IPY: Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA)

This project addresses a gap in data management for Arctic research - the urgent need for effective and appropriate means of recording, storing, and managing data and information being collected in Arctic communities. Local and traditional knowledge (LTK) research and community-based monitoring efforts are on the rise, but to date there has been very little done to coordinate these projects or the information they have collected. The Exchange for Local Observations and Knowledge of the Arctic (ELOKA) seeks to fill this gap by supporting community-based research with accessible and usable data management that can allow findings to be shared more broadly, while still keeping control of data in local hands. Specifically, ELOKA proposes to provide data management and user support to facilitate the collection, preservation, exchange, and use of local observations and knowledge of the Arctic.

To build ELOKA, researchers, community organizations, data management specialists, web specialists, and Arctic residents will work together. ELOKA will be developed in collaboration with four pilot projects representing different regions and cultures, different priorities and goals, different topics and locations of study, and different types of data. All of the pilot projects share a focus on community-based research in the North and a common interest and need for data management and networking capability. Working closely with these projects and using their expertise, experiences, and data, we will build the core of ELOKA which includes: (a) a secure place for existing and future LTK and community-based projects to store their data in a way that is searchable and accessible to a diverse community of users while assuring protection of sensitive data; (b) a portal to finding data, information, and resources about Arctic LTK and community-based projects; and (c) developing best practices and standards in data stewardship for community-based observations.