Building Relationships Across the North: Yukon University Project Strengthens Circumpolar Collaboration on Climate and Winter Tourism

As climate change continues to reshape Northern environments, communities across the circumpolar North are facing many of the same questions. How will changing snow conditions affect winter tourism? What can Northern regions learn from one another? And how can research better reflect the priorities of the people who live and work in these environments?

These questions inspired Climate Impacts on Snow and Winter Tourism, a Yukon University project led by Alison Perrin and Stephanie Saal, supported through UArctic and Global Affairs Canada funding. Rather than focusing solely on research outcomes, the initiative prioritized building relationships with researchers, tourism operators, and Northern communities across the Yukon, Finland, and Iceland, creating a foundation for future collaboration on some of the North's most pressing challenges.

Reflecting on the project during a recent interview, Perrin explained that the initiative began after her team was invited to join a larger circumpolar research proposal. While Yukon University's Climate Change Research Group had already been exploring issues related to climate change and snow, working alongside researchers from other Northern regions revealed how widely these concerns were shared. "Meeting those people and being invited into that proposal made us see that these were common challenges across the North," Perrin said. The experience connected the team with researchers working on similar issues while opening new opportunities for collaboration beyond the Yukon.

For Yukon University, the project represented an opportunity to broaden its perspective through international collaboration. Visits to the University of Lapland and the University of Iceland allowed researchers to exchange ideas with academics, tourism professionals, and local partners while gaining firsthand insight into how different Northern regions are responding to climate change.

Although the three regions share many common concerns, Perrin noted that each contributes to unique experiences and expertise. In Finland, researchers are exploring ways to adapt winter tourism to declining snow conditions, including innovative approaches to extending winter ski seasons. Researchers in Iceland, meanwhile, expressed strong interest in Canada's experience with avalanche research and snow safety, particularly as communities manage avalanche risks that affect roads, settlements, and everyday life. Together, these perspectives demonstrated that while climate change presents shared challenges across the North, meaningful collaboration allows regions to learn from one another while developing solutions suited to their own local realities.

Throughout the interview, one theme emerged repeatedly: successful Northern research begins with relationships.

Rather than arriving with predetermined research questions, Perrin explained that meaningful collaboration starts by listening. Building trust with local communities, tourism operators, Indigenous partners, and fellow researchers creates the conditions needed to identify research priorities that genuinely reflect local experiences and concerns. "I think that is kind of a guiding direction for our research," she said. "The questions come from people, and you need to have trusted relationships to develop those questions together."

For Perrin, successful tourism depends on communities having meaningful opportunities to shape how tourism develops. When tourism reflects local priorities and creates benefits for residents, it can strengthen communities. When those communities have little influence over its direction, the impacts become far more complex. Maintaining community agency, she emphasized, is essential to ensuring tourism supports rather than disrupts Northern life.

The project also offered valuable insights into sustainable tourism. Perrin was struck by both the scale of winter tourism in Finland and Iceland and the thoughtful approaches being used to manage large numbers of visitors while protecting local communities and environments. Rather than suggesting one model should be replicated elsewhere, she believes these experiences encourage important conversations about what sustainable tourism should look like in different Northern regions, recognizing that each community has its own values, priorities, and vision for the future.

Although the project focused primarily on engagement and relationship-building, it has already produced meaningful outcomes. Yukon University researchers are developing proposals for interdisciplinary snow research, strengthening partnerships through the UArctic Tourism Network, and exploring the possibility of hosting a future circumpolar field school in the Yukon that would bring students together to learn from Northern communities across the Arctic. These initiatives grew directly from the connections established through the project and demonstrate how investing in relationships today can create lasting opportunities for research, education, and knowledge exchange tomorrow.

Perhaps one of the project's most significant achievements, Perrin reflected, is demonstrating what targeted funding can make possible for smaller, Northern institutions. While innovative research is taking place across the Arctic, universities, colleges, and community organizations often lack the resources needed to build international partnerships. Support from UArctic and Global Affairs Canada provides Northern-based researchers with opportunities to connect across borders, exchange knowledge, and develop collaborations that might otherwise remain out of reach.

As the project moves forward, the partnerships established through this initiative will continue to shape new research, educational opportunities, and circumpolar collaboration. More importantly, they demonstrate that addressing the North's shared challenges begins not only with scientific inquiry, but with trust, dialogue, and a willingness to learn from one another. Through those relationships, Northern researchers and communities are building a stronger foundation for understanding and adapting to a changing Arctic together.