Community Based Participatory Research as a Long-Term Process: Reflections on Becoming Partners in Understanding Social Dimensions of Mining in the Yukon

"LACE—Labour Mobility and Community Participation in the Extractive
Industries, Yukon… was part of a larger research initiative; "Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic" (ReSDA). (p. 189)
Focus Groups
Informal talks
Interviews

This article is based on experiences in LACE (Labour Mobility and Community Participation in the Extractive Industries), a research project that took place in the Yukon from 2014 to 2018. The article emphasizes the importance of long-term relationships and research partnerships in order to build trust. Relationship building and community-based participatory research take time, and more flexibility and seed funding is required for these initial stages of research.

Framework of cooperation with First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun (Mayo, Yukon)
Joint Ownership
Development of joint research aims (w/ Chief and Council, heritage manager liaison introduced "key informants" from community)
Continues relationship beyond scope of project

"Joint publications and joint knowledge products can be outcomes that portray, in a sound way, perceptions and interpretations of local knowledge holders, local research associates, and outside researchers. These products also involve consensus among the stakeholders in research regarding the outcomes, and show a common understanding… Therefore, I argue for long-term relationships that allow the community the space to reflect on findings at their own pace—sometimes this involves a long publication time, which rightfully challenges the power of the neo-liberal high-speed scientific publication industry." (p. 192)

Reflections of PI on CBPR in LACE project.
Project Presentations in community hall
Film
Plain text documents

Non-academic leaflets and plain language project descriptions
"Providing research material that is perceived as beneficial helped deepen the relationship. Some outcomes became visible over time and some not until the far end of the project. Our materials ranged from a jointly published booklet called the "Mobile Workers Guide—Fly-in/Fly-out and Rotational Shift Work in Mining. Yukon Experiences" for the mining workforce as well as two colourful brochures with preliminary insights and stories of the local interlocutors. One brochure is on contemporary employment in mining, published in the beginning of year two (Saxinger & Gartler 2015), and one is on the colonial history of mining in the region and the memories of Elders, which was published in year three (Saxinger & Gartler 2016)." (p. 196)

Production of film "Mining on First Nation Land" (Saxinger et al. 2017)
• Screenings hosted at community presentation alongside release of "Mobile Workers Guide"

"… a non-public report of the research findings relevant to the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun and original interviews (only those where interlocutors' consent is given) will be provided to the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyäk Dun Heritage Department." (202-3)

"Joint publications and joint knowledge products can be outcomes that portray, in a sound way, perceptions and interpretations of local knowledge holders, local research associates, and outside researchers. These products also involve consensus among the stakeholders in research regarding the outcomes, and show a common understanding" (p. 192)

"Developing trust and partnership has been a process over the years and it is still going on. The quality of a relationship changes positively through the passage of time: friendships are established, and people get interested in what we are doing and what the research can mean for them." (p. 195)

"More creative funding mechanisms must be established that allow for temporal flexibility and to give seed money for establishing a partnership project before the actual research work starts. In successful cases of CBPR new projects and funding options are jointly developed. Time is the essential asset for good CBPR, especially when researchers are not yet familiar with the people they work with and vice versa." (p. 204)

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