Drone Stewardship Program

The Course

Indigenous communities and organizations in British Columbia are invited to apply for the first program to offer comprehensive training in the theory, set up and application of drones with an Indigenous community context! Students will be provided with a foundational understanding of management through experiential learning, ground school, and applied learning. This course is offered in partnership with Flytbox Aerial Solutions to prepare students for the Transport Canada Small Basic RPAS exam. In addition, students will receive their Restricted Radio Operator Certificate with an Aeronautical qualification (ROC-A).

We are pleased to share that upon successful completion of the Drone Stewardship Training, six Regional Hosts (Indigenous Nations, communities or organizations) will be provided with a professional-level drone for ongoing operation.

Who can apply?

The Technology Council is accepting applications from Regional Hosts across B.C. who will nominate two Regional Representatives to attend this pilot training program. Regional Hosts can be Indigenous Nations, communities or Indigenous-led organizations. Regional Representatives are Indigenous staff or community members who already have a basic understanding of technology.

Regional Hosts: Apply here

Regional Representatives: Apply here

For a full list of Regional Host and Regional Representative eligibility criteria,

download our program information package.

Training Details

Dates:

January 20 – February 7, 2020

Application Deadline:

November 22, 2019

Location:

TBA

Time commitment:

Three weeks, 9AM – 3PM Monday – Friday

Cohort size:

12 students

Costs:

Tuition and certification costs are funded by the Technology Council. Additional funding for travel and accommodation expenses are available upon application.

Meet your instructor

Pano Skrivanos has been working with Indigenous communities for many years as Senior Manager of the GIS and Information Management Program at Inlailawatash Limited Partnership. He provides expertise in the areas of land use planning, forestry, surveying, marine conservation, archaeology, wildlife habitat analysis, and forest carbon. Pano also specializes in land use and occupancy research, and more recently, optical and LiDAR mapping using drones. Pano has a BSc. in Geography from the University of Victoria, an Advanced Diploma in Geographic Information Systems from British Columbia Institute of Technology, and an MSc. in Forestry from the University of British Columbia.

Pano says, “The course is going to be really interesting. I mean drones are interesting. These are machines that fly around and can do really cool stuff. It’s going to be a really good opportunity. It’s going to open up doors for people to do all kinds of neat stuff in their communities.”

Pano’s great-grandmother is from Tia’amin Nation.

What you’ll be learning

Week 1

Rules and Regulations

Week 2

Transport Canada Exams

Week 3

Hands-On Piloting