scholarly journals “A Great Investment in Our Communities”: Strengthening Nunavut’s Whole-of-Society Search and Rescue Capabilities

ARCTIC ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 258-275
Author(s):  
Peter Kikkert ◽  
P. Whitney Lackenbauer

Community-based organizations along with territorial, provincial, and federal agencies are responsible for search and rescue (SAR) in the Canadian Arctic. In delivering response capabilities at all hours of the day and for 365 days a year, the community-based organizations face a wide array of challenges. Using the data collected through the Kitikmeot Search and Rescue Project and the Kitikmeot Roundtable on SAR, coupled with academic and non-government organization literature, this article explores the major challenges facing community SAR organizations in Nunavut and builds a case for how targeted investment can best bolster community-based capabilities. We suggest novel, practical, and holistic solutions that have been proposed by or co-devised with community partners, are rooted in the unique context of Nunavut’s communities, and are reflective of a community resilience-building approach. One set of recommendations involves strengthening current programming, including the expansion of Nunavut Emergency Management’s inReach program, continued support for the enlargement of the CCGA, streamlining the process to activate Canadian Ranger patrols, and encouraging greater cooperation in the provision of training by federal and territorial agencies. We also propose new approaches, including a whole-of-society preventative SAR program centred on educational and youth programming, the adoption of a SAR equipment usage rate model, and the launch of a Community Public Safety Officer program in Nunavut. Finally, to justify greater investment at the community level, we argue that policymakers must change how they conceptualize community-based SAR capabilities in Nunavut. An effective SAR system is about more than the ability to respond to emergency events. It is a critical enabler to broader objectives and goals prioritized in the Arctic and Northern Policy Framework and other federal, territorial, and Inuit strategies. 

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 585-605
Author(s):  
Terrence Thomas ◽  
◽  
Befikadu Legesse ◽  
Cihat Gunden ◽  
◽  
...  

The failure of top-down categorical approaches for generating solutions to many local problems has led to the adoption of alternate approaches. Many scholars believe that a confluence of local and global forces have generated complex problems, which call for new approaches to problem solving. Previously, the top-down approach relied entirely on the knowledgeable elite. Communities were seen as passive study subjects and information flow was one way only- from knowledgeable elites to the less knowledgeable community agents or community-based organization acting on behalf of communities. The objectives of this study are to provide a review of governance as a means of organizing community action to address community problems in the Black Belt Region (BBR) of the Southeastern United States, and an assessment of community problems in the BBR from the perspectives of community-based organizations (CBOs). Data was collected from CBOs via a telephone survey in eleven Southeastern states and via listening sessions conducted with CBOs in 9 Southeastern states. The study provides valuable insight regarding the challenges faced by these organizations and strategies they employ in adapting to serve their communities.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aksheya Sridhar ◽  
Amy Drahota ◽  
Kiersten Walsworth

Abstract Background Evidence-based practices (EBPs) have been shown to improve behavioral and mental health outcomes for children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Research suggests that the use of these practices in community-based organizations is varied; however, the utilization of implementation guides may bridge the gap between research and practice. The Autism Community Toolkit: Systems to Measure and Adopt Research-Based Treatments (ACT SMART) Implementation Toolkit is a web-based implementation toolkit developed to guide organization-based implementation teams through EBP identification, adoption, implementation, and sustainment in ASD community-based organizations. Methods This study examined the facilitators and barriers (collectively termed “determinants”) to the utilization of this toolkit, based on the perspectives of implementation teams at six ASD community-based organizations. Two independent coders utilized the adapted EPIS framework and the Technology Acceptance Model 3 to guide qualitative thematic analyses of semi-structured interviews with implementation teams. Results Salient facilitators (e.g., facilitation teams, facilitation meetings, phase-specific activities) and barriers (e.g., website issues, perceived lack of ease of use of the website, perceived lack of resources, inner context factors) were identified, highlighting key determinants to the utilization of this toolkit. Additionally, frequent determinants and determinants that differed across adapted EPIS phases of the toolkit were noted. Finally, analyses highlighted two themes: (a) Inner Context Determinants to use of the toolkit (e.g., funding) and (b) Innovation Determinants (e.g., all website-related factors), indicating an interaction between the two models utilized to guide study analyses. Conclusions Findings highlighted several factors that facilitated the utilization of this implementation guide. Additionally, findings identified key areas for improvement for future iterations of the ACT SMART Implementation Toolkit. Importantly, these results may inform the development, refinement, and utilization of implementation guides with the aim of increasing the uptake of EBPs in community-based organizations providing services to children with ASD and their families. Finally, these findings contribute to the implementation science literature by illustrating the joint use of the EPIS framework and Technology Acceptance Model 3 to evaluate the implementation of a web-based toolkit within community-based organizations.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0160449X2198942
Author(s):  
Jessica Garrick

