Arctic Costal Risk

Approach

“Trust takes time. You need to prove—as a researcher or as an outsider—that you can actually function as a positive member of that community; and there’s no way to do that without becoming a part of that community. That takes time.”

“You have to be able to humble yourself before another person, to understand that each person has something valuable to contribute. So you have to be able to quiet down your own agenda and your own thought processes and open up your entire spirit.”

We commit to

  • be accountable
  • consult communities
  • conduct relevant research
  • establish effective two-way communication
  • respect local culture and traditions
  • involve local community members
  • build and sustain relationships
  • pursue responsible environmental stewardship
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We intend to

  • provide benefits to local communities
  • synthesize available data, expertise, and information originating from all ways of knowing
  • inform community adaptation to climate change
  • support self-determination and tribal sovereignty
  • recognize sensitivities towards research stemming from historic and present-day unethical research practices
  • acknowledge the need to protect cultural information
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We promote

  • mutual respect and communication between scientists and local community residents at all stages of research planning and implementation
  • cooperation between researchers and local residents
  • a shared understanding of  the benefits of research for local decision making and the contribution of local knowledge for science
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Before

Before conducting any research in affected communities, we encourage researchers to

  1. Reach out to communities affected by arctic coastal hazards whether they are interested in our research network and would be willing to participate
  2. Engage tribal and community leaders in any planned research activities with community members or on lands, waters, or territories used by or occupied by the community. For this we will gather input, suggestions, and information that may alter the planned research design.
  3. Incorporate into the research design:
    • use the English and indigenous languages of the local people;
    • translate research results, particularly those of local concern, into the languages of the people affected by the research;
    • integrate local and traditional knowledge and experience.
  4. Anticipate and provide meaningful experience and training for young people.

During

During research occurring in affected communities, we encourage researchers to

  1. Inform communities in understandable terms about ongoing research.
  2. Include community leadership in project planning and implementation.
  3. Seek community members, particularly school teachers, who are interested in participating in research activities.
  4. Explain research results in non-technical terms and make them accessible and relevant for community members and use in local decision-making.
  5. Provide research reports, data descriptions, and other relevant materials to the local community.
  6. Communicate research results that are especially responsive to local concerns.
  7. Special efforts must be made to communicate results that are responsive to local concerns.
  8. Publish research in peer-reviewed publications that outline the requirements for anonymity, refer to the informed consent of participants and give credit to those contributing to the research project.
  9. Respect local cultural traditions, languages, and values.

After

After research activities in affected communities conclude, we encourage researchers to

  1. Explain research results in non-technical terms and make them accessible and relevant for community members and use in local decision-making.
  2. Provide research reports, data descriptions, and other relevant materials to the local community.
  3. Communicate research results that are especially responsive to local concerns.
  4. Publish research in peer-reviewed publications that outline the requirements for anonymity, refer to the informed consent of participants and give credit to those contributing to the research project.
  5. Respect local cultural traditions, languages, and values.

Informed consent

Before conducting any research in affected communities, we encourage researchers to obtain informed consent from community leadership and individuals participating in the research. For this researchers should identify:

  • all sponsors and sources of financial support;
  • the person in charge
  • all investigators involved in the research
  • anticipated need for consultants, guides, or interpreters
  • the purposes, goals, and time-frame of the research
  • data-gathering techniques (tape and video recordings, photographs, physiological measurements etc.)
  • what the collected data will be used for
  • foreseeable positive and negative implications and impacts of the research

Respect for privacy and dignity

Social science researchers in particular should respect privacy and dignity and ask for consent before interviewing, photographing, or engaging with community members and should:

  1. Guarantee that research participants remain anonymous unless they have agreed to be identified. If anonymity cannot be guaranteed, participants will be informed of the possible consequences of becoming involved in the research
  2. Keep personal information confidential both the original use of data and its deposition for future use
  3. Respect the rights of children. All research involving children will be fully justified in terms of goals and objectives and never undertaken without the consent of the children and their parents or legal guardians
  4. Strictly observe all relevant federal, state and local regulations and policies pertaining to cultural, environmental, and health protection
  5. Hold accountable the researcher in charge for all project decisions that affect the community, including decisions made by subordinates
  6. Not disturb sacred sites, cultural materials, and cultural property.

Developing ethical and meaningful partnerships

We acknowledge that ‘researchers’ are not just those who are outsiders coming into Native communities. We strive to be more holistic including ‘researchers’ who are tribal leaders, Elders, tribal employees, colleagues from other universities, Native scholars and students, community-based investigators, and staff of research organizations or government agencies. As we should walk softly and listen carefully when building research relationships with tribal communities.

Pulling together expertise from a wide range of backgrounds is needed to develop innovative solutions to complex challenges such as climate change. Developing ethical and meaningful research partnerships with local communities requires researchers to understand and commit to an ongoing process of authentic and deliberate relationship-building, cross-cultural learning, open communication, trust and reciprocity. Developing effective relationships is a learning process that requires active, in-person participation in the community. Partnerships between tribes and researchers require culturally-based and community-centered research.

Adopted from

Principles for the Conduct of Research in the Arctic,
Guidelines for Improved Cooperation between Arctic Researchers and Northern Communities, and
‘Walk softly and listen carefully’: Building research relationships with tribal communities.

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