Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

CANADA #136: Climate and Cultural Change: An anthropological and environment perspective on past and present polar environments and the impact of projected warming on indigenous populations.  (Culture, Climate and Change in the North)

Outline
To celebrate the International Polar Year, this proposed project, will bring together an interdisciplinary team of researchers to study the contemporary social and ecological environment of the north. It will examine the contemporary environmental status of two very distinct regions of the Polar North, which are Northern British Columbia and Canada and the Komi Republic. It will study the lives of the indigenous populations of these two regions, and the possible impacts that climate change may have on their traditional cultures. This project will build upon existing research, but will strengthen that research by bringing together disparate research being conducted by individuals into a larger focused research that will look at issues of social and climate change from a more holistic and global perspective. This proposed research will include an archaeological component to understand the way in which environments and cultures have changed over the millennia. It will also include a historical component to study the record of climate change in northern Russia. It will finally include an anthropological and environmental studies component to understand contemporary indigenous societies in the Polar and Circumpolar North. The Komi Republic was chosen because of the long-established research contacts UNBC holds with Syktyvkar State University and the local branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the Komi Republic. The Komi Republic is ideally placed to study climate change as it stretches across the Russian North well over the Arctic Circle, and it includes both boreal forest (taiga) and tundra environments. We have been working in close collaboration with the Izhma Komi that are reindeer-herders who rely on these environments for their survival and travel thousands of kilometers from the forests of the Izhma region to the shores of the Arctic Ocean (White Sea) in the Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug. Working out of Northern British Columbia and examining the local environment and indigenous knowledge, we will seek to expand our research to cover at least one Polar Region of Canada, preferable a Tundra ecological zone to serve as a point of comparison with the polar zone of Russia.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
1. Status: to determine the present environmental status of the polar regions. We will be examining to environmental status of two polar regions: Komi Republic and Northern Canada 2. Change:We will be using history and archaeology to to quantify, and understand, past and present natural environmental and social change 3. Global linkages: we will be establishing research networks linking Russia and Northern Canada to the rest of the world. 4. Human Dimension: we will use ethnographic and anthropological methods to investigate the cultural historical, and social processes that shape the sustainability of circumpolar human societies, and to identify their unique contributions to global cultural diversity.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Komi Science Center and its affiliated institutes (including the Institute of Language, Literature and History); the Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON)

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Komi Republic, Nenetsky Autonomous Okrug, Northern British Columbia and another northern locale in Canada (either Nunavut or Nunavik).

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 03/2006-03/2008            
Antarctic: n/a

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
This project may require some helicopter time to access remote tundra locales both in the Russian and Canadian North. This, with proper planning, could be shared with other projects. The project will require the usual field equipment required by archaeology, ethnography and environmental sciences: GPS tracking equipment, tents, recording equipment, ... Most of this equipment will be provided by UNBC.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
This project aims to leave behind an digital legacy: that is to say to put the information collected and analyzed in an electronic database that will be accessible to communities in the North via a server-portal.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
National agency
Commercial operator
Own support

Helicopters can be obtained in Russia from both public and private sources if flying time is paid.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
This pre-proposal has been reviewed and is being submitted by the Canadian Steering Committee (CSC). Ongoing discussions will integrate this pre-proposal into a larger network of related national and international initiatives. The CSC has initially sorted this pre-proposal into: Healthy and Sustainable Communities: Exploitation of Resources

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Expansion
Though this project will involve new research and new research networks, it is the continuation of previous and ongoing research in the field of anthropology, archaeology, history and environmental studies being conducted both at UNBC and in our partner institutions in Russia.

How will the project be organised and managed?
This project will be managed under the umbrella of the University of Northern British Columbia, specifically the anthropology program at UNBC. The coordination of the Russian research will be coordinated with the help of the Komi Science Center an affiliate of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Other than the standard academic communications (conferences and articles), this project will seek to communicate the findings of our research to the general public using a server-portal and informative website that will disseminate information to the world. The second component will be the publication of books and other works destined for a lay reading public.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
The project will make use of UNBC's Social Sciences Lab and it computer server to store data electronically and for the hosting of an interactive website that will give community members and researchers access to data and results (within ethical guidelines).

How is it proposed to fund the project?
Potential funds: Kitsumkalum and Kitselas First Nations; SSHRC/NSERC funding applied for

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
UNBC prides itself as being a university of the North for the North. The university includes a variety of specialists in the field of anthropology, archaeology and environmental studies. The university has been working closely with a number of Russian partners and has been active in a number of northern initiatives including the University of the Arctic, ACUNS and other organizations.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Michel Bouchard
3333 University Way, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George BC


V2N 4Z9
Canada

Tel: 250-960-5643
Mobile:
Fax: 250-960-5545
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation

Other Information