Local participation and partnership development in Canada's Arctic research: challenges and opportunities in an age of empowerment and self-determination

Abstract

An important component of northern research in Canada has been a strong emphasis on local participation. However, the policy and permit landscape for community participation therein is heterogeneous and presents specific challenges in promoting effective partnerships between researchers and local participants. We conducted a survey of northern research stakeholders across Canada in order better to understand the benefits and challenges associated with research partnerships with a view to informing northern research policy and practice. We found that local engagement at the proposal and research design phases, the hiring of community researchers and engagement of local persons at the results dissemination phase were important factors affecting success. Respondents also indicated a lack of social capital (trust and reciprocity) between researchers and communities as placing a negative impact on science partnerships. Overall, researchers were perceived to benefit more from research partnerships than their community counterparts. Partnerships in northern research will possibly require further decentralisation of power to achieve the policy objectives of local community participation. This could be achieved, in part, by allowing non-academic principal investigators to receive funding, or by involving communities in research priority-setting, proposal review and funding allocation processes.

Reciprocal Inuit and Western research training: facilitating research capacity and community agency in Arctic research partnerships

“…For many Indigenous people, control of the research agenda within their territory is a recent movement considered essential to Indigenous governance, self-determination and identity [6–8]. Early community–researcher engagement is also widely perceived as an important factor affecting positive research outcomes [9], including the inclusion of local knowledge and local uptake of research results [7], and for building trust between Inuit communities and researchers [4,8]. …”

“…Nevertheless, challenges exist for ensuring Arctic research equitably involves and benefits both local communities and academic researchers from elsewhere [5,9]. Many say “colonial research approaches” continue to be practised in the North [7, p.102], and communities remain generally perceived to receive less benefit from research than their academic counterparts [9].…”

“…Many say “colonial research approaches” continue to be practised in the North [7, p.102], and communities remain generally perceived to receive less benefit from research than their academic counterparts [9]. Research in which Indigenous people are excluded from research participation while remaining subjects of study often fails to positively affect the communities involved, while risking harm through the perpetuation of colonial values [10].…”

“…One widely acknowledged approach for encouraging trust and more equitable community–researcher partnerships in Inuit communities is the facilitation of employment among local researchers and research assistants [9,14]. Local personnel can bring considerable value to research projects given locals’ competencies and mastery of their own social, geographic and cultural environment.…”

“…In many cases, research training can be considered a metric of research success in itself. For example, in their recent survey of research-involved community members and researchers, Brunet and colleagues [9] found that respondents considered “training, new skills and professional growth for students and engaged locals” to be the most important perceived positive outcome of research partnerships. This finding was followed closely by “motivation, inspiration and empowerment for local partners”.…”