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

TriArc prosjektet har bidratt til å belyse hvordan urfolk verden over har styrket sine rettigheter i løpet av de siste tiårene som innebærer nye forpliktelser for myndighetene. I tillegg vektlegger forskningen bedrifters ansvar overfor urfolksgrupper ved store utbygginger, med krav om involvering, om å ta hensyn til urfolks oppfatninger, og at deler av utbyttet skal komme urfolk til gode. Selv om dette er en del av bildet, viser erfaringer fra flere land at urfolk sliter, og er under betydelig press. Deler av forskningen er presentert i den nye boka Indigenous Peoples, Natural Resources and Governance. Agencies and Interaction, redigert av Monica Tennberg, Else Grete Broderstad og Hans-Kristian Hernes, publisert i serien Routledge Research in Polar Regions. Et spesialnummer om vindkraft og reindrift er publisert i tidsskriftet Utmark, redigert av Camilla Brattland og Vera Hausner. Artikkelsamlingen belyser viktige dimensjoner ved økt press på og konsekvenser for reindriftsarealer som følge av et grønt skifte. Temanummeret inneholder forslag til løsninger og eksempler på hvordan medvirkning og reindriftas erfaringsbaserte kunnskap kan brukes i framtidig arealforvaltning og utredningsarbeid. En av PhD studentene i prosjektet (NFR finansiert) har to artikler til vurdering for tidsskriftpublisering, og arbeider samtidig med ferdigstilling av kappe. I likhet med de tidligere årene har denne studenten en omfattende formidlingsvirksomhet i 2022 med formidling i media og på ulike arrangementer. Den andre har publisert sin tredje artikkel - The Agencies of the ‘Co-Opted:’Indigenous Peoples Organisations and Contestation of International Indigenous Rights Norms in Russia, i International Journal on Minority and Group Rights. Også hun er i gang med å ferdigstille kappa i egen PhD avhandling. Videre er en artikkel - Indigenous opposition and the social acceptability of small hydropower development in Sápmi, forfattet av Sigrid Engen, Vera Hausner, Per Fauchald, Audun Ruud og Else Grete Broderstad sendt inn til vurdering. Forskning fra prosjektet er forøvrig formidlet på ulike seminarer nasjonalt og internasjonalt.

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.