NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Inuvialuit Settlement Region

Objective(s): To support Inuvialuit leaders seeking to influence national and international policy decisions about marine and related resources and their socio-cultural value to the Inuvialuit people.

Project Description: This licence has been issued for the scientific research application No. 5850. The aim of this collaborative research is to support Inuvialuit leaders seeking to influence national and international policy decisions about marine and related resources and their socio-cultural value to the Inuvialuit people. Phase 1. Research Set Up (April-May 2024) During this phase, the research team will work with the FJMC to identify and hire a community research assistant. The responsibilities of this individual may include recruiting interview participants, providing input on interview questions, transcribing interviews, and organizing knowledge sharing events (e.g., project updates/results). We propose to develop research agreement describing how the research team and the FJMC will work together. This may include a data management plan that describes processes for respecting the principles of Free, Prior, and Information Consent (FPIC). Phase 2. Research Design (May – June 2024) During this phase, the research team will work together with the FJMC to refine the research design, including potential interviewees, how many interviews might be done, and what questions to ask interviewees. An interview guide will be tested with a small group of people to confirm process and content: are we asking the right questions? are the questions understandable? Is the interview guide too long? Phase 3. Data Collection (March – December 2024) a. Literature and Document Review (March – September 2024) The aim will be to conduct a literature and document review related to monitoring in the western Arctic over the last several decades to determine if and how outcomes from the monitoring program have led to learning and policy change within local-regional-national and global institutions. Questions of “fit” or congruence between data gathering on the one-hand and decision-making on the other will be explored with additional consideration of questions such as what knowledge matters? And whose knowledge matters? Documents will be identified through a variety of sources including online databases (Google Scholar, EBSCOhost, etc.), government agency websites such as the Department of Fisheries and Oceans (Canada), Indigenous organization websites such as the Inuit Circumpolar Council, among others. Additional materials to be gathered could include legal agreements, books, court documents, workshop proceedings, federal legislation, and reports. b. Semi-Structured Interviews (June – July 2024) With guidance from the FJMC and HTCs, we will 25-30 interview people from Inuvialuit, federal, and circumpolar institutions to better understand the opportunities and challenges of connecting beluga monitoring data and information to decision-making. This will include Inuvialuit harvesters, Inuvialuit government and co-management board representatives, territorial and federal government resource persons with knowledge of beluga monitoring, and international organization resource persons with knowledge of circumpolar governance processes. Interview participants will be recruited using purposive sampling and then through the snowball technique. This approach involves identifying individuals or groups of individuals that are especially knowledgeable about or involved with beluga monitoring and co-management in the ISR. These individuals then identify others who may be willing to participate. Once contacted by phone and/or in-person, individuals will be informed about the research project and a confirmation of their willingness to be interviewed and a time/location for the interview will be identified. Consent will be sought prior to all interviews as is mandated by the Ethics board of the University of Alberta. Each interview will last approximately 30 minutes to 2 hours, depending on availability of interview participants. Interview data will be collected in a variety of ways where consent is given. If online, the graduate student (Krista Tremblett) will use built-in recording features (e.g., Zoom). For in-person interviews, a mix of audio/video recording and field notes will be used. Interviews will be transcribed by members of the research team (Krista Tremblett, local research assistant). Interview transcriptions will be shared and verified with all participants. Phase 4 Data Analysis and Results Sharing (September 2024 – April 2025) The research team will work with the FJMC and HTCs throughout the analysis process. This may include inviting Inuvialuit knowledge holders and leaders to meet together, and with the research team, to discuss applications of the data. Project findings will be communicated more broadly with Inuvialuit communities and elsewhere using mediums such as plain-language summary reports in Inuinnaqtun and English with photos and key findings, reports and publications, and presentations. Communication between researchers, the FJMC, and the HTCs will be ongoing throughout the research. Researchers will work together with the FJMC, HTCs and the research assistant to develop appropriate and effective methods for sharing project updates and results with community members. These may include plain-language summaries in Inuvialuktun and English, updates over local/regional radio, and presentations in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from: June 20 - December 31, 2024