Â鶹ӰԺ

The Sensitivity of Alaskan and Yukon Rivers, Fish, and Communities to Climate (Arctic Rivers) Project is guided by an Indigenous Advisory Council. The Council is an advisory body helping project investigators make decisions about research design, analysis, and deliverables with an eye to ensuring that Indigenous Knowledge and perspectives are included, valued, and protected and that the project benefits the Indigenous peoples it is intended to serve. 

The Arctic Rivers project recognizes the rights of Indigenous communities to shape the research that occurs in our homelands, to assert our knowledge as a valid way of knowing. Co-production of knowledge involves the contribution and equal distribution of power between Indigenous stakeholders, researchers, and project members, in a manner that integrates the various knowledge systems present and informs the guidelines, goals, and expectations of the project. 

We have developed Arctic Rivers Knowledge Co-production Protocols with the Council to provide guidance to ensure that Indigenous knowledge and perspectives are respected, valued, and acknowledged on an equal basis with western science and are included throughout the entire project. Our project and research team are bound by these protocols. You can download and view our Co-production Protocols.

Our team will continue to work with the Council to: 

• Promote and protect Indigenous Knowledges (IKs): Promote Indigenous Knowledge (IK) Protection throughout the project; Help the Project Team develop IK protection protocols.
• Research design, analysis, deliverables: Help Project Team gather & evaluate input from the broader community and make decisions about how to proceed; Provide guidance to ensure that output is relevant, understandable, and useable
• Clear, widespread communication: Recommend the best communication pathways and methods for the project to: Receive broad community input; Distribute project information & products; Review materials to improve their understandability and relevancy
• Arctic Rivers Summit, Anchorage (date TBD): Lead the design of the Summit agenda; Help host the two-day Summit; Review a paper documenting output from the Summit; If interested, help write the paper.