Community-Based Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program Report

This report, based on an article published in the International Journal of Circumpolar Health, details Health Canada's Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program for Northern First Nation and Inuit Communities. The program utilizes a community-based participatory research approach, empowering northern communities to lead research on the health impacts of climate change and develop culturally appropriate adaptation strategies. The program funds projects focusing on health risks, traditional knowledge integration, and communication of research findings. Through workshops and community visits, the program builds capacity and facilitates the development of adaptation plans and communication materials. The research emphasizes the importance of incorporating both traditional knowledge and scientific data to address climate change impacts. The program has supported numerous projects across Canada's North, resulting in valuable information products and community-based networks. The article highlights the importance of community involvement, strong partnerships, and the integration of Aboriginal values to promote effective climate change adaptation and improve health outcomes in affected communities. The report also examines the methods and outcomes of the program, including the development of relevant information and tools to support decision-making at various levels.

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International Journal of Circumpolar Health
ISSN: (Print) 2242-3982 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/zich20
Community-based Participatory Process – Climate
Change and Health Adaptation Program for
Northern First Nations and Inuit in Canada
Diane McClymont Peace & Erin Myers
To cite this article: Diane McClymont Peace & Erin Myers (2012) Community-based Participatory
Process – Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program for Northern First Nations and Inuit in
Canada, International Journal of Circumpolar Health, 71:1, 18412, DOI: 10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18412
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18412
© 2012 Diane McClymont Peace and Erin
Myers
Published online: 08 May 2012.
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Community-based Participatory Process
Climate Change and Health Adaptation
Program for Northern First Nations and
Inuit in Canada
Diane McClymont Peace* and Erin Myers
EnvironmentalHealth Research Division, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada, Ottawa,
ON, Canada
Objectives: Health Canada’s Program for Climate Change and Health Adaptation in Northern First Nation
and Inuit Communities is unique among Canadian federalprograms in that it enables community-based
participatory research by northern communities.
Study design:The program was designed to build capacity by funding communities to conduct their own
research in cooperation with Aboriginalassociations,academics,and governments;that way,communities
could develop health-related adaptation plans and communication materials that would help in adaptation
decision-making at the community, regional, national and circumpolar levels with respect to human health
and a changing environment.
Methods: Community visits and workshops were held to familiarize northerners with the impacts of climate
change on their health,as wellas methods to develop research proposals and budgets to meet program
requirements.
Results:Since the launch of the ClimateChangeand Health Adaptation Program in 2008,Health
Canada has funded 36 community projects across Canada’s North that focus on relevant health issues caused
by climatechange.In addition, the program supported capacity-building workshopsfor northerners,
as wellas a Pan-Arctic Results Workshop to bring communities together to showcase the results of their
research.Results include:numerous films and photo-voice products that engage youth and elders and are
available on the web;community-based ice monitoring,surveillance and communication networks;and
information products on land, water and ice safety, drinking water, food security and safety, and traditional
medicine.
Conclusions:Through these efforts,communities have increased their knowledge and understanding of the
health effects related to climate change and have begun to develop local adaptation strategies.
Keywords:community-based participatory research; climate change; health
Received: 30 April2011; Revised: 10 January 2012; Accepted: 17 January 2012; Published: 8 May 2012
Over the lastdecade,climate change researchers
as well as communitieshave begun to better
understand the impactsthat climate change is
having on human health in Canada.Climate is rapidly
changing and thisis particularly evidentin Canada’s
North. Melting sea and lake ice, melting glaciers, thawing
permafrost, greater storm surges,increasing erosion and
landslides,more unpredictable weather,more freezing
rain in winter, shorterwinterconditions,more forest
fires,and hotter summers are some of the events being
observedacross Canada’sNorth. Northernershave
reported that these environmentalchanges are affecting
their livelihoods,their relationship with the land,their
culture,and their well-being (13).The ability to travel
on land and ice in order to find and hunttraditional
foods, to accesspotablewaterand maintain healthy
homesand communitiesis becomingmore difficult.
