APECS Nordic Project 2013 - 2015: Bridging Early Career Researchers and Indigenous Peoples in Nordic Countries - Final Report

APECS conducted the APECS Nordic “Bridging Early Career Researchers and Indigenous Peoples in Nordic Countries” project from 2013 - 2015. Funded through the Nordic Council of Ministers' Arctic Cooperation Programme, project leveraged the research, education and outreach experience of the APECS network to identify ways to enhance engagement between Early Career Researchers and Indigenous peoples in Nordic regions.  

This research initiative had been developed in response to some of the challenges in polar research. As stated during the Indigenous Peoples’ Global Summit on Climate Change in Anchorage (2009) “Indigenous Peoples have an important role to play in addressing climate change through their knowledge, experience and rights over land and development…however, this contribution has been largely ignored”. This is often a result of the communication gap between researchers and Indigenous peoples. Better incorporation of this knowledge into Arctic research as well as better communication between Northern residents and researchers is crucial. Thus, a demand for more training of Arctic researchers in how to approach Indigenous peoples, how to work with local experts and how to successfully and respectfully incorporate Traditional Knowledge in research projects is urgently needed.

The APECS Nordic Project was working towards enhancing engagement between Early Career Researchers and Indigenous peoples in several ways:

• Development of an APECS Nordic Network
• An ECR and Indigenous peoples APECS database
• An online survey aimed at ECRs and Indigenous Peoples in Nordic Countries
• Webinar Series
• A two-day workshop at the Arctic Science Summit Week (ASSW) in Helsinki, April 2014
• Development of a Report and Educational Materials