Youth-Led Participatory Video as a Strategy to Enhance Inuit Youth Adaptive Capacities for Dealing with Climate Change

Abstract

Rapid climatic and environmental changes experienced throughout the Canadian North are having significant impacts on the lives of Inuit, with implications for the future of the large Inuit youth population. Within the adaptation research and practitioner community, youth voices, perspectives, and involvement are essential in ensuring representative and sustainable adaptation strategies. This paper examines the potential of youth-led participatory video (PV) as a strategy to foster known protective factors that underpin the resilience of youth and their capacity to adapt to various stresses, including impacts of climate change. The work draws on a case study from the Inuit community of Rigolet, Nunatsiavut, Labrador, Canada, where a two-week PV workshop was conducted with seven youth and followed by in-depth interviews with participants and community members. The findings show that PV may be a pathway to greater adaptive capacities because the process connects to known protective factors that enhance resilience of circumpolar indigenous youth. PV also shows promise as a strategy to engage youth in sharing insights and knowledge, connect generations, and involve young Inuit in planning and decision making in general.