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P-SAMISK-Program for samisk forskning

The Arctic governance triangle: government, indigenous peoples and industry in change

Alternative title: Arktisk samstyring: myndigheter, urfolk og industri i endring

Awarded: NOK 6.8 mill.

The TriArc project has contributed to illuminate how strengthened rights of Indigenous peoples worldwide the last decades, have committed the authorities. The research has also highlighted the responsibility of the companies towards indigenous groups in relation to large developments, which applies to claims of involvement, considering indigenous perceptions and knowledges, and a discussion on how profit should benefit Indigenous peoples. Even if the experiences are part of indigenous realities, the research reveals major challenges Indigenous peoples face in the meeting with large scale industries in different parts of the world. Part of this research is presented in the new book Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources and Governance. Agencies and Interaction, edited by Monica Tennberg, Else Grete Broderstad and Hans-Kristian Hernes, published in the Routledge Research in Polar Regions. A special issue on wind power and reindeer husbandry (in Norwegian) is published in the journal Utmark, edited by Camilla Brattland and Vera Hausner. The publication illuminates important dimensions following from increased pressures on and consequences for reindeer herding areas due to the green shift. The publication contains suggestions to solutions and examples on how involvement and the experience based knowledge of the reindeer husbandry can be applied in area management and assessments. One of the project's PhD students (funded by NFR) has submitted two articles and is waiting for the peer review. She is now in a process of finalizing kappa. Like previous years, this student has a comprehensive dissemination, communicating in media and elsewhere. The other PhD student (UiT funded) has published her third article - The Agencies of the ‘Co-Opted:’Indigenous Peoples Organisations and Contestation of International Indigenous Rights Norms in Russia, in the International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. She is also finalizing kappa for her PhD dissertation. An article - Indigenous opposition and the social acceptability of small hydropower development in Sápmi, written by Sigrid Engen, Vera Hausner, Per Fauchald, Audun Ruud and Else Grete Broderstad is submitted for peer review. Moreover, research carried out in the project is disseminated at different national and international seminars.

Two doctoral projects have been a part of the TriArc project. One has been funded by the project itself, the other received funding from UiT. Each of the two PhD students write an anthology, the articles are finalized and they are working on the kappa text. It is expected that the dissertations will be submitted this year. The outcomes and impacts of these two dissertations are expected to be highly valuable and useful for the target groups. The NFR funded PhD research is informed by indigenous (decolonial) methodologies and a committed research approach. The PhD student engages with larger debates about how indigenous struggles over knowledge are intertwined with struggles over territorial rights and land-use practices in a Nordic-Saami (green) colonial context. The research of the UiT funded PhD student contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the role of Indigenous Peoples Organisations in Russia and recognition of Indigenous peoples’ rights in a resource development context in the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation (AZRF). Both PhD students have emphasized the need to establish and prioritize contact with Indigenous peoples in their respective research areas. The TriArc project has strengthened international research cooperation, and established networks with different Indigenous peoples. As a consequence of the research of TriArc, another research project came into being. While TriArc has emphasized different types of governance arrangements regulating indigenous-state-industry relations, the IndKnow project looks into how indigenous knowledge systems are included in planning processes and impact assessments. Also other sister projects like the IndGov project at the Fram centre was established in the wake of TriArc. It is expected that the research insights will inform different stakeholders and right holders, as well as authorities and industry in processes marked by land and resource conflicts between IPs, state and industry. Different TriArc researchers have also contributed with guest lectures to the two international master programmes - the master programme in indigenous studies (MIS) and Governance and Entrepreneurship in Northern and Indigenous Areas (GENI). Three GENI students have been affiliated to TriArc. Thus the project has contributed to their studies, and all three have successfully finalized their thesis work.

TriArc will target Indigenous peoples and local communities engagement with various resource management initiatives and industries in the circumpolar counties of Canada, Norway, Russia, Sweden and Finland. We include a comparative case study from a geographically diverse region, Australia, where Indigenous peoples have a recent history of engagement with resource development and management. In order to compare governance of resource management and development across four different areas of land and resource use (four sub-themes), at the local, national and international levels, we will investigate how the governing systems on international and domestic levels, handle e.g. industrial activities versus traditional land use. We will explore governance arrangements via a theoretical framework that incorporates the triangle of state, market and civil society. We will investigate the international and national factors that inform Indigenous engagement with resource development and management opportunities including legislative, institutional and judicial realities in each jurisdiction; the behavior of the various corporate actors within each jurisdiction; and Indigenous peoples organizations and institutions at different levels. Our study contributes to a comparative examination of governance of large-scale industries, resource management and use, and the effects on the inclusion and participation of Indigenous and local communities within resource governance systems. Via our analysis, we aim to identify the forms of governance that promote the most successful Indigenous engagement with resource management and development opportunities. TriArc will examine to what extent, decentralized governance contributes to more appropriate, effective and legitimate governance solutions, and examine the potentials of Indigenous and local community perspectives for improving Arctic governance systems and Indigenous capacities to participate in decentralized resource governance systems.

Publications from Cristin

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P-SAMISK-Program for samisk forskning