We have built our partnerships around four pillars: government, environmental non-government organizations, industry, and academia. Project partners are essential to the process of knowledge co-production, including the study of this process and its beneficial outcomes. Similarly, the methods used to generate data and achieve project objectives will draw from a range of research and knowledge traditions. Along with conventional research methods, we aim to elevate traditional (e.g, story telling) and creative (e.g., art production) modes of communicating knowledge, values, and aspirations, in an essential effort to re-evaluate and redefine the way we approach science communication. The partner organizations below provide important transdisciplinary perspectives on the scientific process from research design to science communication.
The Nunatsiavut Government is part of the core identity of the Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures Project - being full participants in the development, execution and delivery of this research. The involvement of The Nunatsiavut Government at the very base of this project is critical to the success of the project given the significant challenges of field logistics in coastal Labrador, the complex nature of the information we collect and disseminate, the translation of research to policy (see the Imappivut agreement), and the importance of developing relationships with Inuit rights holders.
The science conducted by the Sustainable Nunatsiavut Futures project connects a diverse group of academic researchers from the Memorial University of Newfoundland and Dalhousie University, as well as Kiel University and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, spanning the social to natural sciences. These partnerships offer interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary training opportunities for our team members, engaging with project partners and Inuit communities. Some academic opportunities built into this transdisciplinary approach can be found here.
The Alaska Arctic Observatory and Knowledge Hub (AAOKH) is a long-term and sustained community-based monitoring program providing holistic environmental observations across northern coastal Alaska. AAOKH aims to provide: sustained support for local Indigenous observers to share their knowledge and document environmental changes; services to monitor environmental change to meet community needs; and educational opportunities for the next generation of Indigenous leaders and scholars. With a vision similar to that of this project, AAOKH participates in workshops on community-based ocean monitoring, and provides support for travel between coastal communities.
The Centre for Environmental Genomics Applications (CEGA), owned and operated by Newfoundland-based company eDNAtec Inc., is specialized in the application of environmental DNA and genomics technologies for biodiversity assessment and monitoring. In alignment with their mission to provide stellar research support and scientific expertise in environmental genomics, they are working with us to advance the application of eDNA for environmental stewardship. We provide environmental samples such as seawater and they interpret DNA signatures in the samples to study the total biodiversity at a site, from mammals and fish to plankton and microbes. This partnership has the potential to help change how ocean monitoring is done, by showcasing the use of this cutting-edge science for environmental stewardship and sustainability.
The Hakai Institute, a division of the Tula Foundation, has gained valuable community-scale experience conducting research on British Columbia’s coast in collaboration with local First Nations. Their involvement in this project brings a British Columbia perspective that helps understand changes occurring throughout North America’s remote coastlines.
Fisheries and Oceans Canada scientists are collaborating on the community-defined research topics, providing support for research cruises, data collection, and graduate students, and helping build scientific capacity in Nunatsiavut’s communities. They also provide a link to DFO Oceans Management, Canada’s lead agency on ocean policy, allowing for the critical translation of research into policy at the national level.
JASCO specializes in environmental acoustic monitoring, marine mammal detection, and underwater noise, and produces products to measure impacts of industrial activity on the natural soundscape. By partnering with our project, we offer an opportunity for JASCO to communicate with, and carry out test trials with end users and stakeholders, with the objective of designing an instrument and data handling, processing, and visualization software that allows northern communities to self-monitor the underwater soundscape. They provide support in the way of equipment loans and manual data analysis training to youth through opportunities like the Students-on-Ice Artcic Expedition.
Oceana Canada is part of the largest international advocacy group dedicated solely to ocean conservation. Oceana Canada works with civil society, academics, fishers, Indigenous Peoples and the federal government to return Canada’s formerly vibrant oceans to health and abundance. The 2019 Imappivut Expedition, a partnership between Oceana Canada and the Nunatsiavut Government, brought together Inuit youth and elders for research, ocean data collection, storytelling and intergenerational knowledge exchange.
The Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON) is a collaborative community that shares knowledge to evaluate changes of biodiversity in the ocean, involving data, products, protocols, methods, data systems, and software. The research outlined in this project contributes to the MBON database through every research step, including its methodology (collating/matching different data, overcoming statistical challenges, modeling environmental and species dynamics, and more). This collaboration supports wise resource uses, conservation efforts, and cultural values associated with marine life through understanding based on observation, data and scientific techniques in collaboration with and following the guidelines of local communities. Knowledge and data will be made available to other researchers in consultation with and respecting local traditions.
We are also working with Parks Canada, the lead federal agency for the establishment and management of National Marine Conservation Areas. Parks Canada is currently co-leading with the Nunatsiavut Government on the feasibility of establishing an Indigenous Protected Area under Canada’s National Marine Conservation Areas Act adjacent to Torngat Mountains National Park within the Labrador Shelf Marine Region. In support of the SNF goals, Parks Canada provides vessel time on the RV David Thompson to support data collection, and provides personnel and equipment to aid the research team using in part the knowledge and experience of Torngat Mountains National Park staff. The most integral part of this partnership, however, is using Parks Canada’s expertise in relation to the establishment and management of protected areas, and ensuring information flow at the science-policy interface contributes meaningfully to evolving marine management decision-making.
The involvement of RBR Ltd in our project is mutualistically beneficial as they 1) offer instrumental support for water property measurements through the use of their CTDs (Conductivity-Temperature-Depth Profilers), 2) which we then test in harsh northern environments, pushing the limits of their instruments to ultimately help the company improve their products. In collaboration with the company, we work to improve and adapt instrumentation for through ice deployment and adapt remote data transmission schemes. In turn, we receive support through technical assistance, training, and technology development.
Dalhousie University operates in the unceded territories of the Mi’kmaw, Wolastoqey, and Peskotomuhkati Peoples. These sovereign nations hold inherent rights as the original peoples of these lands, and we each carry collective obligations under the Peace and Friendship Treaties. Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 recognizes and affirms Aboriginal and Treaty rights in Canada.
We acknowledge that the lands on which Memorial University’s campuses are situated are in the traditional territories of diverse Indigenous groups, and we acknowledge with respect the diverse histories and cultures of the Beothuk, Mi’kmaq, Innu, and Inuit of this province.
