We are excited about your participation and look forward to your feedback. Your responses to four questions below may be used to inform planning for the Arctic Futures 2050 conference or for post-conference products. Names and personal information (if provided) will be redacted, unless permission is given by the responder.
This activity is optional and open to anyone interested in reflecting on their personal interaction within knowledge and policy interplay. It is not required for those attending the conference but of course we hope many of you will choose to participate in this exercise. Please email any questions to Andrea Fisher at afisher13 [at] alaska.edu.
Some Background
WHY are we doing this?
We want to identify and improve the effectiveness and depth of dialogue between knowledge holders and decision makers. Our goal is to better understand how knowledge is communicated: when, where, how, and by whom.
HOW are we trying to achieve this?
We created an idealized Overall Information Flow Diagram (pictured below) that illustrates the main components (boxes) that interact or influence Knowledge (Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge Systems) and decision making (Policy and Management) and how knowledge and other types of information flows among them (arrows).
At this first and broadest level, the boxes contain a list of non-exhaustive examples of what is meant by the box titles. Each of the arrows connecting the boxes is numbered, recognizing that most of these relationships differ from one another and need to be understood individually.
WHAT are we asking for?
To help deepen the dialogue between knowledge holders and decision makers we ask that participants characterize the specific relationships (that is, how they are used) they are familiar with (including adding others if not shown). Your and others’ responses can help us learn about which pathways are used effectively or are being under-used, over-used, or mis-used, and why. We believe this analysis and ensuing discussions could improve overall communication and make relevant science and knowledge more accessible to Arctic policy making.
To help us get under way, please consider the following four questions about your engagement with knowledge and policy in relation to the Arctic environment.