Inuit Knowledge Centre

The geopolitics of the Canadian Arctic are escalating as momentum builds around high Arctic sovereignty, resource development, climate change, and further militarization. These global and national drivers are influencing the science of not only the Canadian Arctic but also the circumpolar arctic, where there are increasing demands for timely scientific information as well as the engagement and knowledge of Arctic Indigenous peoples, including the Inuit of Canada. These changes present many opportunities and challenges to building sustainable Inuit communities and finding innovative ways that connect Inuit knowledge to sound research, planning and policy development. This presentation will discuss a new initiative–the Inuit Knowledge Centre–which has been launched to work towards building solutions to address these gaps. Based at Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), the Inuit Knowledge Centre will lead efforts to ensure an increasingly active role for Inuit in research that leads to the generation of innovative knowledge for improved science, policy, and decision making within a Canadian and global context. The Inuit Knowledge Centre will serve a variety of audiences - such as researchers, Inuit and non-governmental organizations, and governments - in support of Inuit-specific perspectives that foster knowledge exchange and capacity, contribute knowledge for improved arctic research, and in support of knowledge development in key Inuit and arctic policy areas.