Increasing levels of industrial growth in Northwest BC has resulted in a heightened and growing need to consider the cumulative environmental, social and economic outcomes of development. The efforts to take a more integrated approach to assessing, managing and monitoring cumulative effects raise not only scientific, but also important governance and institutional questions. Christine Slanz, a first year PhD (Natural Resources and Environmental Studies) student at UNBC, will discuss the complexity of identifying and managing cumulative effects, and provide some background on the processes and paths forward for managing cumulative impacts. As part of her PhD research, Christine will be exploring best practices from around the world to identify and evaluate the principles and strategies in collaborative decision making that could be used within a Northwest BC context.