Indigenous influence as science diplomacy: The case of the Arctic Council and its scientific assessments

This case study appears in: Mays C, Laborie L, Griset P (eds) (2022) Inventing a shared science diplomacy for Europe: Interdisciplinary case studies to think with history.

The Arctic is home to a great number of Indigenous peoples who are directly and indirectly affected by changes that they themselves have not caused. It has become increasingly important to include Indigenous peoples and their knowledge in the governance of the Arctic. This case is concerned with the Arctic Council, an organization where Indigenous knowledge is included through “science diplomacy” in the terminology of the Royal Society and American Association for the Advancement of Science. The science diplomacy is performed on three different levels: in the Arctic Council itself and its structure which integrates both Arctic Member States and the Indigenous Permanent Participants as diplomacy for science; in the policy recommendations negotiated on the basis of scientific assessments as science in diplomacy; and in the increased inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in the assessments as science for diplomacy.