An Ecological Science Centre for the High Arctic:
The Views of the North and Northern Researchers

Prelude Lake, Northwest Territories.

A workshop on establishing an Ecological Science Centre (ESC) for the Northern Arctic and Arctic Cordillera ecozones was held in Iqaluit 27-29 October 1993. The workshop's objectives, approved by the participants, were

• to achieve an understanding of, and comfort with, the concepts of long-term ecosystem monitoring and research and ecological science centres (ESCs);

• to identify important monitoring and research issues in the Canadian northern Arctic; and

• to begin the process of establishing an ESC for the Northern Arctic and Arctic Cordillera ecozones.

The workshop was attended by more than thirty representatives from a variety of federal departments, the Government of the Northwest Territories, Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated (NTI), universities, NGOs, and Arctic College. Organizations unable to send representatives expressed their support for the initiative.

At the beginning, participants were sceptical about the success—without a massive infusion of financial resources— of an ESC in the Northern Arctic and Arctic Cordillera ecozones. Discussions in the plenary and group sessions, however, generated considerable enthusiasm for the idea, and by the conclusion of the workshop participants agreed that such resources were not needed initially—given the multiplicity of current unco-ordinated activities, data, and information and the organizational, planning, and synthesizing activities still to be worked out—but that a budget for workshops in which to facilitate planning and co-ordination was essential.

The ESC in the Northern Arctic and Arctic Cordillera ecozones was seen as very different from ESCs in the rest of

Canada, given the size of the area, the large distances between communities, the importance of logistics, and the evolution of Nunavut toward territorial status. Moreover, the participants agreed that most of the research and monitoring undertaken to date has been southern-based for southern reasons.

The workshop stressed the importance of involving northern communities in identifying priority issues that should be addressed through research and monitoring activities. It was agreed that the ESC must address northern concerns and integrate northern traditional ecological knowledge and northern scientists, managers, and technicians into the knowledge system.

The participants concluded that the ESC should address the following key challenges: understanding the organizational "rules" of traditional ecological knowledge so that it can be incorporated with other types of knowledge; solving the problems associated with sustainable development; encouraging the continuation of traditional lifestyles; assessing the impacts of local and transported toxics; and monitoring climatic change.

The substantial progress in meeting the workshop's objectives is evident in the recommendations. State of the Environment Reporting (SOER) agreed that it would, in co-operation with volunteer organizations, facilitate the next steps, the first being the production of the workshop report.

The Iqaluit workshop recommended that:

1. The ecosystem monitoring and research initiative being facilitated by SOER should be supported and implemented. A multi-locational Northern Arctic and Arctic Cordillera ESC that closely involves local communities should be established.

2. The Northern Arctic and Arctic Cordillera ESC should focus on ecosystem research and monitoring and facilitate the integration of disciplines and synthesis of results. It should be linked to international circumpolar and similar scientific activities. The knowledge derived should serve iocal purposes as well as regional, national, and international purposes.

3. The Northern Arctic and Arctic Cordillera ESC should comprise, initially, the areas (anchor nodes) around Eureka, Igloolik, Iqaluit, Pond Inlet, and Resolute. The workshop endorsed the Canadian Polar Commission's proposal to establish a marine centre at Resolute and recommended that it be an integral part of the ESC.

4. The national parks system being developed on the eastern side of the ecozones from Ellesmere Island through Baffin Island to northern Labrador should be included in the ESC as soon as management plans and logistics are final. An anchor node in the western part of the arctic archipelago, e.g., Cambridge Bay, should be identified as soon as feasible to complete the east-west representation. Information and data sets from short-term resource management sites should be included in any synthesis.

5. A consultative process should be undertaken to prepare a common research agenda for the ESC that recognizes and includes the agenda both of northern residents and of southern academics or governments. SOER should facilitate a workshop to prepare this common agenda.

6. A communication strategy should be an essential element of the ESC. It should include communications not only among scientists but also between scientists and local communities, local decision-makers and the Canadian public at large. All communications should convey relevant and timely information in clear, concise language.

7. The Polar Continental Shelf Project should be fully involved in the ESC. The workshop participants emphasized their appreciation for its logistic and other support to arctic research.

8. Innovative ways of getting information to communities should be explored; e.g., the production of tapes and videos, interviews in the local media, co-operation with the Community Learning Centres, and informal discussions.

9. A central computerized catalogue (meta data) that lists sources of data bases and information on who is doing what and where should be developed to ease the exchange of ideas, data, and information. The Canadian Polar Commission is working on such a system, to be known as the Canadian Polar Information Svstem.

10. SOER should facilitate a workshop/brainstorming session early in 1995 to help synthesize information and to explore additional means of informing people about what is going on and what it means.

11. An interim co-ordinating committee should be set up as quickly as possible to serve as a focal point for co-operation and contact and as a facilitating body for the ESC. It should work closely with Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated and other Nunavut groups to develop an action plan on priority issues. SOER should take the leadership in establishing this committee.