Suchergebnisse

This thesis analyses the employment circumstances of the Canadian Status Indian population, focusing on current and estimated future employment trends on-reserve. It also identifies a strategy for achieving on-reserve community economic and employment development. The point of departure is the changing demographic composition of the status Indian population over the period 1986-2011, and the related impacts on employment circumstances as the Indian population ages into its working aged years. On the basis of empirical evidence and a literature review covering possible individual, reserve based and external determinants of low Indian labour force participation and low employment rates, the contemporary patterns of Indian employment is examined. It is found that lack of employment and economic opportunities within on-reserve Indian communities is partly to blame on a lack of federal commitment to the financial support of economic development initiatives. In light of the growing Indian working aged population, the Indian unemployment problem will worsen considerably without an immediate federal commitment to long-term support for Indian community economic development. The solution lies in a comprehensive community economic development strategy that entails long-term financial support with community control over the development process.

Since the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were adopted in 2015, efforts are underway to identify indicators for monitoring progress. However, perceptions of sustainability are scale and place specific, and there has also been a call for Sustainable Development Goals and indicators that are more relevant for the Arctic than the global perspectives. Based on earlier and ongoing efforts to identify Arctic Social Indicators for monitoring human development, insights from scenario workshops and interviews at various locations in the Barents region and Greenland and on studies of adaptive capacity and resilience in the Arctic, we provide an exploratory assessment of the global SDGs and indicators from an Arctic perspective. We especially highlight a need for additional attention to demography, including outmigration; indigenous rights; Arctic-relevant measures of economic development; and social capital and institutions that can support adaptation and transformation in this rapidly changing region. Issues brought up by the SDG framework that need more attention in Arctic monitoring include gender, and food and energy security. We furthermore highlight a need for initiatives that can support bottom–up processes for identifying locally relevant indicators for sustainable development that could serve as a way to engage Arctic residents and other regional and local actors in shaping the future of the region and local communities, within a global sustainability context. ; This research was funded by the NordForsk-funded Centre of Excellence "Resource Extraction and Sustainable Arctic Communities" under the programme Responsible Development of the Arctic: Opportunities and Challenges—Pathways to Action. J.N.L.'s work on the publication is also part of the Nunataryuk project, funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under grant agreement no. 773421. ; Peer Reviewed