An urban future for Sápmi? Sámi youth organizing and networking in a context of indigenous urbanization.

NUORGAV: An urban future for Sápmi? The indigenous people of Northern Europe, the Sámi, are like many other ethnic groups across the world becoming increasingly urbanized. Younger generations are particularly affected by this trend, as ever more of them move to or grow up in cities - both cities within the traditional indigenous area Sápmi, and in other major Nordic urban areas. As the Sámi people becomes increasingly urbanized, the fate of the Sámi people as such becomes ever more dependent on the survival of "Sáminess" in the cities. NUORGAV investigates conditions for "ethnic survival" - e.g. the maintenance and development of indigenous identity, culture and language in urban areas; with a particular focus on how such arenas are organized through networking between different types of actors. The project also investigates how youth-oriented Sámi civil society organizations and young Sámi political represantives work to get their voices heard. The project looks at urbanization and organizational practice in different states that have divided the area Sápmi and the Sámi people between them. Field work has been performed in Alta, Tromsø, Bodø, Trondheim, Oslo, Umeå, Stockholm, Rovaniemi, and Murmansk.

Økt vitenskapelig produksjon om samisk urbanisering. Et stort antall foredrag for interesserte parter om samisk urbanisering. Teoriutvikling på feltet samisk urbanisering. Ny empiri publisert om samisk urbanisering. Økt nettverking mellom samiske forskere i Norge og Sápmi rundt temaet samisk urbanisering. Tilknytting av samisk urbaniseringsforskning til internasjonal forskning på urfolksurbanisering. Etablering av internasjonale forskningsnettverk med andre forskere på urfolksurbanisering. Økt kunnskap - og mer debatt om - om samisk urbanisering, både innad i den samiske befolkningen og blant andre aktører med interesse for temaet.

The continuing trend of indigenous urbanization creates new conditions for the ethnic survival of all indigenous peoples, the Sámi included. This project investigates (1) the conditions for ethnic survival in important urban settlement areas for Sámi yout h; and (2) how Sámi youth and youth-oriented civil society actors organize and network to influence urban indigenous policy. We will be utilizing network governance theory to analyze organizational Sámi youth strategies to deal with urbanization, and the receptiveness of various institutions to include youth representatives. As a whole, the project looks at urbanization and organizational practice in three of the countries that have divided Sápmi between them: Norway, Sweden, and Finland. The project wi ll map and compare conditions for ethnic survival and political networking both at the national levels and in selected urban case municipalities.