Ninth International Conference on Permafrost ... - IARC Research

Human Experience of Cryospheric Change in Nunavut, Canada:Preliminary FindingsNancy DoubledayCarleton University, Ottawa, CanadaShawn DonaldsonCarleton University, Ottawa, CanadaTatiana VlasovaRussian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, RussiaAnita KushwahaCarleton University, Ottawa, CanadaMorgan IpCarleton University, Ottawa, CanadaThere is a significant consensus within both scientific andnorthern communities: dramatic change is occurring in theArctic (e.g., ACIA 2005, Hinzman 2005, Duerden 2004) andthe transformation of the cryosphere itself provides a criticalfocal point for research contributing to our understandingof health and well-being. Despite debates about the relativeimportance of drivers of change (e.g., Zalasiewicz et al.2008), the occurrence of environmental change, bothgradual and rapid, is not at issue (although many elements oflandscape processes and impacts still require further study).The necessity of adaptation at all scales of both humanorganization and landscape dynamics is not in disputeeither. However, in moving forward from identificationof processes of environmental change to definition ofimpacts, then to development of strategies for mitigationand adaptation, we enter stormy and contested regions.Why? Because integration of physical and social scienceperspectives, along with those of actors who engage locally,regionally, nationally, and internationally with realities of achanging cryosphere, is necessary in order to build effectivepolicy and to set priorities for mitigation and for adaptation.In reaching for multiparty consensus on actions, we facelimitations of knowledge, of knowledge interoperability,and of decision-making processes; as well as potentiallyconflicting goals and objectives, priorities, and visions. Lackof agreement and cooperation can affect both capacities forcommunication and adaptation as well as resources availablefor mitigation. Standard approaches to decision-making inthe south and the north see government agencies consultingwith stakeholder representatives, usually at a point after anissue has been defined and after measures available to addressit have already been scoped, but before a final decision istaken. This process is also a reflection of past practice withrespect to knowledge creation, and assumes that communityand other “local” interests are farther removed from expertknowledge. Here, by positioning local or traditionalknowledge as complementary source, in conjunction withsocial and physical sciences in current research, we arebuilding transdisciplinary knowledge (Wilcox 2008) as astarting point for multiparty consensus around environmentalchange in Nunavut, Canada, and for inclusive strategies formitigation and adaptation, emphasizing local communitiesand their concerns.Preliminary findingsPractically, we integrate physical and social science ofnorthern environmental change by situating our research atthe nexus of environment, health, and well-being, as framedby northerners themselves, in a series of specific studiesconstructed to include both research and design elements inmethods of enquiry. We report briefly on five related studiescurrently under investigation: (1) food choice among womenand men, and thus impacting health and well-being; (2) localperceptions and understanding of ecological changes linkedto a changing cryosphere through investigation of spatialand temporal variation in observations of plants and asinterpreted from photographs; (3) design choices in arcticarchitecture as represented by a healing centre, directlycontributing to health and well-being; (4) integration of datafrom these substudies, and refinement of mixed methods foradvancing transdisciplinary work, as steps in the iterativeresearch process; and (5) development of protocols modeledon Canadian standards for ethical and just research involvinghumans that yield both point-in-time images (“snapshots”) ofsocial, environmental, and economic conditions, as well asin-depth profiles at selected sites. The purpose of this researchis to understand adaptation, mitigation, and communityresilience, in the face of cryospheric environmental change,using mixed methods to achieve social-ecological systemsintegration.In Nunavut, Canada, we are documenting food choiceamong women and men. Previously, Donaldson investigatedfactors influencing food choice, and Kushwaha documentedInuit traditional knowledge of the effects of environmentalchange on sea ice and ringed seal. Results here indicatedthat multiple factors are involved both in food choices andin traveling and hunting decisions. We note that uncertaintyplays a larger role: for example, the thickness, extent, andstability of sea ice in the Cape Dorset area have changedin recent years, making it increasingly difficult to traveland hunt; and weather patterns have also changed. Whilehunters report ringed seals in the surrounding area to be65