Increasingly, Inuit are faced with climate change, resource development, research, wildlife management, and a host of other issues and related discussions. Inuit hold solutions for how to address these challenges and proven sustainable holistic approaches to having a balanced relationship within the Arctic. At the international level, these topics as well as threats to biodiversity, shipping, and other adverse impacts to food security are constantly present. Yet Inuit communities and Knowledge have not been considered equitably. For years, Inuit have raised concerns about the top-down approaches often used by international organizations, researchers, and decision- and policymakers. More recently and because of Indigenous Peoples advocacy, the recognition of Indigenous Knowledge and the need for partnerships, is gaining consideration.
To achieve approaches that are equitable, approaches that respect and recognize Indigenous Knowledge, a paradigm shifts in how work is being done, how decisions are being made, and how policy is developed must take place. We need true equitable and ethical approaches. The 2018 Utqiagvik Declaration mandated ICC to facilitate the development of Equitable and Ethical protocols to aid in this paradigm shift. In June of this year, ICC released the “Circumpolar Inuit Protocols for Equitable and Ethical Engagement” – or EEE Protocols. The EEE Protocols are the result of many years of work and specifically over the past three years, Inuit from across Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Chukotka have worked together to create this document.
This webinar shared the process of developing the EEE Protocols, the Protocols.