Sharing and Caring: Arctic Indigenous Knowledges and Co-Creation

As the Arctic experiences accelerated climate change, new approaches are needed across the natural and social sciences and humanities. Collaborative and co-equal research approaches that respect the rights of Indigenous Peoples become central for effectively addressing the challenges unfolding at the intersection of science, policy, and decision-making. This session brings together Indigenous and non-Indigenous speakers from Sápmi, Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), Nunavut, and Germany who have been working on these matters for years, touching upon perspectives from across the Circumpolar North and Europe: autoethnographic experiences by Kalaallit researchers working within dominant academic institutions marked by extractive research practices; a case-study on bridging academic and Indigenous knowledges that provides concrete recommendations to researchers and funders in the German research landscape; reflections on embodied learning as decolonial practice from a team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars from Sápmi and Germany; and the introduction of the “Mitten Model” by speakers from Nunavut that uses the process of sewing mittens as a metaphor for how Inuit guidance improves ethical and equitable research processes and the quality of research outcomes. All presentations are linked by the aim to create more awareness in Arctic research and decision-making about different ways of knowing and being in the world. The session aims to address a wide audience: anyone keen to look beyond their own disciplinary boundaries, curious to learn more about how to collaborate across different sciences and knowledges, and invested in better understanding why there is an imminent need to do so.

Speakers:

• Aslak Holmberg, President of the Saami Council, Sámiráđđi
• Naja Dyrendom Graugaard, Postdoctoral Researcher, Aarhus University, Denmark
• Vivi Vold, PhD Candidate, Ilisimatusarfik – University of Greenland, University of California, Davis, United States
• Shelly Elverum, Northern Coordinator, Ikaarvik: Video Message
• Michael Milton, Youth member of Ikaarvik, Ikaarvik: Video Message
• Jan-Erik Henriksen, Professor, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway
• Nina Hermansen, Associate Professor, UiT – The Arctic University of Norway: Video Message
• Nina Döring, Research Group Leader, Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, Germany
• Evie Morin, Research Associate, Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, Germany
• Anne S. Chahine, Research Associate, Research Institute for Sustainability – Helmholtz Centre Potsdam, Germany

This session is part of the Arctic Circle Berlin Forum at Radialsystem Culture and Event Centre, Berlin.