Involving the local community in the Sermilik-station project

On September 7, 2023, the pre-opening delegation from the University of Graz, APRI, Austrian media and financier Christian Palmers met with people from Tasiilaq’s municipality. Tasiilaq is the administrative centre on the thousands of kilometres long east coast of Greenland, which is very sparsely populated. There are only five other settlements (Isortoq, Kulusuk, Kummiut, Sermiligaaq, Tiniteqilaaq), which together with Tasiilaq have about 2700 inhabitants. 800 km to the north is Ittoqortoormiit with a decreasing population of less than 400 people. Both settlements are in the district of Sermersooq, under the administration of the Greenlandic capital Nuuk, which lies 650 km away from Tasiilaq, separated by the 2000 – 3000 m thick Greenlandic ice sheet, on the west coast. This is not necessarily a good prerequisite for an administration that is supposed to know of and respond to the needs of the inhabitants.

The Ammassalik district (© Google Maps)

The representatives were very open-minded about the activities presented and received the project with its holistic research approach involving the local people very positively. For example, there is interest in the research on fish stocks, as a local fish factory is to be built next year. Climate change and its impact on the cold winds – “piteraq” in Greenlandic – which can blow from the inland ice in the west into the fjord system at 200-300 km/h, is also of great importance to the local people, because the enormous energy of a piteraq poses a great danger to their belongings. Will the storms become more frequent and stronger due to climate change?

A cooperation with the local school for children up to the 10th grade would be very welcome in order to teach important topics such as ecology, climate change and sustainable management. There are not many opportunities to make lessons interactive. Pupils from the western settlements in Greenland should also benefit, instead of sending children from Tasiilaq to West Greenland for further education. This would be an important recognition for East Greenland, which suffers from a west-east divide within the Greenlandic society. Many students come back to Tasiilaq after a higher education in Nuuk or outside Greenland, but find no opportunity to use the knowledge they have acquired.

We raise our observations that we see a big problem with waste disposal in Tasiilaq and also in the surrounding settlements. One of the district representatives immediately agrees that this requires education and awareness-raising among the inhabitants, combined with government efforts for a disposal system. We find litter on the beach even in the most remote fjords, which is a real problem especially in settlement areas. It is eaten by sled dogs. Plastic remains in the environment for decades, is distributed by the wind and, after a long process of fragmentation, enters the food chain as microplastic, so it can even penetrate right into the body cells of creatures. Research about the plastic distribution in the Arctic is done in the microplastics-project at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.

Modern houses in Tasiilaq (© Christoph Ruhsam)

Jobs in the East Greenland settlements are mainly found in the administration, in order to carry out the necessary services for the community. Tourism offers work in logistics, especially in the summer, gives the hunters tasks as guides or offers the possibility to rent out accommodation.

In the evening the whole population of Tasiilaq was invited to the Community House to receive information about the project. A total of 40 people came. Rector Riedler and Wolfgang Schöner presented in English the key points and research priorities of the project. Translations were made into Danish and East Greenlandic. There were interesting questions, especially from the Danish participants who work in education and social affairs in Tasiilaq, which followed up with topics from the morning. They ranged from the idea of a website for the research station with up-to-date information on the research activities to the integration of the station into school lessons. A teacher with a background in geology suggested excursions to the station. Science education could not be more illustrative!

Community event teaser (© Christoph Ruhsam)

The programme was concluded with the presentation of a guest gift in the form of a solar cell backpack from the University of Graz to the district chief. As a counter-gift, we were presented with 3 songs performed by a part of the Tasiilaq choir, which we enjoyed a lot: A lament song of a settlement about the loss of its population, a traditional drum dance for conflict resolution in disputes and a song about the beauty of Greenlandic nature. We were touched and, after conversations along with tea or coffee, spent the evening in the local bar, which, in addition to interesting conversations, again allowed us to experience the dark side of alcohol consumption first hand. Greenland is so big and wide. The East Greenlandic population has been catapulted from a nomadic life to modernity within about 130 years – that’s only about 4-5 generations. Much will have to change to make the society fit for the future. The first steps have been taken, but it will be particularly up to the youth to make something individual in order not to perish. We have seen many smiling children. Each one has the chance to create something new and positive. May they succeed!