Climate changeis a human health issueas well as
an environmentalone.The health implications resulting
from a warmer and more unpredictable climate are not
distributed evenly:currenthealth status,age,genetics,
gender,geography,and economics,are allkey variables
æ ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Int J Circumpolar Health 2012. # 2012 Diane McClymont Peace and Erin Myers. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-Noncommercial3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/),permitting allnon-commercialuse,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the originalwork is properly cited.
1
Citation: Int J Circumpolar Health 2012, 71: 18412 -http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18412
(page number not for citation purpose)

affectingthe ability of individualsand communities
to adapt and reduce the effects of climate change.The
expected outcomesof a warmerplanetare numerous
and will havedirect and indirecthealth implications
particularly for northern communities.
To help address these issues, it is important to involve
those communitiesthat are being directly affected by
climate change in monitoring, discussing, advocating and
participating in the process of climate change adaptation.
Health Canada, as a part of the Canadian Government’s
overall climate change strategy, has developed a Climate
Change and Health Adaptation Program for Northern
First Nation and InuitCommunities.The intention of
this program is to fund community-based participatory
research,where the research is led and carried outby
community members who develop culturally appropriate
and locally-based adaptation strategiesto reduce the
effects ofclimate change on their health.The work is
carried outby communitieswho determine their own
research prioritieswith the assistanceof Aboriginal
associations, academics, governments and agencies where
needed.For this program theparticipatoryresearch
must include:a study of the impacts of climate change
on health incorporatingboth traditional knowledge
and science;locally-appropriateadaptation plansand
tools;and communication of the results to the commu-
nity firstly,and then regionally and more broadly as
appropriate. The planned outcome is to develop relevant
information and tools/materialsto help in decision-
making at the community,regional,nationaland inter-
national levelswith respectto human health and a
changingenvironment.This type of researchis an
importantinstrumentfor community action as wellas
evidence-based policy development.
Community-based participatory research by Indigen-
ous peoples is defined by the World Health Organization
(WHO) (4) as: ‘‘a research process thatendeavours to
balance interests,benefitsand responsibilitiesbetween
Indigenouspeoplesand the research institutionscon-
cerned,through a commitmentto equitableresearch
partnership’’.The term implies thatthe entire process,
from planning to reporting,will be transparentand
accessible to allparties involved.This process has also
been referred to as collaborative research.
Aboriginalpeople in Canada are assuming a greater
role in determining the kind ofresearch thatis done
in their communities and participating in this research.
Although Aboriginal people in Canada, specifically
First Nations and Inuit,share some common cultural
traits and values, they have many distinctive beliefs, laws,
customs and traditions (5),and there isa wide range
of differencesin the capacity of First Nations and
Inuit communities and organizations to understand and
participatein research.However,it is importantto
note that ‘‘Indigenous theoreticalframeworks,methods,
and applications are necessarily wide-ranging,reflecting
diversity,context,and traditions of Indigenous peoples
in Canada. The fundamental commonality in Indigenous
research approaches and methods is the need to reflect
Indigenousrelationshipsto the environment,the land
and the ancestors’’ (6).
The EnvironmentalHealth ResearchDivision of
Health Canada, who is administering the Climate Change
Program,has 3 strategic goals with respectto buildi-
ng Aboriginalcommunity-based participatory research
capacity. The first is to ensure inclusion and recognition
of Aboriginal valuesand traditionalknowledge.The
second isto enhance capacity,facilitate and evaluate
translation ofAboriginalenvironmentalhealth knowl-
edge into policy and practice,and the third is to
encourage/support strategic and Aboriginal-driven devel-
opment planning (7).
