The document summarizes the work of the Inuit Institute for Research and Planning (IIRP), which aims to build Inuit capacity to conduct research that bridges Inuit knowledge and Western science. The IIRP trains Inuit in research skills through a multi-year cohort program involving in-class sessions and hands-on community-based research projects. The goal is to establish Inuit-led and controlled research that addresses Inuit priorities and produces evidence to inform planning in Canada's North.

1. Bridging Inuit Knowledge with Western Science
CIETcanada
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2. CIETcanada research priorities
CIET is an academic NGO housed at the U of O.
Its research priorities are relevant for Inuit:
• Intercultural approaches to resilience
• Cluster methodologies to understand community
dimensions, and sparse data context
• Community led randomised trials to provide the
highest quality evidence for planning
1.Culturally relevant tools for socialising evidence
• Build skills where they are needed most

3. CIETcanada capacity building
• CIET builds skills to conduct research and to use
research products; multi-method, epidemiology focus
• CIET tries to move the centre of gravity of research
from academic centres to communities
• In Canada, the several skill initiatives including
– Network Environment for Aboriginal Health
Research (NEAHR): scholarships and seed funds
– Centre for intercultural research in prevention of
gender violence (CIPREV)‫‏‬
– Inuit Institute for Research and Planning

4. The Inuit Institute for
Research and Planning
was inaugurated in 2008
The IIRP builds Inuit skills to link traditional knowledge and
Western Science in Canada’s North
The first Inuit Winter Institute (IWI) trained a group of Inuit to work in
Inuit research and planning, setting the stage for an Inuit masters and
doctoral program

5. Objectives of the IIRP
• Build capacity and accreditation of Inuit researchers
• Inuit controlled interface between Inuit knowledge and
Western science
• Inuit research priorities, ethical review and funding
• Inuit led research and use of its products in planning

6. IIRP's first Inuit cohort
• 8 week course: epidemiological research and training
• 2 week in-class sessions for 4 years (3rd year 2010)
• Apply knowledge in funded community based research
projects in between each session
•Hands on training in ethics and data management

7. Inuit Institute for Research and Planning
Skills acquisition in funded research projects
• Inuit Community Action Research Team (ICART)‫‏‬
– Inuit research management (consulting Elders)‫‏‬
– Community Involvement (Advisory Committee)
• Training (cohort and community partner)‫‏‬
– Develop Instruments (questionnaires)
– Qualitative instruments in design ‫‏‬
– Sampling (eg. youth, elders, male, female)‫‏‬
– High quality data collection (surveys and trials)‫‏‬
– Ethics and Inuit training in ethics reviews

8. Skill acquisition...
Funded Community-Based Research Projects
• In-depth analysis (of results)
• Developing evidence-based interventions
• Implementation research (of the interventions)‫‏‬
• Follow-up Survey Outcomes will depend on actual
interventions
• Project Governance Based on OCAP: Ownership,
Control, Access and Possession principles.

9. Research practical areas
• Inuit resilience research
– Community Resilience to AIDS (Ottawa)‫‏‬
– Domestic Violence Reduction (Labrador and
Nunavut)
• Inuit led research proposals
– Environment and child health (Nunavut)‫‏‬
– ‫ ‏‬se of contaminated cooking, storage and
U
eating vessels (with NTI)‫‏‬

10. CIETcanada hosted the second session of the
Inuit Institute for Research and Planning
at the University of Ottawa from June 1-12, 2009.
3rd Session: November 1-12, 2010

11. Timeline for the Inuit cohort
• 2008 First Inuit Institute ‫‏‬
• 2009 Second Inuit Institute ‫‏‬
– Inuit Institute for Research ‫ ‏‬Planning
&
– Field projects and proposals
• 2010 Third Inuit Institute
– Bachelors completed
– Masters begins
• 2011-2012 Masters cohort graduating
• 2012-2014 Inuit doctoral cohort

12. hochalski@ciet.org
Thank you!