NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Tags: social sciences, climate change, community engagement, needs assessment, community-based research

Objective(s): To respond to a community-identified need in the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk to better understand the social, cultural, and economic impacts of climate change in the community. Gathering information on community values, priorities and needs is necessary to inform appropriate climate change adaptation strategies.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No.5341. The expected value of this project is to respond to a community-identified need in the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk to better understand the social, cultural, and economic impacts of climate change in the community. Gathering information on community values, priorities and needs is necessary to inform appropriate climate change adaptation strategies. his study aims to answer the following question: What are the cultural, economic, and social implications of these risks and how can they inform solutions for sustainable community-led adaptation and resilience? To answer this question, we are proposing three inter- related data collection procedures that will be realized over a three-year period: i) photovoice study with youth in high school; ii) in- depth interviews with community members and board representatives; and iii) community-wide survey. Priorities and values identified through the photovoice, and in-depth interviews will inform the development of the community-wide survey that will serve to identify shared priorities and values across the whole community. This REB application concerns methods and procedures related to conducting: i) photovoice and ii) in-depth interviews. Data collected this summer through these two methods will inform the development of the community-wide survey questionnaire. The research team will submit an amendment to the project when they are ready for data collection. An amendment will be submitted in year 2 of the project for the methods and procedure concerning iii) community-wide survey. The research team will use photovoice for mobilizing insights on youth perspectives on climate change. Photovoice is a “visual research methodology that puts cameras into participants’ hands to help them to document, reflect upon, and communicate issues of concern, while stimulating social change”. The intention of photovoice is to foster social change, by enhancing community engagement, increasing awareness of community resources, and foster self-efficacy among research participants. The objectives of the photovoice activity are to identify priorities and values of youth with regards to climate change. The data collection will unfold across different activities explained below. There will be learning opportunities for youth throughout this activity, which will see the involvement of the science, social science, English, and language teachers. The photovoice activity will take place at the school, in the community and on the land. Photographs will be taken in the community and on the land. The photovoice activity will take place over one week. Youth will be invited to present the results at a community meeting. Preparation and presentation at this meeting should not take more than one day . Different members of the team will conduct the data collection. Devalynn Pokiak, Morgen Bertheussen, and Kearney Coupland will lead the data collection, with support from Mylene Riva. Activity 1: Teaching photovoice as a method and exploring climate change and impacts on daily life. In this first activity, youth will learn about photovoice as a research method as well as the ethics of taking photographs. With the research assistants, youth will brainstorm different ways in which climate change can have an impact in their lives. Then, students will have a few days to take photos and to tour the community to take photos, deciding amongst themselves where they want to go and guiding the research assistants. Youth will also be encouraged to use old photos for topics that could not be captured during the excursion. While youth can take photos with their cameras (that will be printed), the team will also use instant film print cameras (like Polaroid®) to encourage participants to photograph what they considered most important. Time required for printing reduced the number of potential images youth could capture in the field and encouraged reflection. Youth will select a maximum of 5 photos to bring to group discussion. Activity 2: Putting it all Together- Presentation of Photographs and Finding Key Themes. In this activity, youth will present their photographs amongst themselves in a type of focus group and participate in data analysis, identifying key themes using post-it notes as a form of interactive thematic analysis as a group. Photos will be laid out on the floor or on a table for everyone to see. Participants will take turns picking a photo that they feel is important to them and explaining to the group how it is connected to climate change and impacts on their lives. Guiding questions for discussing the photos will encompass: Can you tell the team a little bit about your photo? Why did you choose to bring this photo? How does this photo connect climate change to your life? Why is this photo important for you to share with others? What do you hope others will take away from this photo? Key words and phrases associated with each photo will be written on sticky notes by the participants and facilitators and served as initial coding. Youth will be given stickers to vote on the concepts most important to them. Group discussions will be audio recorded for transcription purposes (pending consent). Thematic data analysis will be conducted by the youth and the research assistants and will happen concurrently and iteratively. Youth participate in selecting photos they considered most representative of their experiences; contextualizing or describing their photos orally; codifying the photos using sticky notes; and sorting the photos and sticky notes into categories and themes. Results will be summarized and presented in a way that is decided by the youth and ways in which photos could be shared in the community will be discussed. Format could include: map of the community with pictures to identify climate-related priorities and values as viewed by youth; a poster where a selection of photos are discussed. Activity 3: Presentation to community members. For this activity, youth will have the opportunity to present their photographs and key findings to their parents and community members, including the mayor and hamlet council, as well as other board representatives. To ensure that the discussions are still fresh in the minds of the youth and that they feel confident presenting their photos, this presentation will likely take place in the days or weeks following activity 2. Semi-structured in-depth interviews will be conducted with community members, making sure to represent the voices different stakeholders. For example, these may include elders, young adults, youths, men, women, non-binary, as well as individuals holding a position in one of the organizations in the hamlet. Open-ended questions, followed by specific probes, will address community needs, desires, priorities, and values as they relate to the impacts of climate change in the community. Themes explored in the interviews will encompass relationship to Tuktoyaktuk, what they value in the community, and how they envision the potential relocation of the hamlet because of coastal erosion, what they see as challenges with regards to relocation . Interviews will be conducted at a venue agreed on by both the participants and community liaison/research assistant. Interviews can be conducted in the home of participants, in a room rented in the community, or as a walk-along interview. The research team anticipate that interviews will last about 60 minutes. Interviews will be recorded (pending consent) and transcribed by a research assistant. Thematic analysis will be conducted to identify reoccurring ideas, notions, values, priorities and needs. Ultimately, these results arising from these discussions will inform the development of a community-wide survey to be administered in the third year of the project. An amendment will be submitted in year 2 of the project for the community-wide survey. Additionally, results and key-findings from the in-depth interviews will be summarized and presented to the community in a way that is decided by community leadership. Ways in which the information will be shared in the community will be discussed. By working closely with the community liaison, Devalynn Pokiak, ongoing work and preliminary results will be presented quarterly to the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk. In addition to these quarterly updates, yearly reports will be submitted to the Hamlet of Tuktoyaktuk. Furthermore, all results will be presented to the broader community in various formats, e.g., presentations and photo exhibit. Outside of Tuktoyaktuk, results will be presented to in scientific conferences and published in scientific journals. To ensure materials reach relevant and broad audiences such as local, territorial, and federal policymakers and community-based organizations, the team will produce infographics, plain language summaries, and policy briefs. These materials will be published on social media (on the community Facebook page) and will be shared within the Nuna project wider network. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from May 29, 2023 to June 23, 2023