Workshop Invitations
Dear …,
We would like to hereby cordially invite you to the final gathering of our Genome Canada project; BearWatch, full name.
Why In a rapidly changing, and sometimes politically contentious environment, we believe that meaningful engagement with Inuit communities in polar bear research is crucial to a sustainable future for both bears and humans. We take great pride in our collaboration with local communities with whom over the past years we have developed and implemented a new non-invasive genomic toolkit. This gathering will center around the introduction of this toolkit and its potential to policymakers, research advisors, governance representatives and Nunavummiut communities. The gathering also aims to provide a space for collective exploration. How to implement this tool? How to ethically conciliate Inuit knowledge and values with genomic science when implementing this tool? How to mutually agree upon ‘management’ decisions when coming together in difference?
How We believe that the best way of coming together to explore creatively and with less restrictions, is to meet in spaces outside of the ones where day-to-day business-as-usual decisions are made. We invite you to gather with us in person, in the communities where much of the work has been developed and executed. We invite you to come as you are, both as an ‘expert’, ‘policymakers’ or ‘researcher’, but most of all as a human that deeply cares for polar bears and our ongoing relationship with them.
What Do not expect a purely conventional presenter/listener format. This gathering will introduce the Genomic toolkit, present scientific findings and its community inclusive approach, however we seek to do so by generating creative engagement. Expect a hands-on, partially on-the-land experience where multiple senses are engaged and challenging topics are approached through interdisciplinary lenses and reflections.
Kumospace
Apart form the community of Gjoa Haven, 28 people from the south were invited to the final workshop. Those that could not join, could participate remotely through a zoom-connection though a starlink satalite connection.
To provide a welcoming environment online, I had created a "kumospace" through which remote participant could find some research context and connect with each other outside of the plenary meetingspace in zoom.