Involving citizens requires a place to meet. That is why, in early August, Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq made both the community center and the Igdlo Youth Cultural Center available for a new research initiative in the Tasiilaq region.
Knowledge We Need
The researchers and participants focused on how weather and climate change affect the region: local snow conditions and piteraq, as well as food security in Arctic communities.
Kaffemikkerne is part of SermilikT, a new initiative by an Austrian research team at the Sermilik research station, located near Tasiilaq. The initiative’s motto is “Research together, learn together.”
The vision is for local knowledge and scientific research to go hand in hand in developing long-term, Inuit-centered research.
“We have been pleased with the interest researchers have shown in local knowledge. The knowledge possessed by both older and younger people in the region can play an important role in helping us understand the challenges posed by climate change,” says Hjørdis Viberg, regional director for East Greenland.
Involvement on the Citizens’ Terms
If the residents of Tasiilaq are to have a say in what information is gathered about their own area, the conversation must take place where they are, in a setting where people can sit down and talk together.
This was made possible by the coffee gatherings. Hosting them at both the community center and the Youth Cultural Center allowed the event to reach a wider audience in the city. Local interpreters ensured that participants could take part in their own languages—Tunumiisut and Danish—throughout the event.
The municipality’s strategy for citizen engagement identifies café meetings, workshops, and focus group meetings as tools for dialogue—as a supplement to traditional public meetings and public hearings. The strategy establishes access to information as a fundamental prerequisite for citizen engagement.
The visiting scientists who attended the coffee breaks were all from the University of Graz in Austria: Gertrude Saxinger, professor of applied integrative geography; Katrin Schmid, postdoctoral researcher in integrative polar geography; and Tiago Silva, research assistant.
The Sermersooq Municipality looks forward to potential future discussions between researchers and the local community through the SermilikT initiative.
