METHODS AND ETHICS IN ARCTIC TRANSFORMATIVE RESEARCH

Arctic research has seen growing interest in co-creative and collaborative approaches in recent years. Awareness about the harms of past and present practices and the need to decolonize institutions and methods and to Indigenize research has increased. Experience has been gained in bringing together different forms of knowledge systems and expertise, illustrating clearly that co-creative projects can produce better results with greater societal relevance. 

Still, research carried out on Indigenous lands often continues to benefit primarily researchers coming from outside the Arctic (ITK, 2018). Institutional and other barriers hinder Indigenous-led and co-creative research, and Indigenous Knowledge is regularly misrepresented as ‘non-scientific’ and misunderstood in research processes (Pfeifer, 2017; Wheeler et al., 2020). Research questions and funding agendas continue to be defined outside the Arctic, dismissing the fact that Indigenous peoples are the original stewards of and hold immense knowledge about Arctic lands, waters, and ecosystems.

To ensure that exploitative research practices will be overcome, and research relationships are improved, it is necessary to address the ‘how to’ of co-creative research: How can meaningful and trustful collaboration be achieved across academic disciplines? How can we address data sovereignty? How can research relationships be maintained during times without funding? How do funding schemes need to change to enable co-creation? What does co-creation mean from Indigenous perspectives? ...

We invite researchers from all disciplines, Indigenous rights holders, policy makers, activists, and others with an interest in Arctic research and research ethics to discuss these and other questions at this virtual, 2-day workshop.

• For more information, please see the workshop website
• If you would like to participate in this workshop, please send an e-mail to vilena [dot] valeeva [at] iass-potsdam [dot] de (vilena[dot]valeeva[at]iass-potsdam[dot]de) before November 19. (More information about different ways to get involved are also available on the workshop website).

Objectives:

• To critically reflect on the state of current debate and practice
• To share and discuss positive and negative experiences
• To identify issues that require further attention
• To establish connections and relationships for future collaboration

Logistics:

• Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the workshop will be held online. Access information will be sent to participants.
• The main languages of the workshop will be English and Russian. We explicitly welcome participants speaking other languages. Please let us know if you require translation support.
• To enable mutual learning in an online format, we may need to restrict the number of participants.

Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami [ITK]. (2018). National Inuit strategy on research. https://www.itk.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/ITK-National-Inuit-Strate… [Accessed 23 July 2021].

Pfeifer, P. (2018). “From the credibility gap to capacity building: An Inuit critique of Canadian Arctic research.” Northern Public Affairs. Available at: http://www.northernpublicaffairs.ca/index/volume-6-issue-1/from-the-credibility-gap-to-capacity-building-an-inuit-critique-of-canadian-arctic-research/ [Accessed 22 July 2021].

Wheeler, H., Danielsen, F., Fidel, M., Hausner, V., Horstkotte, T., Johnson, N., Lee, O., Mukherjee, N., Amos, A., Ahsthorn, H., Ballari, O., Behe, C., Breton-Honeyman, K., Retter, G., Buschman, V., Jakobsen, P., Johnson, F., Lyberth, B., Parrot, J., Pogodaev, M., Sulyandziga, R., Vronski, N. (2020). “The need for transformative changes in the use of Indigenous knowledge along with science for environmental decision-making in the Arctic.” People and Nature 2: 544-556.