Inuit knowledge and environmental assessment in Nunavut, Canada

Abstract

Related climatic, socioeconomic and political pressures act on socio-ecological systems and drive change. Co-management boards such as the Nunavut impact review board (NIRB) in Canada’s north are linked, multi-level institutions that attempt to involve aboriginal stakeholders in decision making and collaborative learning through the application of traditional knowledge (TK), among other things. This case study describes the process of collecting and applying TK in the review phase of regulatory environmental impact assessment (EA) in Nunavut. Through a review of documentation from the Meadowbank EA, currently the only operating gold mine in the region, the type of knowledge collected and how it is applied to inform impact prediction, planning, design and monitoring are described. The results show TK in the form of factual observations, and past and current uses of land are most useful and complement modern science. Strategies for management, ethics, values and spiritual relationships are not directly applicable to project impacts, yet these facets of TK can be communicated experientially to project proponents through the EA process that is lengthy and encourages face to face contact with local stakeholders. Multi-level governing boards provide a forum for dialogue to combine TK and modern scientific principles—a good example for a broader science of sustainability. The cumulative impacts of ever more complex projects pose a challenge to the accuracy of traditional knowledge applied to EA.