Pluralism in Research: HHL
Some of the most common questions we get in the Healthy Headwaters Lab (HHL) are: How do we do what we do? How do we effectively engage communities as part of our research?
The impacts of our research are evident in the strength of the relationships we’ve fostered and the diverse ways in which our research translates to positive societal impacts. To help tell that story, we recently published a paper sharing insights into HHL’s formative years. This paper contributes to a growing area of academic scholarship: Pluralism in Environmental Governance. Pluralism can mean many things, but here we align with complexity, systems and ecological processes, and ways of thinking; simply put: diversity exists in all aspects of human and natural environments and we embrace plural notions in our science. We acknowledge that such diversity is positive and important in the context of socio-ecological systems (Kassam 2010), and in navigating the science and practice of freshwater restoration.
In our article, authored by founding members of HHL, we outline the values-based, decolonial, and holistic approach to launching the lab; from articulating a clear set of values, leading with listening to local communities where our work is situated, and co-creating specific roles and groups. Most importantly, these values are intentionally wired into all of our projects and grants, setting the stage for research excellence and beneficial societal impacts.
Fig. 1. Key principles of the HHL research process to foster pluralism in freshwater restoration science
It has become evident over the past few years that global problems, especially concerning restoration, have become more complex and require more complex solutions. Restoration research efforts are not being effectively translated into practice and long-term results are not being achieved. HHL believes that by incorporating a pluralistic approach centering Indigenous and local knowledge keepers’ environmental wisdom, research results will be more impactful and long term. In order to achieve these long-term results, there is a need to integrate social aspects of study areas into the traditional western research approach. HHL focuses on community research; conversing with knowledgeable members of the community in order to guide the decision-making process of what work needs to be done. Working with local knowledge keepers allows for research that is specific to the area of study, in our case the Great Lakes (Nayaano-nibiimaang Gichigamiin - the five freshwater seas in Annishinabemowin) and ensures that any research on Great Lakes restoration is tailored specifically to the needs of the Great Lakes. There is no one-size-fits-all approach for every ecosystem in need of restoration, and this is why building relationships and focusing on community needs in the study area is critical for long-term restoration results.
The HHL formalized a mission to pursue science and relationships in support of freshwater sustainability and restoration. Moreover, the HHL articulated a mission that it would use science as a tool for reconnecting land, water and people for the benefit of future generations. To do this, we focused on relationships with those already knowledgeable about the specific land where our work is situated and key stewards of land and water, namely local farmers and Indigenous communities. In order to establish and grow trust with our communities, we spent the first year connecting with individuals through a range of meetings and activities focused on listening to their lived experiences. The goal of these partnerships was to find mutually beneficial ways of working with each other, instead of asking them to go along with our pre-conceived research practices. In order to show we were serious about the new perspectives these relationships could bring, HHL used grant money to establish paid positions for local knowledge keepers in the farming and Indigenous communities we work with. These positions will be talked about later in the blog post.
To show how pluralism is important for developing meaningful relationships, partnerships and science, we focused on two case studies: FERN and the IKC.
Case Study 1: Farm and Freshwater Ecology Research Network (FERN)
The Great Lakes basin mainly lies in southwestern Ontario, where the main use of land is agriculture. Agricultural practices harm the water quality of the headwaters (which lead to the Great Lakes), mainly by use of large amounts of products containing phosphorus. Even though the solution for this may look simple, the livelihoods of the farmers and those who are supplied by the farmers' products depend on these practices. This means there is no one-size-fits-all approach to increase sustainability in farming, and the likelihood of sustainability efforts being used by farmers is highly influenced by the local social and economic contexts. The nuances of these social and economic factors are often not understood by researchers, which is why building relationships is so crucial to headwaters restoration research. To avoid creating or intensifying an antagonistic relationship between local farmers and restoration efforts, the relationships built between HHL and the local farming community fostered research co-design, which would benefit all parties involved; creating long-lasting restoration results while ensuring the livelihood of these farmers were not negatively affected. The development of FERN began in 2019 with the hiring of a Senior Agricultural Advisor: a member of the farming community with many social connections who would act as a liaison between HHL and the farming community. This position helped to legitimize the existence of HHL in the community while also legitimizing to academic researchers the inclusion of local members of the community as paid members of the lab. Finally, to formally include the community in guiding the research program of the lab, HHL developed the Farmer Advisory Board (FAB) as a point of contact between the lab and community representatives. Members included Indigenous growers, local farmers, and greenhouse farmers. The FAB keeps in contact using two board meeting per year, a yearly FERN Symposium, and an annual newsletter which summarizes all research findings and community involvement.
