Promoting equitable research: What Greenland teaches us about research ethics

Abstract

Abstract

Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland) is increasingly becoming a site for international research to examine global climate change, biodiversity, deposits of rare earth elements, and various existing health disparities. Yet, there is no comprehensive code of ethical guidelines for responsible and culturally centered research there. International researchers conducting research in Kalaallit Nunaat are bound by research ethics regulations governed their home countries and institutions, but these are varied and, perhaps most importantly, were established independently of Kalaallit (Greenlanders). Consequently, in many cases, research in Kalaallit Nunaat has failed to benefit or prioritize populations there and, in some cases, has caused unintended harms. Here we provide an overview of some of the problems that have resulted from research in Kalaallit Nunaat. These problems were identified from 27 listening sessions held across Kalaallit Nunaat with community members, municipality leaders, and researchers over a five-year period (2020-2025). The themes that arose reveal certain key limitations with applying Western research ethics policies to the Kalaallit Nunaat context. Specifically, such policies tend to neglect research equity, reflect an individualistic rights-based framework of ethics that is limiting, and presuppose that only humans deserve moral consideration.