A one size fits all model does not work for community-
based participatoryresearchconsideringthat many
communities have varying capacities and face different
challenges and circumstances.Some communities bene-
fit from outside expertise to assistin developing prio-
rities,methodology and implementation,while others
do not need this assistance.What is importantfor
community-based participatory research is that Aborigi-
nal knowledgeis used in partnership with science-
based knowledge.The combination is often much more
powerfulthan either when used by itself.It is not easy,
however,to integrateboth types of knowledgeand
more work is required in this field (8,9).
This partnership ofknowledge can be illustrated in
one of the projects: ‘‘Traditional Knowledge: A Blueprint
for Change’’(10).The overallgoal of the projectwas
to train Inuit residents of North West River,Labrador
to collect and map ecologicalknowledge of Inuit in the
community and record theirobservationsof on-going
landscape transformations. Using this traditional knowl-
edgeof the land and its changes,the research team
created a GIS database to store and inputthe infor-
mation so thatthe community can use and update the
information overtime.The community hasa robust
baseline including currentand pastcharacteristics
against which they can measure changing characteristics
and future conditions.This project used western frame-
work to store and house vitalcommunity traditional
knowledge.
Community-based participatory research requires sup-
port not only from individualcommunity members and
researchersbut also from community leadership and
Aboriginal organizations. Strong partnerships with these
participants can ensure thatthe research objectives are
relevant,methodology isappropriate,communications
are effective and thatthe research projectis successful
for all parties involved.
Diane McClymont Peace and Erin Myers
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Materialand methods
One of the goals of the program is to support research
projectsthat includeone of the following objectives:
identify health risks including those affecting vulnerable
peoples,analysethe risks to health, and/or conduct
a health risk assessment,and examine exposure and/or
modelling data collection.Proposals must also incorpo-
rate local/traditionalknowledge and mustinclude the
development of adaptation approaches to climate change
impacts,as well as a plan for communicating results
back to the community or communities involved.
In order to ensure successfulimplementation ofthe
program,a seriesof community visits,15 in total, as
well as 3 capacity-building workshopswere held for
communities and organizations to become familiar with
climate change impacts, their potential effects on health,
as wellas methods to develop good research proposals
and budgetsthat would meetthe requirements ofthe
funding agreements.These workshops were delivered in
partnershipwith Aboriginal organizationsand were
held in Whitehorse,Yukon; Yellowknife,Northwest
Territories; and Ottawa, Ontario. During the workshops,
participants were invited to share their perceptions on
what kind of changes they were experiencing and their
concernsabout theseobserved changes.It was then
jointly determined which of the changes they mentioned
were linked to climate effectsand in turn how these
could affect the health and well-being of affected com-
munities.As participantsbecamemore familiar with
climate change and health,they were invited to think
aboutwhat kinds of projects they could undertake to
reduce these effects. On the second day of the workshops,
the participants,either in small groups or together,
designed one or severalresearch projects and developed
a budgetthat had relevance to their own communities.
Over the last3 years,50% of the proposals came as a
direct result of visits and workshops (9 proposals from
communities visited and 10 from the capacity-building
workshops).
Also, to ensure alleligible communities were aware
of the program and because not allcommunities could
attend the capacity-building workshops,postersabout
the program and the application processwere widely
distributed. Plain-language application guides were devel-
oped thatincluded step-by step procedures to develop
a proposal to meet Health Canada’srequirements.
These guides were mailed to interested applicants and
organizationsand were made availableon northern
and Aboriginal websites. The application guides included
the following topics:description ofthe climate change
program and program goals,potentialfieldsof study,
funding amounts and deadline for submission,eligible
candidates/communities, required elements of the propo-
sals, collection and storage of data, proposal review and
selection process,timelinesand contact information,
elementsfor Health Canada’sEthics Review Board
approvalprocess,a summary check list,and a CD with
further information and templates (e.g. proposal, budget,
consentforms)that could be used fordeveloping the
proposals.Required elements of the proposals included
a cover page, plain languagesummary,community
background,introduction,project description(back-
ground, objectives,rationale,methodology,activities/
outcomes,partners,capacity building,and traditional
knowledge),work plan and timelines,budget,project
evaluation,communicationand/or results,reporting
plan, background information on team members, consent
forms etc., and letter(s)of support by a mandated
authority. Communities were encouraged to submit draft
research proposalsbeforethe deadlinefor feedback.
