Exploring Polar Bear Research as Ethical Space, Practice and Process of Engagement: Knowledge-land-scape

Welcome to the knowledge-land-scape. This space is an extended site of my (Saskia de Wildt) PhD dissertation: “Community-based polar bear monitoring research as an ethical practice, process and space of engagement”, in which I ask what it means within the community-based polar bear research project “Bearwatch”, to ethically conciliate Inuit Knowledge and western sciences.

Unlike more typical dissertations, this space allows you as a reader to play an active part in answering this research question. As you take up the role of a fictional community-based researcher you can choose between 3 narrated tracks across this research knowledge-land-scape to explore this question. Each track allows you to make decisions and respond in ways that allow for directing your own journey and gain emergent insights. However, like community-based research itself, this knowledge-land-scape is full of challenges and opportunities to navigate and learn from. You may run into figurative ice-pressure ridges, shipwrecks and shapeshifting beasts, as well as -depending on how you respond- plenty of landmarks and vistas that help you orient and gain insights to answer the research question from different vantage points as you make your way through this knowledge-land-scape.

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