Initiating community contact
Making the first step, and contacting community organizations/individuals, is
encouraged as early in the research process as possible. This is especially true where the
researcher may have had little or no prior involvement in the identified community, and
has no local contacts. However, the process involved in initiating community contact will
vary depending on the type of project and the desired level of community involvement.
The eight steps outlined below (in this approximate order, although some may be
overlapping or iterative) are suggested for consideration when initiating contact for the
purposes of developing a research partnership, or collaborative research project. Therefore, these steps are mainly targeted towards biological or social science projects which
are in the early stages of development, or will be expanding an established project to
other communities.
In a natural or physical science research project where the field site is largely determined by the biophysical phenomenon of interest, the communities that may be involved
are determined according to proximity to the study site.Therefore, steps 1 and 4 – 8 may
be most applicable (in this approximate order). Local contact, support, and potentially
involvement are still critical to natural or physical science research projects, as they are
often the basis for research licensing approvals. Community members are also very
interested in knowing what is going on around their communities. Residents travel widely
and want to be aware of activities in the areas that they use. Establishing early contact
also ensures that communities know what research is occurring in or around their hamlet, and that they are informed of research progress and results.
1. Background – Conduct extensive background research on the area you are
proposing to work in, and the communities that you might like to approach to
support/participate in the research project (see Map 1). Learn as much as possible about communities you might want to collaborate with, considering the
desired criteria for your project, whereby some relevant factors to consider might
include: i) community size; ii) local government and administration; iii) social
issues; iv) local economy; v) political structures; vi) environmental issues; and,
vii) past research relationships.
2. Identify Potential Communities – Develop a list of possible communities to
involve based on information provided by, or discussed with, relevant northern
or Inuit organizations, governments, individuals, research gap/needs analyses,
etc. Potential communities can be selected based on desirable project criteria, as
well as discussions with knowledgeable and experienced people who have
worked in the north, or in the communities of interest.
A G UIDE F OR R ESEARCHERS
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