Several communities sent their proposals to the program
for a pre-review. This pre-review helped to ensure that the
applicationsmet program criteria,and that proposals
had clear objectives,goals and realistic timelines.These
proposals were successfuland received approvals from
the selection committees.
This application procedure follows the World Health
Organizationrecommendations(4) to ensurestrong
community-based participatory research.
In order to have an equitable and transparent review
process for proposals, 2 selection committees were set up,
one for First Nations and a second for Inuit.Members
of the committeesinclude climate change and health
experts,northern experts,members of Aboriginalorga-
nizationsand governmentstaff who were responsible
for approving budgets and implementing other aspects
of the program. Committee members reviewed proposals
and make finaldecisions on which communities/organi-
zations would receive funding.
Results
The workshops,community visitsand otheroutreach
activities generated considerable interest in the program.
Ten community-based participatory health research pro-
jects from across Canada’sNorth were funded in
20082009,10 projects in 20092010 and 16 projects in
20102011 for a totalof 36 (Fig. 1). Funding ranged
from $30,000 to a maximum of $200,000 per year. Each
year the requests for funding increased and were always
greater than the funding available.
The research examined a range oftopicsincluding
loss of traditional foods; water quality and safety,
erosion/loss of permafrost,changes in traditionalmedi-
cines; relationship withice through ice monitoring;
landslides;and numerousclimatechangeand health
research and education projects.Number and types of
projects are listed in Table I.
Many of the projectsenabled youth to re-connect
with theirElders and gain climate change and health
awareness. In some cases, youth spent time in traditional
Community-based participatory research climate change and health
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wildernesscampslearning abouthow to observe the
land and its changes,abouthow to hunt and respect
the land and wildlife,which helped to develop valuable
attributes such as patience,respect,self-sufficiency,self-
esteem and traditionalknowledge on how their natural
world is changing.Most importantly,youth gained a
strong sense ofpurpose because they were a part,and
in many cases,leading valuable climate change research
projects.Youth created videosand blogs about their
experiences and their observations of how climate change
is affectingtheir health. These researchvideos are
being used as education tools for youth in other regions
across the North. As one of the 20082009 youth-driven
projects points out(11),this type ofresearch ‘‘created
communityconversations,discussionsand awareness
about climatechangeand its impacton health, and
created many linkages between the often talked about
beliefthat the ‘health ofthe land is the health ofthe
people’and the reality of climatechange.In many
ways,this projectarticulated the principle challenge of
‘research’, in that it remains largely a process and concept
defined outside the community,and much ofthe chal-
lenge of community-based research is to create a way of
coming- to- know that is respectfulof and at the pace
of the people involved.’’ As a number of the participants
noted,these types of projects are creating strong voices
that promote important messages about climate change
and health not only for individualcommunities,but at
a larger national and circumpolar level.
Some of the community-based research projects have
been showcased internationally ateventssuch as the
16th annualmeeting of the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties
(COP 16) held 29 November to 10 December 2010 in
Mexico where nations met to assess progress in dealing
with climatechange and to negotiateclimatechange
mitigation and adaptation measures.Two of the youth-
led projects were invited to present their work at COP17
held 28 November to 9 December 2011 in South Africa.
One of the films produced is the first-ever film about
climate change impacts solely in Inuktitut (12).
