Community knowledge exchange in research leads to innovation and action in the Arctic

Indigenous peoples from Arctic communities who are engaged in various aspects of science, research, and community work have much to share with one another. Here, we—a team of Indigenous Arctic community members and visiting researchers—present examples of such sharing during and after four knowledge exchange gatherings that formed the core of a multi-year project, bringing together Indigenous scholars, harvesters, whalers, herders, leaders, and allies from Arctic regions of Canada, Alaska, Greenland, Finland, and Siberia. We present community-to-community knowledge exchange and describe specific examples of exchange approaches, methods, successes, and challenges, as well as direct outcomes from facilitating these interactions. We suggest that the remarkable nature of those outcomes was the result not of something unique to our project, but of the inherent value of creating a venue and opportunities where people felt at ease conversing with others from elsewhere in the Arctic through loosely structured conversations that were situated in place. By not having rigid objectives to follow, participants were able to explore topics that mattered most to them. We argue this approach can lead to un-anticipated results which are best embedded in Indigenous Arctic communities. This paper demonstrates some of such results. The lessons learned through this experience are intended to contribute to conversations on research that are designed to practically respond to community needs.