HerInDep was introduced by Andrew Lind at the recent Northern and Arctic Island Studies Research Thematic Network workshop held in St. John's, NL, December 7-8. Co-organized by Andrew Jennings, the workshop brought together 30-some researchers and students, in-person and online, from around the North Atlantic to strategize a research agenda for the coming year. The group discussed a number of themes, including:
Youth: leaving vs. staying; access to education and meaningful employment; mental health as a cost of isolation; changing demographics as youth leave and temporary foreign workers fill jobs that no one else wants;
Blue Economy: importance of blending scientific and traditional knowledges; ocean health; climate change and ice; demographic challenges; reconciliation; diversification
Indigenous languages: ensuring languages remain "the breath of the culture" and are used across social and economic sectors, not just symbolic; connections among language, identity, and well-being
Climate Change: creating place-based climate change adaptation strategies; utilizing traditional and intergenerational knowledges; break down silos; reimagining the future of work; communicate stories of hope
Energy: unpacking NIMBYism; creating place-based, island-made social enterprise solutions; sharing stories where equity and justice are front and centre;
Transportation: effects of links (fixed and ephemeral) on island viability and identity, food security; utilizing hub-and-spoke models;
Intangible Cultural Heritage: creating inclusive communities, well-being, sense of belonging, identity through traditional and Indigenous knowledge and ICH; utilizing culture and ICH to address big challenges such as climate change
HerInDep was discussed in the panel - Intangible Cultural Heritage, where it generated a lot of interest amongst the attendees. Indeed, inspired by HerInDep, ICH as a tool to encourage and support community well-being, identity and intergenerational cohesion, will be one of the two main research strands of this UArctic Thematic Network going forward.
