About

Community Partnerships for Self-Reliance (CPS) coordinates engagement and respectful knowledge-sharing between University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and rural Alaska communities and community members, tribes, and organizations. These partnerships:

• support partners in developing and carrying out research priorities that are consistent with their long-term vision
• enhance research capacity at UAF by informing the research process with questions that matter to the future sustainability of Alaska’s unique and diverse rural communities.

History

CPS initially began in 2013 through a collaboration between UAF, the Alaska Native Science Commission and the communities of Igugig, Nikolai, Koyukuk, and Newtok that focused on:

• integrating renewable energy
• documenting the history of flooding
• identifying legal constraints for community relocation
• addressing the community impacts from salmon closures on the Kuskokwim River