Off-grid energy sustainability in Nunatukavut, Labrador: Centering Inuit voices on heat insecurity in diesel-powered communities

Mercer, Nicholas; Parker, Paul; Hudson, Amy; Martin, Debbie

doi:10.1016/j.erss.2019.101382

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Conversely, sustainable energies which were widely familiar to community-members, such as energy-efficiency applications deployed in people's homes, were widely accepted. This supports our earlier finding that decades of experience with existing diesel systems in off-grid communities and resultant familiarity drives community acceptance of the generation source [38]. As such, gauging initial community understandings of sustainable energies and providing information to address concerns is a compelling starting point for any potential development.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…Energy efficiency applications inverse this relationship, all but guaranteeing that community-members will save money, feel more comfortable in their homes, experience improved health outcomes, and be more energy secure. Efficiency improvements can reduce energy consumption, without posing major threats to the existing diesel-based system, which community-members have come to value and accept for its comfort, employment, and reliability [7,38]. In addition, efficiency applications help to steward the environment and are compatible with Inuit ways of being.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(3) relative reliability in harsh northern climates; and (4) the resilience that diesel plant operators help to foster in their communities [38]. The results of McDowell were slightly more negative.…”

Section: A Brief Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The uncertain ability of communities to support sustainable energy installation and maintenance creates reluctance [7,41]. Existing studies agree that Indigenous off-grid communities are not widely opposed to diesel-generation [7,38,39]. McDonald and Pearce examined Inuit perspectives of off-grid energy systems in Nunavut, and demonstrated a "reluctant acceptance of diesel by communities" [7], p. 101, which they attribute to the necessity of electricity for survival in harsh northern climates and a lack of reliable alternatives.…”

Section: A Brief Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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“That’s Our Traditional Way as Indigenous Peoples”: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Community Support of Sustainable Energies in NunatuKavut, Labrador

et al. 2020

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There is a substantial body of literature in North America regarding the social acceptance of renewable energies, particularly wind energy. However, limited research focuses on the experiences of Indigenous Peoples. Furthermore, several researchers have called for a rapid transition to renewable energies in Indigenous off-grid diesel powered communities in Canada, while limited research has considered local support for this transition, which neglects the Indigenous right of free, prior, and informed consent for developments on or which affect their territories. Working in partnership with nine Indigenous off-grid communities in southeast Labrador, we assess community-member perceptions and support of sustainable energies via hybrid interviews/surveys (n = 211) and key informant interviews (n = 11). Applying directed content analysis and participatory methodologies, we find that five primary themes influence Indigenous support for sustainable energies in southeast Labrador: (1) Community familiarity and understanding; (2) association with previous projects; (3) relationships with culture and sustenance; (4) endogeneity of resources; (5) energy security impacts. The themes should be viewed as a framework for understanding community support, not a definitive recipe for reaching consent. Applying these themes, we demonstrate broad community support for conventional renewables (wind, solar), reluctance towards emerging renewables (biomass, tidal, wave) and energy storage (pumped hydro, battery), and wide opposition for hydroelectricity and small modular nuclear. We demonstrate that energy efficiency applications maintain substantially higher support than most supply-side options. Supply-side sustainable energies have the potential to perpetuate the colonial or extractive nature of resource development in Indigenous communities, while energy efficiency applications more directly facilitate energy security and protect energy sovereignty.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Brief Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A Brief Review Of the Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

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“That’s Our Traditional Way as Indigenous Peoples”: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Community Support of Sustainable Energies in NunatuKavut, Labrador

et al. 2020

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“…Sustainability work in rural and remote Indigenous communities offers important contributions to the sustainability science knowledge base. Recent collaborative, community-based research in the area of renewable energy in Labrador, for example, demonstrates that the voice of Inuit and their active participation in decision making is an integral part of process and outcome, building on the strengths and knowledge of Inuit themselves while reinforcing their role as decision makers and experts on their lands [9]. Land-use planning in the Nunatsiavut region of Labrador offers further insight into Indigenous planning in Labrador and the North.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decolonizing Pathways to Sustainability: Lessons Learned from Three Inuit Communities in NunatuKavut, Canada

Hudson

Vodden

2020

Sustainability

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Community led planning is necessary for Inuit to self-determine on their lands and to ensure the preservation of cultural landscapes and the sustainability of social-ecological systems that they are a part of. The sustainability efforts of three Inuit communities in Labrador during a Community Governance and Sustainability Initiative were guided by a decolonized and strength-based planning framework, including the values of Inuit in this study. This paper demonstrates that Inuit led planning efforts can strengthen community sustainability planning interests and potential. We situate the experiences of NunatuKavut Inuit within, and contribute to, the existing body of scholarly decolonization and sustainability literature. For many Indigenous people, including Inuit, decolonization is connected to inherent rights to self-determination. The findings suggest that decolonizing efforts must be understood and actualized within an Indigenous led research and sustainability planning paradigm that facilitates autonomous decision making and that is place based. Further, this study illustrates five predominant results regarding Inuit in planning for community sustainability that support sustainable self-determination. These include: inter and cross community sharing; identification of community strengths; strengthened community capacity; re-connection to community and culture; and the possibility for identification of sustainability goals to begin implementation through community led governance and planning processes.

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Renewable energy and well-being in remote Indigenous communities of Canada: A panel analysis

Zapata

2024

Ecological Economics

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Off-grid energy sustainability in Nunatukavut, Labrador: Centering Inuit voices on heat insecurity in diesel-powered communities

Cited by 19 publications

References 36 publications

“That’s Our Traditional Way as Indigenous Peoples”: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Community Support of Sustainable Energies in NunatuKavut, Labrador

“That’s Our Traditional Way as Indigenous Peoples”: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Community Support of Sustainable Energies in NunatuKavut, Labrador

Decolonizing Pathways to Sustainability: Lessons Learned from Three Inuit Communities in NunatuKavut, Canada

Renewable energy and well-being in remote Indigenous communities of Canada: A panel analysis

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