Ikaarvik creates opportunities that allow Northern Indigenous youth to empower themselves for self-determination in Arctic research and decision making.
Leading community-driven research and monitoring
Ikaarvik youth identify and address their communities’ local research priorities, combining both Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science.
Building meaningful research collaborations to benefit North and South
Northern Indigenous youth are an effective bridge connecting southern-based researchers and Northern Indigenous communities. This creates lasting collaborations that benefit local communities and Western scientists.
Stitching together Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science for better research results
With knowledge and experience in both northern and southern ways of knowing, Ikaarvik youth explore the strengths of local Indigenous Knowledge and Western science. They help southern-based Arctic researchers work with both ways of knowing for better, more relevant and robust results.
Ikaarvik was envisioned over a decade ago by a group of youth in Pond Inlet, Nunavut, who wanted to create greater and more meaningful Indigenous involvement and leadership in Arctic research. Ikaarvik youth and mentors are now doing amazing things in Inuit communities and First Nations across the Canadian North. In addition to developing and leading their own research projects, Ikaarvik youth explore ways to effectively combine local Indigenous Knowledge with Western science for better, more robust and relevant results. They regularly speak and write about meaningful researcher/community collaboration, incorporation of Indigenous Knowledge in research, and what these look like when done well.
Still driven by Northern Indigenous youth and their communities, Ikaarvik is now becoming a fully independent, Northern Indigenous-led incorporated not-for-profit.