In February 2011,a Pan-Arctic ResultsWorkshop
was held in Ottawa to bring northern communities, who
received funding under the program,to showcase their
research and results through photo-voice, videos, Power-
Point presentations,posters,and discussions.It was an
opportunity for community researchers to meetothers,
share theirprojectresultsand gain insightinto what
othersare doing acrossthe North. Over 150 atten-
dees,mostly northerners but also government and non-
governmentrepresentatives,scientists,policy-makers,
Members ofParliament,Aboriginalleaders and a few
Fig. 1. Distribution of Health Canada’s Climate Change and Health Adaptation Programs funded from 20082011.
Diane McClymont Peace and Erin Myers
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internationalexperts actively participated in the work-
shop.There were some participants that had never left
their communities buttravelled to Ottawa to share the
results of their work.Their participation is a testament
to the importancethat communitieshold for their
concern about effects of climate change for their
own research and for sharing information with others
in the hopesof creating furtherawarenessand policy
change.
During the workshop,participantswereinvited to
fill in evaluation formsin order for the program to
gain further perspective on how to meetthe needs of
community-basedresearchand whetheror not this
style ofworkshop was beneficialfor the dissemination
of information.The evaluation form asked questions
including: what did you like about workshop, what would
have made it better,what was learned,what would you
like to see as next steps for the program? With a response
rate of 70%,the program received many compliments.
A typical response is the following:‘‘The program has
accommodated communitiesat a variety of stagesin
understandingclimatechangeand health issuesand
research.However,there remainsa lot of work to be
done in developing Indigenous research methodologies.
This workshop represented a very useful ‘‘state of knowl-
edge.’’Many of the participants stated how important
Table I. Areas of research for the Climate Change and Health Adaptation Program for Northern First Nations and Inuit Communitie
Area of research
Number of
projects Tools developed
Food security 11 . Film: ‘‘Caribou, Culture and Climate Change’’
. Film: ‘‘Our Changing Homelands, Our Changing Lives’’
. 2 publications in food security and gender
. Emergency food storage unit built 20102011
. Booklet on polar bear:‘‘Wabusk ofWasaho:a part of history and everyday
life’’ Website: http://meeting.knet.ca/mp19/course/view.php?id 35
. Booklet and DVD: ‘‘Nisga’a Healthy Food and Shelters in the Alpine
Permafrost’’.
. Film: ‘‘Teslin’s Voice’’,
. Maps
Water quality 2 . Results of project were incorporated into IqaluitNunavut’s Public Works
Division
. Water Education and Stewardship Program developed for youth
Education/Awareness/Promotion 13 . Film: ‘‘The Students ofMoose Kerr SchoolPresents:A Documentary About
Climate Change’’,
. Blog site: http://www.ournorthourfuture.blogspot.com/
. Maps
. Film: ‘‘Qapirangajuq: Inuit Knowledge and Climate Change’’
. 3-day health research methods training workshop and photovoice
. Film: ‘‘Inuit Women’s Perspectives on Climate Change:Impacts on Inuit
Women’s Health’’,
. Media research lab established
. Literature reviews and media articles
. GIS and traditionalknowledge databases,
. On the land women’s retreat
. Youth and elder on the land workshops
Traditionalmedicine 4 . Traditionalmedicine workshops and wilderness camps
. 2 Books: Climate change and traditionalmedicine
. Herbarium established
. Maps
Land erosion and land use 2 . Newsletters
. Maps
Ice monitoring 3 . Ice monitoring stations built
. Training in ice monitoring
. Book: ‘‘Life with Ice’’
. Real time monitoring for travelsafety
Water safety 1 . Publications
. PromotionalProducts for Water Safety
Community-based participatory research climate change and health
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it was to have a space provided where communities can
share theirknowledge,their research,and their plans
of how to deal with the changesthrough adaptation
plans.’’Participants also mentioned thatthe workshop
was an opportunity to connect with and receive support
from other researchers across the North where distances
between communities are greatand the isolation from
research support is a challenge.Participants also stated
that the workshop provided a forum for them to witness
how their work was feeding into the ‘‘larger picture’’of
northern community research.One of the participant’s
responseswhen asked ‘‘Whatdid you learn at this
workshop?’’summed up the effectof the workshop by
saying: ‘‘I can make a difference.’’
