research goals
Participatory Approaches
IHACC embraces a participatory, community-based research approach, conducting research with, for, and led by community members as full partners throughout the research process, respecting social norms and decision processes, and building upon a workshop held by the team to advance Indigenous participatory research methods and de-colonizing approaches.
PhotoVoice is an example of a participatory research tool used in pilot studies by the IHACC team for qualitative data collection. Learn more about PhotoVoice in IHACC here.
Participatory photography is also used by the IHACC Program in Peru and Uganda; this tool shares visual information about the rapid changes that communities are experiencing, and the ways in which they are adapting to a changing environment. This work is available on the Adapt to Eat website.
Intersectional Team
IHACC is a team of transdisciplinary scholars, government and NGO representatives, and Indigenous community members, with expertise in medical, veterinary, environmental science, climatology, public health, and social sciences. A transdisciplinary approach is critical to understanding the multifaceted nature and unique context of food systems, security, and safety in the 3 regions.
Comparative Design
A descriptive comparative research design underpins the development of novel robust methodologies to estimate future distribution, magnitude, frequency, and determinants of climate change impacts on health, and reveal systemic or underlying factors shaping agri-food vulnerability in Indigenous populations. Consistency in core community-based, participatory vulnerability concepts and approaches will allow for comparison across regions, including understanding future pathways of agri-food vulnerability, participatory strategies and their effectiveness, conditions and policies which facilitate or constrain food system adaptation, and policy opportunities for facilitating adaptation.