PhD Oral Defense: Assessing Stakeholder Participation in Northern Scientific Research
PhD Oral Defense of Nicolas Brunet, Department of Naural Resource Sciences
Many researchers have claimed that Northern science has experienced a paradigm shift which includes an increased emphasis on local community engagement. However, very few studies have empirically examined this claim. This thesis seeks to better understand and explore stakeholder participation in Northern science to inform research policy and practice, primarily in Canada. The shift towards a greater emphasis on local community engagement in Northern science fits within a broader transition that has been observed in international research policy, described by Gibbons et al. (1994) as a shift from Mode 1 (traditional forms of scientific discovery) to Mode 2 (knowledge generated in the context of application) approaches to knowledge production. Using this framework to analyze research articles published between 1960 and 2010 in four prominent Arctic and polar-focused journals, we identify that shifts toward Mode 2 research approaches over time have been modest and gradual, and that Mode 1 forms of knowledge production continue to dominate Northern science. Local involvement in research appears to vary systematically among disciplines, organizations and regions, raising important questions for research and policy.