In response to the growing absence of unions from the private sector, community-based organizations known as worker centers have emerged as a new front in protecting and organizing workers. Scholars generally argue that worker centers have converged on a model of combining service provision with organizing and advocacy, supported primarily by funding from foundations and government agencies. I draw on interviews conducted with worker center staff, a dataset compiled from their public materials, and secondary research to add to the existing literature and to argue that a clear categorization of worker centers can be derived by attention to their primary workplace strategies. First, worker centers can be meaningfully distinguished by whether they attempt to raise standards in specific industries versus responding to problems in individual workplaces. But they can also be distinguished based on the extent to which they view public policy or winning agreements with employers as the primary route to systemic improvements. These divergences in strategy echo Progressive-era debates about the role for the state in redressing workplace ills. Similar to that era, strategic differences among today’s worker centers are driven less by ideology and more by the distinct structural challenges facing workers in particular political and economic contexts.


Logistics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 23
Author(s):  
Rebecca Sheehan ◽  
Dimitrios Dalaklis ◽  
Anastasia Christodoulou ◽  
Megan Drewniak ◽  
Peter Raneri ◽  
...  

The analysis in hand provides a brief assessment of the United States’ and Canada’s marine transportation system and relevant search and rescue (SAR) support in relation to the Northwest Passage, with the purpose of examining to what extent these countries’ relevant infrastructure resources are able to meet the expected growth of shipping operations and business activities in the Arctic. Through an extensive literature review, this assessment will specifically describe the most important influences upon the maritime transportation system, with the issue of certain geographical details and the capabilities of existing ports standing out. Additionally, vessel activity trends and vessel traffic routing measure initiatives will be examined. Furthermore, the SAR infrastructure details and means to render assistance to people in distress along the Northwest Passage will be discussed. The reality remains that port characteristics are limited and vessel traffic routing measure initiatives and upgrades to SAR assets are commendable but slow-paced. It is true that both the United States and Canada are taking proper measures to build up infrastructure needs, but they both may run out of time to put adequate infrastructure in place to deal effectively with the changing environment.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 545-545
Author(s):  
Patricia Slattum ◽  
Pamela Parsons ◽  
Mary Rubino ◽  
Leland Waters

Abstract The Virginia Geriatric Education Center (VGEC)’s Geriatrics Workforce Enhancement Program (GWEP) partners with two programs, Senior Strong at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, VA and the Richmond Health and Wellness Program at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond VA to support their age-friendly initiatives. These programs enhance primary care for an older population experiencing adverse social determinants of health by providing screening around the 4Ms pillars of age-friendly healthcare and connecting participants with healthcare and community-based organizations. These programs offer a rich learning environment for interprofessional students. The VGEC GWEP strengthens these programs by developing faculty and student training in collaboration with the programs and facilitating program participation in the GWEP-CC Age-Friendly Action Community to develop and refine age-friendly practice workflows, referral pathways and documentation.


Author(s):  
Ziaul Haque Munim ◽  
Rana Saha ◽  
Halvor Schøyen ◽  
Adolf K. Y. Ng ◽  
Theo E. Notteboom

AbstractThis study investigates the competitiveness of various autonomous ship categories for container shipping in the Arctic route. We propose a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework using four ship categories as alternatives and eight criteria for competitiveness evaluation. We analyse collected data using the Best–Worst Method (BWM), one of the recently developed MCDM methods. The findings reveal that operating expenses, navigation aspects, and environmental protection are the three most important criteria for deploying autonomous ships in the Arctic route. Among the three investigated autonomous ships alternatives, the semi-autonomous ship operated from a shore control centre (SCC) is prioritized for Arctic shipping in the foreseeable future, when benchmarked against the conventional ship. The SCC-controlled semi-autonomous ship alternative is competitive in the majority of the considered criteria including operating expenses, capital expenses, navigation, ship-shore and ship–ship communication, search and rescue, and environmental protection.


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