IMALIRIJIIT: a community-based environmental monitoring program in the George River watershed, Nunavik, Canada

Abstract

Canada's North is experiencing a growing interest in community-based environmental monitoring (CBEM) as resource exploitation and climate change increasingly impact these remote territories, and as recognition of the value and relevance of indigenous knowledge increases. IMALIRIJIIT, a CBEM program involving Science Land Camps, capacity-building workshops and scientific data collection with the participation of youth, Elders, local experts and researchers was co-initiated by the Inuit community of Kangiqsualujjuaq in Nunavik (Quebec) and university-affiliated researchers. This hands-on and land-based program aims to establish a sustainable environmental monitoring program of the George River, before the start of operations of a rare earth elements (REEs) mining project in its upper watershed. The community wanted its own independent and long-term environmental monitoring program to collect baseline data and promote local capacitybuilding. IMALIRIJIIT program includes water quality measurements, biomonitoring for contaminant and REEs analysis in traditional foods, remote sensing analysis of water quality parameters and vegetation change at the watershed scale as well as interactive mapping of traditional ecological knowledge related to the George River. The outcomes and challenges of the IMALIRIJIIT Program are discussed in order to identify the conditions for the successful implementation of CBEM and environmental stewardship in the George River watershed, Nunavik.

OHMi-Nunavik: a multi-thematic and cross-cultural research program studying the cumulative effects of climate and socio-economic changes on Inuit communities

“…This can be tied to an increase in the following: recognition of the value of Indigenous knowledge, use of participatory methods for community-based research (Berkes and Armitage 2010), community concern regarding the local impacts of environmental change related to anthropogenic activities, interest in building local capacity to monitor changes, and community control over resource management decisions (Gordon et al 2008;Gearheard et al 2010). This approach is responsible for the success of the community-based environmental water-quality monitoring program (Gérin-Lajoie et al 2018).…”

“…IMALIRIJIIT: water quality of a local river IMALIRIJIIT, meaning 'those who study water' in Inuktitut, is a community-based water quality survey which is described in detail in Gérin-Lajoie et al (2018). This project involved science land camps, capacity-building workshops, and scientific data collection with the participation of youth, elders, local experts, and researchers.…”

“…Even if participating in scientific experiments with committed local adults and elders had an important positive impact on the young, as reported by Gérin-Lajoie et al (2018), it is now clear that youth training is not sufficient, efforts will also need to be put into training adults. This would contribute to create muchneeded jobs such as field research assistants in northern communities and create local interest for involvement in science projects.…”

Our practice of outreach during the Ice Monitoring project in Nunavik: an early-career researcher perspective

“…Yet, "the idea of trusting relationships as a foundation for ethical engagement in research is easy to endorse but difficult to enact" (Ball and Janyst 2008, p. 52). Building relationships based on trust requires researchers to spend time in the community, and it also involves a commitment to the relationship and to community interests, for instance youth training and empowerment Castleden et al 2012;Provencher et al 2013;Tondu et al 2014;Gérin-Lajoie et al 2018). Inspiring examples of this include artistic and cinematographic projects (Heath 2010;Baird et al 2018), online data diffusion and cartography (Laidler 2006;Ljubicic et al 2014;Carter et al 2018), youth and (or) elder camps (Gearheard et al 2013;Hirsch et al 2016;Gérin-Lajoie et al 2018;Gibson et al 2018), and community-driven monitoring (Knopp 2010;Loseto et al 2018).…”

“…Building relationships based on trust requires researchers to spend time in the community, and it also involves a commitment to the relationship and to community interests, for instance youth training and empowerment Castleden et al 2012;Provencher et al 2013;Tondu et al 2014;Gérin-Lajoie et al 2018). Inspiring examples of this include artistic and cinematographic projects (Heath 2010;Baird et al 2018), online data diffusion and cartography (Laidler 2006;Ljubicic et al 2014;Carter et al 2018), youth and (or) elder camps (Gearheard et al 2013;Hirsch et al 2016;Gérin-Lajoie et al 2018;Gibson et al 2018), and community-driven monitoring (Knopp 2010;Loseto et al 2018). Outreach or community engagement can be undertaken with scientific activities like announcements on the radio, posters, and school lectures (Castleden et al 2012) and also with nonscientific activities like playing games and drinking tea (Castleden et al 2012, Tondu et al 2014, as well as spending time with youth, feasting together, and witnessing cultural events (Adams et al 2014).…”