Abstract
Amidst unprecedented variability and change in climate across the Circumpolar North, increasing attention has been directed towards integrated environment and health monitoring systems to inform responses to climate change impacts on Inuit health. Yet, existing monitoring systems are often not designed to consider Inuit-identified conceptualizations of wellbeing that can help identify, monitor, and respond to the more intangible losses and damages from climate change. This study—conducted in partnership with the Inuit community of Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Canada—aimed to characterize what Inuit value and want monitored to develop a conceptual framework for an Inuit-led integrated monitoring system. Using community-led research approaches, data were drawn from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 31 individuals including community members (n = 13), government representatives (n = 14), and healthcare professionals (n = 4) in Nunatsiavut between 2015 and 2016. Thematic analysis of these data was guided by a constant-comparative process. Interviewees described how monitoring climatic and environmental conditions was grounded in land-attachment, reciprocity, knowledge sharing, and self-determination. Findings enhance understandings of how Inuit-led monitoring in the North can guide climate change adaptation that considers intangible losses and damages to wellbeing and ways of living. Further, these findings illustrate how localized perspectives on climate change can contribute to place-based public health research and policy that reflect what matters most to communities.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge, honour, and pay respect to the homelands of the Inuit and Innu in Labrador, recognizing their ancestral and continued ties to the lands and waters wherein this research was conducted. We would also like to respectfully acknowledge the traditional territory of the Attawandaron people on which the University of Guelph resides, and the traditional lands of the Cree, Blackfoot, and Métis peoples of Treaty 6 Territory where the University of Alberta resides. Sincerest thanks to the community of Rigolet for sharing their stories, wisdom, and hospitality. There are no words that can express how deeply humbled we are to be working alongside you, and how grateful we are for the guidance and leadership you provide that makes this work possible. The authors would like to acknowledge Oliver Cook for his contributions to data collection and role in shaping the direction of the research, Ms. Sahar Fanian, for her assistance in conducting the interviews with Inuit government representatives and Inuit health professionals in Happy Valley-Goose Bay in August 2015, and Dr. Mark Andrachuk for comments on an initial draft of this manuscript.
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This work was supported by Polar Knowledge Canada, Health Canada’s First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Northern Scientific Training Program.
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Sawatzky, A., Cunsolo, A., Jones-Bitton, A. et al. “The best scientists are the people that’s out there”: Inuit-led integrated environment and health monitoring to respond to climate change in the Circumpolar North. Climatic Change 160, 45–66 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02647-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02647-8