Place-Based Research
There are representatives of more than 100 IGOs engaged in our project (see Team). They form the foundation of Place-Based Research Teams (PBRTs) which will lead over half of the research activities of the Ărramăt project. The PBRTs will include Indigenous leaders, elders, resource persons, graduate students/community researchers, and academic allies.
PBRTs will lead 146 projects in 44 regions in Canada/globally between Yr. 2-5. These regions are culturally, and ecologically significant. They are representative of 70 “Key Biodiversity Areas” in Canada [1], all 15 Canadian ecozones [2], 11 of 14 global biomes [3], 10 of 12 marine ecoregions (global), and two of the world’s largest freshwater basins (Mackenzie, Amazon). Some may be defined as “refugia” (little disturbed) [4,5]; others are in “hot-spots” with at-risk wildlife (e.g., polar bear, white sturgeon, mountain gorilla [6,7]), habitats (e.g., sea-ice, tropical forests, grasslands), and where Indigenous Peoples are also under stress.
Through coordination of these projects, we will create synergies and learning opportunities that will far exceed those produced from singular studies. We use “place” to refer to the lands that have physical-spiritual value and cultural meaning to IPs involved in Ărramăt; their relationship to these places is interconnected with the economy, social relations, language and spirituality, health-wellbeing; as such place-based research facilitates holistic research and outcomes [8-10]. The specific places of research included in the project will be defined by IGOs in Yr.1, but are anticipated to include landscapes of combined ecological and health value but are also defined here as sites of resistance to colonization and social and environmental injustice [11-14]. Coordinated decisions about where, how, and what is researched will be facilitated through a Terms of Reference (ToR for PBR) that will guide a process of sub-granting. The ToR will be co-designed such that it reflects the common priorities and needs of IGOs engaged. Through this ToR and the design- strengthening of the MTs, we anticipate place specific data/knowledge being documented related to our transformation pathways with outputs speaking to:
- culturally appropriate frameworks for defining and describing the interconnections between biodiversity and health-wellbeing;
- indicators and methods for tracking and interpreting patterns, trends and tipping points in biodiversity and health-wellbeing;
- model innovations and solutions for biodiversity conservation and care of people in hot-spot regions;
- actionable ‘design principles’ for strengthening holistic governance of biodiversity and health-wellbeing
relevant at local-global scales
Key outputs from the 146 PBRT will include place-specific annual reports (146 x 4 yrs. = 554) and academic publications (approx. 1/project = 146) that speak to the above. Our Team will also support broader mobilization of outputs through our digital data management platform and in the multi-lingual publication of a “State of Biodiversity and Indigenous Health-Wellbeing Atlas” (i.e., Yr. 6).
References:
[1] Tollefson, J. One Million Species Face Extinction. Nature 2019, 9.
[2] Chandler, M.J.; Lalonde, C. Cultural Continuity as a Hedge against Suicide in Canada’s First Nations. Transcultural psychiatry 1998, 35, 191–219.
[3] Egeland, G.M.; Harrison, G.G. Health Disparities: Promoting Indigenous Peoples’ Health through Traditional Food Systems and Self-Determination. Indigenous peoples’ food systems and well-being: interventions and policies for healthy communities 2013, 9–22.
[4] Greenwood, M.; De Leeuw, S.; Lindsay, N.M. Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health: Beyond the Social; Canadian Scholars, 2018; ISBN 1-77338-037-0.
[5] Parlee, B.; Berkes, F. Health of the Land, Health of the People: A Case Study on Gwich’in Berry Harvesting in Northern Canada. EcoHealth 2005, 2, 127–137.
[6] Parlee, B.; O’Neil, J. “The Dene Way of Life”: Perspectives on Health from Canada’s North. Journal of Canadian Studies 2007, 41, 112–133.
[7] Panelli, R. Beyond Foodscapes: Considering Geographies of Indigenous Well-Being. Health and Place 2009, 15, 455–465.
[8] Ostrom, E. A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems. Science 2009, 325, 419–422.
[9] Agrawal, A. Dismantling the Divide between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge. Development and Change 1995, 26, 413–439.
[10] Convention on Biological Diversity Post-2020 Global Biodiversity FrameworkL Discussion Paper; UNEP: Montreal, 2019;
[11] Kuhnlein, H. Biodiversity and Sustainability of Indigenous Peoples’ Foods and Diets.; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2012; pp. 118–125.
[12] Klein, J.T. Prospects for Transdisciplinarity. Futures 2004, 36, 515–526.
[13] Pictou, S. Decolonizing Decolonization: An Indigenous Feminist Perspective on the Recognition and Rights Framework. South Atlantic Quarterly 2020, 119, 371–391.
[14] Convention on Biological Diversity The Ninth Trondheim Conference on Biodiversity; United Nations Environment Program: Montreal.
