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Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada

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October 2024

Nothern Finland

One year ago, I participated to an amazing experience in Sápmi, the land of the Sámi, indigenous people of northern Finland, Sweden, Norway and Russia. Young folks from various places and from diverse backgrounds , all linked by their passion for the Arctic met in Sevettijärvi (Inari district, Finland) to discuss the issues faced by local and indigenous people all over the Arctic. We gathered to foster

a more equitable and fair way to do science and policy.

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Following this week-long experience, I have organised a workshop with a colleague 

at the University of Zurich to raise awareness among scientists on equitability and fairness in research in foreign lands.

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Have a look bellow to see what we discussed.

On the 17th of April, around 16 scientists gathered to discuss about the responsibilities of doing research and in particular fieldwork abroad. We had three main speakers: Dr. Vincent Gerald Vyamana, Dr. Hanneke Van’t Veen, and myself, all of us bringing awareness on the importance of listening to local and indigenous communities living where the research is taking place.

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NORTHERN FINLAND

I presented the lessons learned from a workshop I participated in, the Sharing circle organized by Arctic passion and the Association of Polar Early Career Scientists (APECS). We were a group of 18 young people and spent one week in Sevettijärvi and Inari, in Northern Finland in Sápmi (the land of the Sámi people). I presented the conservation work on the restoration of the Näätämö river, a great example of co-management between Sámi people and the Snowchange cooperative. Pauliina Fedeoroff, a Skolt Sámi leader, showed us how they restored the river using western, local, and indigenous knowledge all together. They restored the river according to the memories of the Sámi people about how the river looked like before the damage done for timber fluvial transportation. All the work was done by hand, in accordance with the respect shown by the Sámi to the river. They managed to slow down the flow and provide space for fishes to spawn, allowing for the continuation of the fishing tradition of the skolt sámi. During that week of sharing with indigenous people, I also realized that the trauma of the colonization is still very present and that as a western researcher, I must take some responsibility for it.

Watch the perspectives from the participants of the sharing circle.

“Now we are washing our eyes so we can see the world more clearly.”

Outi Pieski

Dr. Vincent Gerald Vyamana explains that outreach is not only about respecting communities and making sure they can integrate research findings in their daily lives, it is also about the evaluation of research results and about getting answer to the question “Why do we obtain these results?”

TANZANIA

Hanneke and Vincent presented their research on the impacts of charcoal production on forest use and livelihoods in 6 Tanzanian villages. Hanneke’s research during her PhD showed that charcoal production occurred outside of areas designated for forest harvesting, hence not always in line with the village forest management plans. They could not explain these results until Hanneke and Vincent organized meetings (outreach workshops) with the local communities and started to discuss with them. It turned out that there are many slopes, rivers, and shallow soil in the designated areas for forest harvesting. Forest management plans specifically forbid charcoal production in such fragile forest areas to avoid degradation and permanent forest loss. Hence, charcoal producers were faced with a dilemma: Which rules do we follow? Charcoal producers decided to shift their production to less fragile forest areas, consequently following up some harvesting rules and ignoring others. It was clear that charcoal producers absorbed and implemented knowledge where due, yet had the wisdom not to blindly apply it in harmful ways. It is clear: In case of social-environmental research, outreach should preferably be part of the research project itself so that researchers can present the full story.

Finally, we discussed the importance of involving local and indigenous communities before starting, or at least during the research, rather than in the form of outreach at the end of the project. We talked about the terminology, where validation meetings may be a more inclusive word than outreach. It is possible to involve local and indigenous communities in research projects and that money issues, or lack of interest from hierarchy can be overcome.

Tips for equitable and genuine collaborations

 

  • Always go to the field with locals.

  • Involve locals before or during the project, not at the end.

  • Favor co-creation and co-management over “helicopter science”.

  • Be ready to give up on the lead.

  • Be ready for and respect refusals.

  • Listen before speaking.

  • Don’t forget the past.

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