The results from all the research projects demonstrated
the strong voices that representedcommunity-based
participatory research in Canada’s North. . . voices that
are creating impetus to deal with the many changes that
they are experiencing.
Over the coming years, the results of this program will
be used to develop innovative human health risk mana-
gementplans and tools, including culturally-sensitive
educationaland awarenessmaterials,to improve deci-
sion-making regarding local response plans/health adap-
tation measuresand to raise awarenessof potential
vulnerabilitiesat community,regional,national and
international levels.
An interim evaluation ofthe Climate Change Pro-
gram was conducted a year and a half after its inception
on relevance,design and delivery,success,and immedi-
ate outcomes.The initial evidenceshowed thatthe
program has been successfulin all aspects including its
3 intendedoutcomes,namely:increasingaccessto
climate change tools and information; building capacity;
and promoting collaboration.Longer-term outcomes,
namely increased useof adaptation information and
products; increased capacity of communities to adapt to
climate change and finally reduced vulnerabilitiesand
risks to communities willbe assessed in a subsequent
evaluation.
Discussion
Integral to the program’ssuccesshas been thelevel
of communityengagementthroughoutthe years of
program implementation. Communities played an active
role in developing and managing research projects that
were meaningfuland beneficialto their communities.
They determined theirresearch needsand carried out
the projectswith the assistance ofexpertswhere and
when they determined theirneed.The successof this
program has been reported notonly by individual
communities who have benefitted from the program but
also by First Nations and Inuit organizationsand
selection committee members.
During the capacity-buildingworkshops,northern
organizationsand communitiesgained a clearunder-
standing of the program’s purpose,goals,scope,and an
awareness of climate change and health links.Participa-
tion in the workshopswas also an opportunity for
government staff to listen to and gain a greater under-
standing ofthe many climate change and related chal-
lengesthat northern communitiesare currently facing
on a day-to-day basis. Following the workshops, program
staff have given numerous presentations to government
policy and program staffon these understandings and
challenges.
Another successfulaspectof the program wasto
have northerners participate in the selection committees
to determine who would receive funding.Their experi-
ence and understanding of northern issues and challenges
provided significantinput to the selection committees
during their deliberations.They also played a vitalrole
in making suggestions on how to improve the program,
its communication tools and the application guides by
suggesting tools to include such as proposal and report-
ing templates. These changes will be implemented in the
next versions of the applications guides.
One challenge with implementation was the location
of the program, which is based in the south, in
Ottawa. Distance from the North made building relation-
ships more difficultwhen trying to supportnorthern
communitiesin their research.The program hasbeen
able to alleviate this challenge by visiting a number of
the communities where staff presented information about
the program and learned aboutlocal challenges.The
program,however,has only been able to visit a portion
of eligiblecommunities.To illustrate, after the first
call for proposalsin 2009,program stafffocussed on
visiting the Yukon where the participation ratewas
the lowest.Staff worked with theCouncil of Yukon
First Nations and metwith chiefs and councils,health
directors, and lands and resource directors in 8 commu-
nities to discuss the program and how communities
could apply for funding.The following year,Yukon
had the highest number of community participants and
diversity in research topics.
When a community receives approvaland funding,it
is essentialthat the program worksdirectly with the
communities.This relationship ensuresthat there isa
person available to support each community through the
various researchstagesincluding interim reporting,
research ethics board reviews,budget reporting,evalua-
tions,and finalreporting. It is imperative to build these
relationships,to make connections,to be flexiblein
order to ensure that each community feels comfortable
and thatresearch projects are successfuland beneficial
to the community.This relationshipalso ensures
achievementof 2 other essentialstepsof community-
Diane McClymont Peace and Erin Myers
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based participatory research as outlined by the WHO
(4),namely:
(a) Mechanismsensure regularand effective liaison
and communication between the community and
research organization.
