About INORD?

The Institute of Northern Ontario Research and Development/Institut nord-ontarien de recherche et de développement (INORD) was established in 1986 within Laurentian University to promote social scientific research relating to the North, especially northeastern Ontario. INORD is headed by a Director, an executive committee of four and a Council, both drawn from Laurentian University departments engaged in social scientific research related to Northern Ontario, such as, among others, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science, and Sociology. At present the office support is provided by a full-time secretary and part-time, occasional research assistants and associates. From time to time this staff complement increases in relation to the projects undertaken by INORD.

Since its inception, INORD has evolved from an idea formulated by a group of researchers into a viable and dynamic catalyst for interdisciplinary research and development. INORD's first directors, Dr. Michael Dewson (1986-1987) and Dr. Matt Bray (1987-1991), along with the INORD Council and first group of researchers, developed a vision for an institute that would examine a wide range of social scientific topics related to the uniqueness of northeastern Ontario. Dr. Anne-Marie Mawhiney was Director of INORD for a three-year term from 1991 to 1994. Ashley Thomson served as Director for 1994-1995, then Dr. Mawhiney returned for two years, and Brian MacLean until July 1999.

Derek Wilkinson became Director of INORD in July 1999.

The mission of the Institute of Northern Ontario Research and Development (INORD) is to provide Laurentian University faculty in the social sciences and related disciplines stimulating opportunities and experiences in research relating to Northern Ontario. INORD promotes social scientific studies and provides research support on a broad range of issues facing Northern Ontario, and acts as the point of contact at Laurentian University for those seeking support for research on Northern Ontario.

In order to fulfill its mandate, the Institute currently operates on the basis of three priorities.

The first is to facilitate independent academic research by Laurentian faculty, specifically projects generated from within the academic community itself but relating to Northern Ontario -- pure as opposed to applied research, such as a demographic study of selected single enterprise communities, for example. In this area, INORD cooperates with the Graduate Studies and Research Office to keep researchers informed about associated projects, sources of funding, and so on. INORD has also established a grant competition of its own. It serves as a focal point for researchers from other universities and colleges involved in studies relating to this region. As well, the institute can help to organize multidisciplinary research teams from Laurentian. Finally, INORD has a very important administrative role to play, providing advisory and clerical help with respect to the application for grants, the administration of the projects, the crystallization of ideas, and assistance with the publication and dissemination of research findings.

Equally important is meeting the more practical or applied research needs of Northern, and especially, Northeastern Ontario. In this sense INORD acts as Laurentian University's point of contact for those from outside the university seeking special research expertise, on a short- or long-term basis. To give an actual example, a far Northern Ontario band council which needs a community development study may ask us for assistance. INORD's role is to identify the university's research potential in the area, put together an appropriate research team, work out the details of the contractual agreement and provide the necessary supervisory and administrative infrastructure for the project.

The third general way in which INORD promotes the study of Northern Ontario is by facilitating the establishment of several research support systems, systems that are vital to the success of both academic and applied research projects. At the moment a major obstacle to research is that there are few comprehensive inventories of resources -- reports, data banks, secondary literature, and other research materials dealing with Northern Ontario. As a result, each project begins with a lot of time and energy spent preparing an inventory appropriate to the subject.

Over the longer term there are several other types of research support systems that INORD can provide. Annual conferences have been held under the auspices of the institute on selected Northern Ontario themes, the proceedings of which have been published in book form and as occasional papers (see INORD papers).

INORD continues to have tremendous potential to bring Laurentian University and the Northeastern Ontario community closer together in a constructive, functional way. It is an exciting venture and one which fits very well with the overall university mandate.

• To promote high quality research and publication on problems related to Northern Ontario, with special emphasis on economic, social, cultural and political development.
• To encourage applied and problem-solving research on issues unique to Northern Ontario.
• To promote and improve information-sharing and cooperative endeavours amongst the University, the private sector (management and labour), municipal, provincial and federal governments, and other socio-cultural institutions.
• To develop, through the Library Collection of Laurentian University and its affiliated colleges, and through the Northeastern Ontario Research and Archival Collections, an integrated base for scholastic endeavour.
• To promote northern expertise and thereby provide knowledgeable professionals for future northern development.
• To obtain funding in support of northern research and provide information on external grants and agencies that sponsor such research.
• To develop and disseminate information on logistic support (field stations, research centres, research assistants, guides, interpreters, travel, licensing, etc.) for researchers in the field.
• To provide guidelines for ethical conduct and procedures for field researchers.
• To encourage visiting and adjunct academic appointments which will enhance our teaching and research capabilities in Northern Ontario.
• To sponsor guest lecturers and learned conferences on northern themes.