Case Study 2: Indigenous Knowledge Circle (IKC)
The IKC was co-founding member of HHL Candy Donaldson who has been a member of the University’s Aboriginal Education Centre, the Dept of Integrative Biology and the Faculty of Science’s efforts towards Indigenization of science. In the initial phase, we focused our efforts on small steps towards decolonizing teaching and research within the Faculty of Science. The IKC is how HHL has taken concrete action to uphold the goal of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to build strong and meaningful relationships with Indigenous scholars, students, and communities. Using multiple initial grants, HHL has worked with the researchers in Bkejwanong’s Natural Heritage Center (Nin.Da.Waab.Jig) at Bkejwanong (Walpole Island First Nation). This partnership includes having staff positions based in the community, participating in biomonitoring, co-creating further research and partnership grants , co-creating a Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) Field Course which marries Indigenous and western science (Jacobs et al. 2021), participating in ceremony and community events, intentionally pursuing decolonial approaches to teaching and research practices. Another aspect of the IKC is creating paid positions for members of the community that use Indigenous science. Two of these positions are the Lab Storyteller and a Project Coordinator for the Aquatic Species at Risk project. The inaugural lab storyteller, Shayenna Nolan, used art, marketing, and branding to communicate the research of HHL with the public and is based in Indigenous knowledge systems. The Project Coordinator, Katrina Keeshig and Destiny Soney, was a paid role which goes to a member of the Bkejwanong community, and acts as a bridge between NinDaWaabJig and HHL. An example of the blending of knowledge that came from this partnership can be seen in HHL’s research on Phragmites australis; instead of focusing just on removal of Phragmites, community knowledge says that we have an obligation to understand why Phragmites is there, what potential uses it has, and figure out a way to remove it that causes the least harm to all involved. HHL also works with the Bkejwanong Ecokeepers (BEK), Bkejwanong’s youth environmental mentorship program, introducing them to ecological monitoring and using our partnership as a way to inspire and involve the younger generations in restoration and ecological research.
Perhaps most importantly is that HHL – individually and collectively – have made connections to land through a commitment to growing and fostering good relations. In addition to spending time at Bkejwanong Territory and her rich habitats, getting to know community, we have become reminded that these relationships expand across the Traditional Territory and the many habitats and communities that we interact with throughout all aspects of our research. We are all on Native Land and we still have much to learn and more work to do, together.
Barriers:
Though we’ve had initial successes with uniting different communities and sharing viewpoints to create new research opportunities, we’ve come across challenges.
Community-building:
Community-building was difficult during the COVID-19 pandemic. Building relationships takes many meetings and strong communication in order to build trust, and this process was hindered by lockdowns, with communication being reduced to online meetings and emails.
Grant funding cycles:
Grant funding cycles generally operate on short timeframes, while restoration results take years, or even decades, to show. This is why investing in partnerships is key, as these partnerships allow for ecological monitoring over a long time-frame. Producing results by the end of the grant timeline is often a struggle in restoration research, and investing in partnerships ensures that our partners are able to continue the research and allow the results to develop. Restoration research can be very resource-heavy, requiring many resources (such as grant funding and technician time) without quickly producing traditional research results or concrete outcomes.
Decolonizing science:
Finally, there are many non-traditional aspects about HHL’s research and HHL as a whole, including our choice to prioritize relationships and direct grant funding to support community-based positions as a vital part of our research team. These choices are some of many examples and opportunities for us to decolonize science, focusing on the need to nurture relationships with stewards, the mobilization of science into practice, lab storytelling and the co-creation of plain-language communications, and mentorship of the next generation of leaders. All are valuable to restoration and we are actively exploring ways to emphasize the importance of funding these critical elements of a science team.
Is it working? Outcomes and Learnings so far
When people hear about our research at HHL, their immediate questions often focus on the results: does community-based research produce significant results? Does focusing on relationship building create positive outcomes in restoration? Addressing restoration problems through the lens of pluralism has taught us that ‘success’ and ‘impact’ takes many forms that extend and expand beyond traditional western science metrics. While we track our progress with traditional, tangible outcomes, such as publications and events, we often ask: how have our practices benefitted the communities we want to serve? Offering water and soil testing to local farmers as part of our FERN network showcases how there is no one-size-fits-all practice to increasing agricultural sustainability; farm history and interest in sustainability play an important role in deciding the best way to go about restoration. Critically, each year we provide the results of their fields’ testing to each farmer and release our anonymized research findings as a newsletter, in terms free from scientific jargon, to keep everyone in the loop. HHL also releases public educational resources on our Figshare and our open-access journal page hosted by the University of Windsor. These resources are products of our own research and some are direct results of our partnerships, such as the Ojibway Nature Centre Colouring Book, which was a result of the partnership between HHL, Ojibway Nature Centre, and Indigenous Artist Mariah Alexander.
The science is clear: Ecosystems have become degraded over generations and it will take just as long to restore ecosystems to full health, and can be achieved through the amplification of Indigenous and local knowledge. As we embark on the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, the HHL has prioritized grounding its’ work in the community as part of the commitment to centre and amplify local solutions to achieving planetary sustainability. We will continue to reflect, evolve and grow. The journey continues.
