Energy security and community research in the north

By Sage Broomfield, 1st year MDP student

Tansi, This summer I am working with the Community Appropriate Sustainable Energy Security (CASES) Partnership. Hosted by the University of Saskatchewan, the CASES partnership includes 17 northern and Indigenous communities and other private and public project partners from Canada, Alaska, Sweden, and Norway. The goal of the larger project is to work collaboratively to address energy security in the north through shared capacity building and knowledge sharing that leads to better designed energy systems that meet the socio-economic goals of each community. 

But that won’t happen all at once. Each community has its own current and historic relationship with energy and energy systems. Good relationships and good research are necessary to understand the current needs of each community.

In my role, I am working with The Gwich’in Tribal Council (GTC), one of the CASES project partners, in Treaty 11 Territory in Inuvik, NT. My job is to support the implementation of a community and youth-based research model in the Gwich’in communities of Aklavik, Inuvik,Tsiigehtchic, and Teetl’it Zheh (Fort McPherson).

In this research model the University of Saskatchewan hires and compensates three youth researchers to interview members of their community, rather than sending outside researchers into these communities. These interviews will then contribute to a community energy profile and other energy security research for the region.

My role is to hire, train, and support the three youth community researchers. Hiring youth entailed getting the word out about the youth positions with the GTC staff and other Gwich’in government offices and youth organizations, and most excitingly, chatting with youth who are interested in the position, research, and energy!  Once hired the youth were hired, I provided guidance and mentorship, with university support, as to how to conduct research interview conversations on topics like energy use and community experiences with power outages. This project is still taking shape, but I am super excited about the work we/I am doing!