Arctic Yearbook 2014 | Page 77

77 Arctic Yearbook 2014 Three key fundamental principles that guide the overall conceptualization of the work include networking, collaboration, and communication. Networking and Collaboration A core principle in this project is the commitment to networking with others throughout the Arctic. The goals include sharing information on existing research, policy and practice, with continuing information about best practices for collaborative community-based research in Arctic contexts, and best practices for enhancing language vitality. There is a deep commitment to overall transparency and open exchange of information. To that end, the project website has become an important hub of information; in the future more interactive features will be incorporated into the site to encourage participants to submit their own materials and findings. The project also aims to establish parameters for effective collaborations, including effective interagency and international collaborations. External researchers may receive official endorsement from the project if they agree to follow the indigenous guidelines for ethical conduct and make all their data and findings readily accessible. Communicating and Sharing Data Transparency, in terms of both the process and dissemination of the results, is an important aspect of the project. The distribution of reliable and comparable data for the status of all Arctic indigenous languages in a centralized, accessible format is a standard for all findings of the project, and adherence to it obligates the committees to report their conclusions in a format that is accessible to community members. Thus, for example, terminology must be comprehensible and clearly defined. The aim is to facilitate the local, regional, and international sharing of best practices in addressing Arctic indigenous language vitality. Concretely, this means open access of data and results. At present such open access is managed through the project website (see the discussion on Data Management and Information Access). Governance and Project Management Project management is in the hands of the Permanent Participants themselves, and the overall governance structure is built upon the foundational principles of consensus and collaboration. At the same time, management is needed to keep the moving forward and to insure clear reporting structures, since this is an Arctic Council project. At the request of the Arctic Council, ICC Canada is responsible for managing the project, with President Duane Smith overseeing the initiative. The Steering Committee is advisory to the President. It is chaired by Carl Chr. Olsen, puju, of ICC Greenland and a member of the Sustainable Development Working Group of the Arctic Council, and consists of representatives from each of the six Permanent Participants and an external linguist (Grenoble) as project coordinator, working closely with the Steering Committee and reporting to the President of ICC Canada. The Steering Committee members provide a mechanism for their members to have direct input into the project, and serve as an important bridge for information among the different Permanent Participants. Language & Well-Being in the Arctic