Developing a Sustainable and Inclusive Northern Knowledge Ecosystem in Canada

Gary N Wilson

doi:10.3390/su13169213

Abstract

A knowledge ecosystem is a collection of individuals and organizations who are involved in the creation, management and dissemination of knowledge, both in the form of research and lived experience and teaching. As is the case with ecosystems more generally, they thrive on variation and diversity, not only in the types of individuals and organizations involved but also in the roles that they play. For many decades, the northern knowledge ecosystem in Canada was dominated and controlled by Western scholarly approaches and researchers based in academic institutions outside the North. More recently, this research landscape has started to change, largely in response to the efforts of Indigenous peoples and northerners to realize greater self-determination and self-government. Not only have these changes led to the development of research and educational capacity in the North, but they have also changed the way that academic researchers engage in the research process. The keys to maintaining the future sustainability and health of the northern knowledge ecosystem will be encouraging diversity and balance in the research methodologies and approaches used to generate knowledge about the North and ensuring that the needs and priorities of northern and Indigenous peoples are recognized and addressed in the research process.

Highlights

IntroductionIn March 2018, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national association for Inuit in Canada, released the National Inuit Strategy on Research, a policy document that outlines a vision for the future of research in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland in Canada [1]
Sustainability 2021, 13, 9213. https://In March 2018, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national association for Inuit in Canada, released the National Inuit Strategy on Research, a policy document that outlines a vision for the future of research in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland in Canada [1].It presents Inuit priorities for research conducted in their territories, including greaterInuit oversight and control over research funding and projects and the information generated by those projects, so that research benefits Inuit communities and regions
The northern knowledge ecosystem in Canada is an incredibly complex and organic entity that has evolved over time to include many different actors

Summary

Introduction

In March 2018, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the national association for Inuit in Canada, released the National Inuit Strategy on Research, a policy document that outlines a vision for the future of research in Inuit Nunangat, the Inuit homeland in Canada [1]. Sustainability 2021, 13, 9213 in particular, Indigenous northerners to exercise greater control over research conducted in the North These trends are happening in Canada, but across the circumpolar north. As a non-Indigenous scholar at a small, northern post-secondary institution, my perspectives on the northern knowledge ecosystem in Canada have been shaped by my experiences living and working in the Canadian provincial north and travelling throughout the Canadian Arctic and circumpolar north. They have been informed by my research on Indigenous self-governance and politics in the Canadian and circumpolar north and by my involvement in several northern research and education associations. Part two examines the opportunities and challenges confronting the northern knowledge ecosystem and speculates about the ways in which it could evolve in the future

Northern Knowledge Ecosystem in Canada

The Evolving Northern Knowledge Ecosystem

Conclusions