Arctic coastal and local communities are co-leading ArcticKnows, a 36-month Horizon Europe RIA project that foregrounds indigenous and local knowledges and supports community-led, decolonial, regenerative, just and climate-wise livelihoods in four pilots in Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The University of Iceland and Hólar University are among the collaborators in the project.
Coordinated by the Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) with eight European partners, the partnership aims at the development of regenerative, place-based economies, placing a strong emphasis on knowledge sovereignty (recognising and respecting diverse knowledge systems) and operating on the principles of free, prior and informed consent, and meaningful participation of women, youth and other marginalized societal groups.
The partnership will bring plural knowledge systems (indigenous, local and scientific) into dialogue with the aim of strengthening just, climate-wise and regenerative livelihoods rooted in the place and community histories, concerns and priorities. It will co-design principles, methods, guidelines, frameworks and indicators for regenerative economies.
Work will be centred upon four pilot areas —Kujataa (Greenland), Varangerfjord (Norway), Vindelälven–Juhttátahkka (Sweden) and Inari (Finland)—and will focus on close-to-nature tourism, small-scale climate-resilient agriculture, fisheries and other seasonal smaller yet relevant livelihoods. These pilots will function as multi-actor spaces for deliberation, social learning, and cocreation, where ideas can be turned into practical pathways for communities to scale up and out to different levels.
Trust first, community-led, fair access and open results
ArcticKnows will work only with communities from pilot areas who are partners in the project and thus committed to its aims and objectives, any other parties’ involvement is a subject to prior consent. We will follow their rules and protocols for how stories and knowledges are shared and credited. Project results will be published openly, while keeping sensitive data safe and in community ownership.
More-than-human environmental governance
Multispecies coexistence and justice are core values of the project, and ArcticKnows will work to develop tools, such as maps, seasonal calendars and simple but not simplistic indicators, that will build respect for wildlife, ecosystems and local livelihoods into planning decisions and priorities, acknowledging that animals, plants, rivers, glaciers and ecosystems are not resources but living relations and active participants that influence decisions and livelihoods.
That means for instance, designing tourism and other livelihoods that do not disturb but enhance spiritual and cultural sites, and respect and protect spawning grounds and migration routes for reindeer and other other-than-human beings.
By foregrounding community leadership and plural knowledge systems, ArcticKnows will connect local ideas, stories and action to regional policy and international agendas on regenerative economies, socioecological and multispecies justice, and inclusive governance.
Consortium
1. Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke) – coordinator
2. Hólar University (IS)
3. Umeå University (SE);
4. Greenland Institute of Natural Resources (GL)
5. Nofima (NO)
6. University of Iceland (IS)
7. Aalborg University (DK)
8. Touch TD Ltd (UK)