Re-righting renewable energy research with Indigenous communities in Canada
Date
2024
Authors
Duran, Serasu
Hrenyk, Jordan
Sahinyazan, Feyza G.
Salmon, Emily
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Cleaner Production
Abstract
The global call to address climate change and advance sustainable development has created rapid growth in research, investment, and policymaking regarding the renewable energy transition of Indigenous communities. From a rightsholder perspective, Indigenous Peoples' vision of sustainability, autonomy, and sovereignty should guide research on their energy needs. In this paper, we present a multi-method, inductive examination to identify gaps between Indigenous communities' expressed needs and rights, and the questions researchers and policymakers investigate in energy transition research conducted in the context of Indigenous communities located in Canada. We combine a systematic review of the extant literature, a scoping review of the grey literature on off-grid communities by Indigenous and non-Indigenous governments and non-governmental policy bodies, qualitative primary data collected via fieldwork, and an in-depth study of an Indigenous-led renewable energy transition study conducted by Haíɫzaqv Nation's Climate Action Team. We holistically examine these different perspectives and identify emergent themes to recommend ways to bridge the gaps between off-grid renewable energy research and stated Indigenous community priorities. Specifically, we recommend designing equitable research practices, understanding community worldviews, developing holistic research goals, respecting Indigenous data sovereignty, and sharing or co-developing knowledge with communities to align with community priorities closely.
Description
The authors are grateful to the participants of the sharing circle session titled "SFU & CERG - Sharing Circle: Indigenous Community Involvement in Clean Energy Projects" at the RiRC (2022) for their invaluable contributions. We also thank the editors and the review team for their constructive feedback.
Keywords
renewable energy, Indigenous methodologies, research-practice gap, Indigenous data governance, community-engaged research, sustainable development
Citation
Duran, S., Hrenyk, J., Sahinyazan, F. G., & Salmon, E. (2024). Re-righting renewable energy research with Indigenous communities in Canada. Journal of Cleaner Production, 445, 141264. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141264