SIPex: A Knowledge Hub for Innovative Silviculture in BC
Provincial knowledge hub on innovative silviculture launches, the Silviculture Innovation Program Exchange (SIPex)
(Smithers, BC) – The Silviculture Innovation Program (SIP) is thrilled to announce the official launch of the SIPex (or SIP exchange), an online knowledge hub designed to improve access to knowledge on innovative silviculture in British Columbia.
Across the province, foresters are increasingly tasked with managing forests for multiple and sometimes competing values. Innovative silviculture, the approach of using diverse tools to manage forests as complex adaptive systems, is at the heart of this work. Yet, a recent survey found that nearly 65% of forest practitioners could not easily find the information they needed to effectively manage for multiple values.
“The SIPex was built in direct response to what we heard from practitioners,” says Alana Clason, the Research Lead with the SIP. “It’s a practical open-access portal that helps make knowledge easier to find, share, and apply in the field.”
The SIPex is thoughtfully designed to be: practitioner-driven; respectful of multiple forms of knowledge; adaptable; transparent; durable and accessible. Designed as an intentional knowledge “exchange,” it will grow and evolve as the needs of forest practitioners change and shape it.
The SIPex has four key features: 1) A Resource Library, 2) Featured Topics, 3) A Community Directory and 4) Training and Education Opportunities. The resource library hosts a curated and searchable collection of academic articles, case studies, best practices, technical reports and tools. The Featured Topics section presents and translates knowledge on varying topics in multiple different formats to suit diverse learning styles. The Community Directory offers ways to engage directly with peers through Communities of Practice and a list of experts with different areas of expertise. And, finally, the Training and Education page presents a curated set of evergreen training opportunities to further develop skills for innovative silviculture.
The idea for a knowledge hub was first initiated at the SIP Knowledge Summit in March 2024, where forest practitioners identified “access to knowledge” as one of the greatest barriers to implementing innovative silviculture. Over the next 16 months, the SIP team worked diligently to make that vision come to life, including the testing of a beta version in the Spring of 2025, and incorporating feedback from focus groups, advisors, and experts.
“Developed in just under a year and a half, the SIPex reflects what can happen when practitioners, researchers and knowledge holders come together,” says Clason.
The SIPex is now fully live and ready to support practitioners across the province.
Explore the SIP today at sipexchangebc.com.
Media Contacts:
Gillian Chow-Fraser, sip.extension@bvcentre.ca
Alana Clason, Alana.clason@bvcentre.ca