(b) Course ofaction to be followed by both parties
if the research isstopped due to an unforeseen
inability to reach its objectives,or as a resultof
a collective decision by the community thatthey
no longer wish to or can participate.
A significant challenge in this community-based partici-
patory research is the duration of funding.To date the
program hasbeen limited to funding of1 year at a
time.Although applications are reviewed and approved
3 monthsbefore the beginning ofthe year,there are
always delays in release offunds to communities who
cannotstart the research projectwithoutthe funding,
and should notcommence research untilall approvals
and funding are in place.When the delays extend into
the field season,important informationcannot be
collected and the quality ofresearch iscompromised.
This delay has been noted by most if not allcommuni-
ties and the program islooking at differentfunding
models,such as multi-year funding,to try and address
the issues.
Another challengeis the requirementsfor ethics
review,which for the most part require the same
standardsas western-based laboratory ormedicalre-
search and do not considerthe unique nature of
community-based participatory research and the incor-
poration of traditional knowledge,which must be
protected.These challengesare being worked on to
ensure the ethics review can accommodate the unique
nature of this research.
Although this model of community-based partici-
patory research hasbeen developed in consultation
with northern communities and to fitHealth Canada’s
requirements for approvals and funding,other compar-
able models have been developed such as the Commu-
nity Adaptation and Vulnerability in ArcticRegions
(CAVIAR) methodology (13).The CAVIAR group got
its beginnings, during the 20072008 International Polar
Year (IPY), with partnersfrom Arctic countrieswho
came togetherto respond to the need forsystematic
assessment of community vulnerabilities and adaptations
across the Arctic. This methodology has been applied in
7 Arctic countriesincluding Russia,Norway,Sweden,
Finland, Greenland, Canada and Alaska who have used
this framework and its multi-disciplinary methodology
to describe their communities’ socialand environmental
conditions thathave created exposure sensitivitiesand
that requireadaptation measures.This methodology
does notlimit itselfto climate change and health but
is an excellentapproach to provide a framework for
communities to be an active leader in determining their
specific vulnerabilities and solutions.
Although community-basedparticipatoryresearch
may be considered as grassroots-based,it is important
to promote thisresearch to empowercommunitiesto
understand and be able to make decisions on the environ-
mentalchanges thataffecttheir health and livelihood.
It is also important for the program to inform govern-
mentsand other organizationson its achievementsto
support ground-up and top-down practicesrequired
to create the evidence and impetus thatare needed to
address the numerous climate change and health issues
that northernersface including inputthat will contri-
bute to understanding and awareness in the circumpolar
world.
Acknowledgements
Authors wish to acknowledgethe supportof many Aboriginal
and northern organizations that have assisted in numerous aspects
of the implementation of this community-based research program,
specifically the Assembly of First Nations,Councilof Yukon First
Nations,Dene Nation,Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami,PauktuutitInuit
Women of Canada, Gwich’in Council International, Inuit Research
Advisors,Institute for Circumpolar Health,Canadian Society of
CircumpolarHealth, Arctic Health Research Network Yukon,
Qaujigiartiit Health ResearchCentre (AHRN-NU) Nunavut,
Makivik Corporation, Nunatsiavut Government Health
and Wellness, Nunavut Research Institute, and the Climate Change
Program in Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development
Canada.
Conflict of interest and funding
The authors have not received any funding or benefits from
industry or elsewhere to conduct this study.
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*Diane McClymont Peace
EnvironmentalHealth Research Division
First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada
200 Eglantine Driveway
Ottawa, ON K1A 0K9
Canada
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]
Diane McClymont Peace and Erin Myers
8(page number not for citation purpose) Citation: Int J Circumpolar Health 2012, 71: 18412 -http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v71i0.18412