out Room Members	Powerpoint Presentation and Verbal Communication	November 26, 2014	All student members
Final Report	Hardcopy to TA and e-mail copy to community partner (Rosalie) Receive feedback from community partner to see if it has met our success factors Receive feedback from TA and community partner for opportunities for improvement	December 3, 2014	Mei or Joelle (on behalf of all student members)

Milestones (__ / 5)

Milestone	Event or Deliverable	Target Date	Responsibility
Milestone 1	First Team Meeting (sent our first email to Rosalie)	September 17, 2014	All student members
Milestone 2	Establish a Skype meeting date with Rosalie (send in draft of food systems model and charter prior to Skype meeting)	September 23, 2014	All student members
Milestone 3	Skype meeting with Rosalie. Discussed further background information	September 24, 2014	All student members
Milestone 4	Establish visit date(s) with Community Partner	September 24, 2014	All student members
Milestone 5	First visit to the Gambier Island Sea Ranch	September 28, 2014	Christine, Denise, Elizabeth, Joelle, Mei, Natalia
Milestone 6	Team Meeting (prepare for project proposal presentation)	October 1, 2014	Veronika, Elizabeth, Denise, Joelle, Christine, Mei, Silvia
Milestone 7	Present Project Proposal	October 1, 2014	Veronika, Elizabeth, Denise, Joelle, Christine, Mei, Silvia, (Natalia excused)
Milestone 8	Complete First Draft of Charter	October 4, 2014	All student members
Milestone 9	Team meeting and debriefing (revising our charter and proposal) Redefining our roles and responsibilities in the project Evaluating the best methods for predator control and going forward with research for the methods Proposing group timeline to ensure that revision and research is completed in a timely manner	October 15, 2014	All student members
Milestone 10	Team meeting for finalizing the project proposal Defined roles for all student members and divided up project proposal sections Narrowed down predator plans to using llamas as guard animals or changing the location of broiler chicken shelter Brainstorm strategies to connect our anti-predator plan with the global food system	October 22, 2014	All student members
Milestone 11	Second visit to the Gambier Island Sea Ranch Evaluate farm layout and field size Photodocument current and potential fields	October 26, 2014	Silvia, Veronika
Milestone 12	Team meeting for final revision of project proposal Discussed how GISR fits within the land and food system Discussed three potential predator control plan methods Assign groups to research further predator control plan method	October 29, 2014	All student members
Milestone 13	E-mail Rosalie Sent her the link to our revised project proposal Asked her question regarding a new potential chicken location	October 29, 2014	Joelle (on behalf of all student members)
Milestone 14	Revision of Charter & Proposal	November 1, 2014	All student members

Approvals (__ / 5)

The following individuals hereby approve this Project Charter:

Role or Title	Name and Signature	Date
Rosalie Boulter Coaching, ORSCC Leadership / Relationship Systems / Change Management	Rosalie Boulter	September 28, 2014
Student members	Christine, Denise, Elizabeth, Joelle, Mei, Natalia, Silvia, Veronika	October 4, 2014

References (__ / 5)

In-text citations and references should follow APA guidelines.

Writing Quality (__ / 10)

For a proposal report to receive full writing quality marks, it should be well organized and easy to read. It should address all of the topics articulated in the assignment details above, and it should be free of grammar, punctuation, and spelling mistakes.