Island Lecture Series: Towards Energy Sovereignty on Labrador’s Remote Island of Ponds Dr. Nick Mercer Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 · 7:00pm AST (UTC-4) Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, UPEI
(Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies · January 24th, 2023) Newfoundland and Labrador is a global leader in the development of renewable energy. However, the electricity-generation mix differs dramatically in remote and Indigenous communities throughout the province, which remain almost exclusively reliant on diesel fuel, resulting in numerous energy inequities. While sustainable energies are often promoted for these isolated villages, emerging research demonstrates detrimental socio-economic and livelihood implications which emerge when development is led by outsiders or corporate interests. The presentation will focus on an 8+ year community-based research partnership between Dr. Nick Mercer, the NunatuKavut Community Council’s Department of Research, Education, and Culture, and the NunatuKavut Inuit community of Black Tickle, located on the subarctic tundra Island of Ponds, in southern Labrador. The research focuses on identifying and addressing community needs, integrating local knowledge and sustainability values, and mobilizing community-led initiatives to enhance island energy resilience.
Island Lecture Series: Towards Energy Sovereignty on Labrador’s Remote Island of Ponds Dr. Nick Mercer Tuesday, January 24th, 20 · 7:00pm AST (UTC-4) Faculty Lounge, SDU Main Building, UPEI
(Hosted by the Institute of Island Studies · January 24th, 2023) Newfoundland and Labrador is a global leader in the development of renewable energy. However, the electricity-generation mix differs dramatically in remote and Indigenous communities throughout the province, which remain almost exclusively reliant on diesel fuel, resulting in numerous energy inequities. While sustainable energies are often promoted for these isolated villages, emerging research demonstrates detrimental socio-economic and livelihood implications which emerge when development is led by outsiders or corporate interests. The presentation will focus on an 8+ year community-based research partnership between Dr. Nick Mercer, the NunatuKavut Community Council’s Department of Research, Education, and Culture, and the NunatuKavut Inuit community of Black Tickle, located on the subarctic tundra Island of Ponds, in southern Labrador. The research focuses on identifying and addressing community needs, integrating local knowledge and sustainability values, and mobilizing community-led initiatives to enhance island energy resilience.
ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS
Dr. Nick Mercer is a recently appointed professor within UPEI’s Master of Island Studies [Sustainable Islands Specialization] and Environmental Studies programs. Prior to joining the UPEI community, Dr. Mercer held a SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship within Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies. In this role, Dr. Mercer studied questions of energy justice in isolated northern communities, examining how [or if] communities have participated in energy-related decision-making, and how [or if] communities have benefitted from development. Dr. Mercer has a long research relationship with remote and island communities, having conducted almost a decade of partnership research with the Island of Ponds in Labrador, on issues ranging from participatory energy planning, to water security, to gendered dimensions of resource access. Dr. Mercer serves as one of eight appointees to the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Net Zero Advisory Committee and is a vocal advocate for community-led clean energy policy and practice.
March 22, 2021 — COVID-19 ISLAND INSIGHTS SERIES: Iceland, Newfoundland & Labrador, and Prince Edward Island
The latest installment of the COVID-19 Island Insights Series features insights from Iceland, Newfoundland & Labrador, and right here on Prince Edward Island and discusses how these island regions have responded to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the extent to which their recovery plans are able to promote long term resilience and sustainability.
March 16, 2021 — ISLAND LECTURE SERIES MARCH EVENT
Learning from Financial Crisis: Towards Sustainable Island Futures for Iceland and Newfoundland and Labrador Professor Mark Stoddart and Dr. Ásthildur Elva Bernharðsdóttir Tuesday, March 30, 2021 · 1:00pm – 2:00pm ADT Press release | More details and registration
Charlottetown, PEI (March 15, 2021) — What Newfoundland and Labrador can learn from Iceland’s financial crisis
UPEI’s Institute of Island Studies hosting free virtual event Tuesday, March 30th, 2021 featuring researchers from Newfoundland & Labrador and Iceland.More here
A Stella’s Circle building in St. John’s, shown in the spring of 2020, carries a message of hope. Source: The Canadian Press.
As cold-water islands with a shared history, Newfoundland and Labrador and Iceland are often compared. This time researchers are looking at what one island can learn from the other about getting through a financial crisis. They will be sharing their findings at a free, online, public event on Tuesday, March 30th at 1:00 pm ADT, hosted by the Institute of Island Studies at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI).
While the financial catastrophe in Newfoundland and Labrador and the 2008 banking crisis in Iceland both seemed to happen suddenly, this study shows they both had deep roots. “Neither government heeded warnings before their crisis and both had poor communications throughout their crisis,” explains one of the researchers, Mark Stoddart of Memorial University in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. “In Iceland however, public outrage created a turning point that we haven’t yet seen in Newfoundland and Labrador.”
This research undertaken by Professor Stoddart and Dr. Ásthildur Elva Bernharðsdóttir, an independent research scholar at ReykjavíkAkademían in Iceland, is a part of the Sustainable Island Futures project being coordinated by Dr. Jim Randall, the UNESCO Chair in Island Studies and Sustainability at UPEI. The project aims to develop a better understanding of the sustainable development practices and potential of small islands and is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).
