So much has been going on that I have not had time to write! I will start with tonight (Tues) night and work backward to stay current. Tonight was a lot of FUN, as the whole town was invited to a square dance in the town square. The music was accordion and guitar, typical for Northern music. There was a definite Scottish influence at one point in the history here. The dancing is very lively and simple and many of us joined in. I have some great pictures of Walter dancing! And the children too. It turns out that Walter has long lost relatives living here, which go back to his grandfather’s Flaherty side of the family! There was a branch of the Flahertys that had moved up to Canada during the war, and somehow it had come up, when he mentioned that his maternal grandfather’s side of the family goes back all the way to an infamous female pirate, Molly O’Flaherty of Ireland. Turns out that Martha Flaherty was here visiting her mother, although she currently lives in Toronto! She is a beautiful woman with a very interesting life, and she has been a strong advocate for Indigenous women and culture. A film is in the works about her, as when she was about 7, her family was forcibly relocated to the very far north (Grise Fiord), when Canada was trying to claim sovereignty there. She later was also put in the residential schools. She has gone on to have a distinguished career. She was happy to meet us and we danced together! A very beautiful woman, inside and out. We have pictures of her whole family.
The workshop sessions were very interesting today and the connections are powerful. The one I liked best was a presentation by Dave Carlson, who is the Director of the office responsible for coordinating all projects for the International Polar Year (IPY), 2007-2008. This is a huge cooperative science endeavor, to focus attention and research on polar issues. He is overseeing more than 170 funded projects in all areas, from people to wildlife to oceans, land and everything related, over both Artic and Antarctic regions. These efforts are collaboratively funded by many countries to the tune of 1.2 billion dollars, with Norway, Canada and the US taking lead funding roles. There are scientists form 61 countries and over 55,000 people involved in these projects. The projects meet 5 key criteria, one of which is that all data is shared and made available to everyone. Most projects rely on local community participation to collect data as well, and continue the theme of this conference of combining traditional wisdom with scientific research and data for full understanding of what is going on. A key point he made is that we hit the tipping point in 2004-05, and since then the amount of sea ice has steadily declined each year. We are currently at 40% less than the average sea ice for the period of time between 1979 and 2004. One example of the problems this creates is that reindeer herds get stranded on islands, and can not migrate south over the ice to feed in the winter. The weather is also much more severe without the ice frozen (that surprised me). There are more storms and wave action erodes the coast line. The northern people rely on ice for being able to travel, so they are also in dangerous situations when the ice is not present or is too thin or unstable. The measure of success for the IPY is to show they can work across a range of disciplines, and how much they can engage the public and raise awareness. If this model woks, it can be used to tackle other complex issues as well (such as the water crises on the planet). He was a fascinating man. Walt and I had dinner with him later that eve and enjoyed a lot of conversation about his work, Walt’s and mine around leadership and influence. He has a 3 person office managing all of this!!
The other presentation Tuesday that was most powerful was the keynote in the morning (it is now Wed and I am editing what I wrote last night late!), given by Paul Kennedy, who is a very well known veteran broadcaster in Canada. He has produced over 200 documentaries for CBC “Ideas” for the past 26 years, many of which have won awards. He was a fantastic storyteller, and rather than share his ideas on climate change, as a true journalist he took the opportunity to interview 3 amazing people that he had worked with many years before for a series on the Oceans, and share their thoughts. One was Alexandra Morton, a woman living off the grid in Vancouver who is the world expert on the most northern pod of Orca. They have become endangered due to the contamination of their primary food supply, wild salmon, due to salmon farming and resultant diseases that have been introduced into the ecosystem. Biodiversity and invasive species are big issues. Her message is that change can not be incremental now – we need a fundamental paradigm shift in perspective. We need to work WITH nature, and because we are so powerful, we need to be conscious about it. Her personal goal is to show how the salmon can be brought back. Also I found out that salmon are critical to forestry, as they bring needed protein far upstream to the tree roots. Who knew?
Another person he spoke of was John McGuiness, a diver and underwater explorer now in his 70s who has dived all over the world, including being first to dive under the North Pole. He was a friend of Jacques Cousteau and also works for NASA. His message for us was one word: leadership. Leadership based on principles, values, courage and persistence. I could relate to that!
The 3rd person he talked abut was Bill Montevecci of Newfoundland, who studies the now extinct Great Hawk, which was the “northern penguin” until the 19th century. He noted that we know exactly how we drove this species to extinction and even how the last bird was killed and by whom. He also noted that we are on record for 27 species/year going extinct in the present day. Baffin Island, where we are now, is above the tree line, and many artic birds nest here. There was much more, but the main message was that the animals have to adapt and so do we, as conditions change, which they are rapidly doing in this century. The environment is dynamic and we need to be both aware of our impacts on it and its impact on us!
Paul was very eloquent and inspiring. I am realizing why I am here this week, as my vision is to work with leaders who seek to make a difference in the world. There are certainly many here who fit that category! And many others who aspire to that and are interested in how to do so. Everyone is interested in moving from vision to action and how to mobilize governments and organizations and people to change. A lot of the tools I have learned in OD (organization development) over the years can be very helpful to these leaders.
Comments