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Artic Change 2014: IK-ADAPT in Ottawa
Arctic Change 2014 was a busy and enriching conference for IK-ADAPT team members. IK-ADAPT researchers chaired two sessions, cialis gave nine session presentations and four poster presentations. The film “Lament for the Land”, and a collaboration between Dr. Ashlee Cunsolo Willox and the five communities Nunatsiavut, was screened at the conference and followed by a Q & A session. IK-ADAPT also held a one day meeting parallel to the conference to discuss project updates as well as the commonalities and differences between the different community-based initiatives. This meeting was attended by all the project leads, community partners, IK-ADAPT researchers and students. The meeting yielded great discussions about final project outputs and reflections as IK-ADAPT approaches the end of its final year.
Additionally, our team was very active at the conference, and their work received some awards. In particular, Inez Shiwak presented five times and participated in the Q & A for “Lament for the Land”. She also won the Arctic Change Northern Travel Award to support her participation in the conference, and was nominated for the Inuit Recognition Award at Arctic Change 2014. Congratulations Inez! Kate Bishop, a PhD student at the University of Guelph in the Department of Population Medicine, was awarded the second place prize ($600) in the Social and Health Science category at the Arctic Change 2014 Conference. Her poster was titled “Seasonal Changes in Prevalence of Acute Gastrointestinal Illness in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Canada” and was co-presented with Inez Shiwak. Congratulations!
In numbers:
- 2 chaired sessions
- 9 session presentations
- 4 poster presentations
- 1 film screening
- 1 full day IK-ADAPT meeting
- 2 awards

Nunamin Illihakvia video and report now available!
We are excited to share a new video about the Nunamin Illihakvia program in Ulukhaktok, help NWT! This program, buy funded by Health Canada’s Climate Change and Health Adaptation in Northern First Nations and Inuit Communities program and administered by the Ulukhaktok Community Corporation, was a one year pilot that sought to revive participation in winter seal hunting and traditional sealskin sewing in Ulukhaktok to strengthen health and food security during a time of rapid environmental and societal change. In total, more than 60 participants took part in sealskin sewing, equipment making, and organized trips out on the sea ice. Check out the video:
Nunamin Illihakvia is one of several community-driven adaptation initiatives the IK-ADAPT team has partnered with to date, both to pilot evaluation processes for community adaptation programs and to investigate how such programs can contribute to adaptive capacity. IK-ADAPT co-investigator Dr. Tristan Pearce and coordinator Ellie Stephenson worked with the Ulukhatok Community Corporation and program coordinators to complete research and evaluation components of the program, and Lesya Nakoneczny partnered with local filmmakers and photographers to produce the above documentary. To learn more about the research results, including impacts of the program and recommendations for improvement, please see the final activity report for the Nunamin Illihakvia program.
Koana (thank you!) to all of the participants, instructors, Elders, and coordinators who has made this program a success!

Congratulations to Allan Gordon on his MASc.
Congratulations to Allan Gordon for the completion of his Masters of Applied Science at the University of Guelph! Allan’s work, illness titled “Tools and Strategies to Address Uncertainties and Complexities of Infrastructure Design in Remote Northern Canadian Communities, remedy “ looked at water infrastructure planning and design processes using an interdisciplinary approach.
Allan completed his MASc. as part of the IK-ADAPT team in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, under the supervision of Dr. Khosrow Farahbakhsh. This research also included the development of a decision-making tool that captures both technical and social information. With this tool, Allan and the rest of the Rigolet team hope to improve community trust and local control over infrastructure planning. Here is the abstract for Allan’s thesis:
“It is becoming increasingly evident that water and wastewater infrastructure in some northern communities is not appropriately designed to suit the local climatic, environmental, financial, or cultural context. This research developed and assessed new tools and strategies to capture the unique complexities of remote northern contexts and help engineers develop more situationally appropriate infrastructure planning and design processes and practices. Water infrastructure planning in Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Canada was used as a case study. Grounded in systems thinking and Post-Normal Science principles, the methods included: identifying and characterizing stocks and flows within the system; conducting document reviews, semi-structured interviews with stakeholders, focus groups, and a community questionnaire; and identifying and characterizing constraints and criteria for northern infrastructure development. An infrastructure decision-making tool that captured technical, social and other local information was developed based on consultations with technical experts and community members to increase transparency, community trust and local control.”
Allan’s full thesis is now available online from the University of Guelph.