ӣ��Ӱ��

Topic

Engaging Inuvialuit youth on global environmental changes using participatory arts-based methods

Department of Geography

Date & location

• Friday, January 9, 2026

• 10:00 A.M.

• Clearihue Building

• Room B007

Reviewers

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. Jutta Gutberlet, Department of Geography, ӣ��Ӱ�� (Supervisor)

• Dr. Crystal Tremblay, Department of Geography, UVic (Member)

• Dr. Robin Cox, Resilience by Design Lab, Royal Roads University (Outside Member) 

External Examiner

• Dr. Henry Huntingon, Ocean Conservancy 

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Ana Maria Peredo, School of Environmental Studies, UVic 

Abstract

Rapid environmental change in the Canadian Arctic has been affecting communities by changing their environment, resources and livelihoods, as well as their cultural and biological diversity. Climate change impacts many levels, from sea level rise and coastal erosion to the distribution and accumulation of microplastics (and other contaminants) in the environment, ultimately affecting a whole range of human well-being factors. To understand the full extent of these changes, it is crucial to examine how Arctic coastal communities are experiencing and responding to these changes within their local contexts. This study focuses on engaging Inuvialuit in Tuktoyaktuk Canadian Western Arctic on global environmental changes they are facing using community-based participatory approaches. In my research with Inuvialuit youth in Tuktoyaktuk, I used an assemblage of theoretical frameworks to guide the exploration of these complex and intersecting themes. These frameworks include political ecology, resilience thinking, and community-based research. To better understand youth resilience and mobilization related to global environmental changes of concern in the Arctic, more specifically to the community of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories, I was guided by these questions:

1. In the context of escalating environmental changes affecting Arctic communities, what do youth identify as their primary concerns?
2. In what ways are youth mobilizing around those issues?
3. What strategies and tools might additionally support and possibly amplify those actions?

To answer these questions, I used participatory video to document perceptions and solutions from the youth on climate change and used photovoice and StoryMap to engage them on plastics in their environment. Most of the engagement in person took place in the summer 2019, followed by visits in 2022 and 2023.

The study focusing on the use of participatory video and impacts long-term on youth further elaborate the reframing of resilience as deeply relational, aligning with Indigenous framing that identified the collective dimension of resilience. Our research identifies three interconnected domains in which participatory video fosters relational resilience:

(1) Identity and Emotional Meaning-Making,

(2) Collective Leadership and Intergenerational Learning, and

(3) Policy Engagement and Knowledge Mobilization.

This acknowledges the shift from thinking of resilience as an individual, psychological trait, to viewing it as a deeply culturally and socially embedded dynamic process. Results from the engagement on plastics in their environment show that youth's perceptions and solutions on plastic waste, and how participatory visual methods can support local action pathways. With their reflections and images, they emphasized the importance of being on the land and traditional practices, the beauty of their surroundings, and their growing concerns about plastic waste in the environment. Four interconnected themes emerged: 1) Place, belonging and well-being, 2) Cultural continuity and knowledge transmission, 3) Youth environmental awareness and observation, and 4) Pathways for collaboration and youth agency. These findings demonstrate the potential of participatory arts-based approaches to support community- and youth-led solutions grounded in their reality to strengthen local capacity for action towards the plastic waste issue in the North. Overall, the learnings from this research contribute to multiple spheres: advancing our understanding of youth-led participatory research in Arctic or Indigenous contexts; refining methodologies for community-based and arts-based research; informing practice and policy on youth engagement and climate communication; and expanding theoretical frameworks through feminist, political ecology, and relational resilience perspectives.