Involvement of local indigenous peoples in Arctic research – expectations, needs and challenges perceived by early career researchers

Rapid changes in the natural and social environments of the Arctic region have led to increased scientific presence across the Arctic. Simultaneously, the importance of involving local indigenous peoples in research activities is increasingly recognized for several reasons, including knowledge sharing and sustainable development. This study explores Arctic early career researchersâ (ECRs) perceptions on involving local indigenous peoples in their research. The results, based on 108 online survey respondents from 22 countries, show that ECRs value the knowledge of local indigenous peoples and generally wish to extend the involvement of this group in their research. ECRs in North America and in the social sciences have more experience working with indigenous communities and value it more than researchers in the Nordic area and in the natural sciences. Respondents cited more funding, networking opportunities, and time as the main needs to increase collaborations. The results of this study are helpful for developing strategies to build good relationships between scientists and indigenous peoples and for increasing the involvement of Arctic indigenous peoples in science and engagement of their knowledge systems. The complementary views from Arctic indigenous peoples are however needed for a full understanding of how to effectively achieve this.The accepted manuscript in pdf format is listed with the files at the bottom of this page. The presentation of the authors' names and (or) special characters in the title of the manuscript may differ slightly between what is listed on this page and what is listed in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript; that in the pdf file of the accepted manuscript is what was submitted by the author