Involvement of local Indigenous peoples in Arctic research — expectations, needs and challenges perceived by early career researchers

Abstract

Rapid changes in the natural and social environments of the Arctic region have led to increased scientific presence across the Arctic. Simultaneously, the importance of involving local Indigenous peoples in research activities is increasingly recognized for several reasons, including knowledge sharing and sustainable development. This study explores Arctic early career researchers’ (ECRs) perceptions on involving local Indigenous peoples in their research. The results, based on 108 online survey respondents from 22 countries, show that ECRs value the knowledge of local Indigenous peoples and generally wish to extend the involvement of this group in their research. ECRs in North America and in the social sciences have more experience working with Indigenous communities and value it more than researchers in the Nordic area and in the natural sciences. Respondents cited more funding, networking opportunities, and time as the main needs for increasing collaborations. The results of this study are helpful for developing strategies to build good relationships between scientists and Indigenous peoples and for increasing the involvement of Arctic Indigenous peoples in science and engagement of their knowledge systems. The complementary views from Arctic Indigenous peoples are, however, needed for a full understanding of how to effectively achieve this.

Highlighting the potential of peer-led workshops in training early-career researchers for conducting research with Indigenous communities

“…Fewer participants stated that they had previous experience working in northern research in 2017 compared to 2016 (33% had worked in northern research in 2017 vs. 53% in 2016). In a recent study, female ECRs rated their knowledge of Indigenous peoples more highly and found more benefits in involving Indigenous peoples in their research than their male counterparts (Sjöberg et al 2019). These trends may have contributed to the predominance of female natural scientists at our workshops.…”

“…In a 2014 survey of Arctic ECRs from 22 countries, the majority of respondents reported wanting to involve more Indigenous peoples in their research, yet only half felt that they had the basic knowledge to do so. In the same survey, natural scientists rated their knowledge on conducting research with northern Indigenous communities much lower than social scientists (Sjöberg et al 2019). Opportunities do currently exist for Canadian researchers (including ECRs) who want to develop skills for working with Indigenous communities, including massive online courses and courses on research ethics, such as the Carleton University Institute on the Ethics of Research with Indigenous peoples.…”

Our practice of outreach during the Ice Monitoring project in Nunavik: an early-career researcher perspective

“…Early-career researchers-including graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and early-career faculty-in the natural sciences typically feel less equipped to conduct research with northern communities than their colleagues in the social sciences (Sjöberg et al 2019), and we were no exception. To improve our research practice, we relied on mentorship (as described earlier) and on Indigenous recommendations (Asselin and Basile 2012; NCAI 2012; Smith 2012; INQ 2017; ITK 2018).…”

Is A Common Goal A False Hope in Convergence Research?: Opportunities and Challenges of International Convergence Research to Address Arctic Change

“…One shortcoming we have identified is that we did not engage stakeholders and Arctic communities directly in the development of research questions related to the ASIAQ goals—rather focusing on outreach—which likely would have made our research more participatory and more meaningful for solving real‐world issues (English et al., 2018). Indigenous voices—and even non‐Indigenous northern voices—are often lost in the conversation about the Arctic once the interests of the Arctic nations are involved (Nilsson & Christensen, 2019), a problem a growing number of Arctic Early Career Researchers is aware of (Sjöberg et al., 2018). Involving stakeholders and communities ensures that solutions to what constitutes a real‐world issue in the Arctic come from the interest of Arctic peoples.…”