How can research in the Arctic be made sustainable, relevant and equitable over the long term? This was discussed on 14 April at the 27th Arctic Dialogue in Potsdam, which brought representatives from science, politics and Indigenous communities together. The focus was on new forms of collaboration based on long-term relationships and the joint generation of knowledge. The Arctic Dialogue is organised every six months by the German Arctic Office at the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). This latest dialog event was organised in cooperation with the Saami Council and the Research Institute for Sustainability at the GFZ (RIFS), which also hosted the event.
The challenges in the Arctic can only be overcome through collaboration between different knowledge systems, as Mark Lawrence, Scientific Director of RIFS, in his opening speech at the 27th Arctic Dialogue emphasized. This refers in particular to the far-reaching climatic and ecological changes and the resulting social, economic and political fields of tension. The co-production of knowledge is not a supplementary element, but is essential for responsible, holistic research. This calls for fundamental changes in the planning, financing, implementation and evaluation of research projects. Transformative and transdisciplinary approaches must involve all relevant stakeholders right from the outset and understand research as a joint process.
Subsequently, AWI Director Hajo Eicken underscored the significance of long-term partnerships with Indigenous Peoples’ communities. Based on his many years of research experience, he emphasised that community-based observations and co-produced knowledge processes in particular form central interfaces between scientific and Indigenous expertise. The Arctic is not only a research area, but first and foremost a habitat and people’s home whose future is closely linked to issues of food security, health and sustainable development.
The SQUEEZE project, which was presented during the Arctic Dialogue by Lia Laureen Schulz, a German-Canadian research associate at the AWI's German Arctic Office, highlighted what such approaches can look like in practice. The focus here is on collaboration with the Gwich'in and Inuvialuit Indigenous nations in the Canadian Northwest Territories and Yukon, as well as the question of as to how research can be designed to be resilient under changing ecological and social conditions. A key finding is the fact that scientific quality in the Arctic depends to a large extent on resilient and long-term relationships. Trust does not develop automatically, but through repeated collaborations, transparent communication and the reliability of institutional partners. On this foundation, the SQUEEZE project was able to establish sustainable partnerships from initial contacts, which in turn allowed valuable connections to existing networks to grow, while facilitating new collaborations in Canada. The project perceives research as a long-term and integrative process. Consequently, trust-based relationships are not an accompanying factor, but a central prerequisite for resilient research. At the same time, it became clear that co-production requires continuity and institutional anchoring and often collides with existing financing structures.
A way of life based on self-sufficiency, the sustainable use of resources and a respectful relationship with the environment is what the North Sámi term "Birgejupmi" stands for. This understanding also characterises the focus of the EU Horizon Europe project of the same name, which was subsequently presented by Per-Henning Mathisen and Ilaria Sartini. Per-Henning Mathisen is Advisor to the Saami Council in the Arctic and Environmental Unit and has been involved in this research project since last year. Ilaria Sartini is active as a research assistant at RIFS. RIFS is engaged in the project as a partner and is responsible for central parts of the realisation within the reIMAGINE Arctic Research group in Potsdam. RIFS researchers Ilaria Sartini, Anne Chahine and Nina Döring are involved in the development of innovative transdisciplinary methods and evaluation practices. Together with the Saami Council, they also create spaces for young people in Sápmi, the land of the Sámi, to exchange ideas about changes in their everyday lives and visions for their future, which are shaped and determined by climate protection measures in connection with the "green transition".
BIRGEJUPMI pursues an equitable approach that brings Indigenous, local and scientific knowledge systems together. At the core is an understanding of research that focuses on relationships between people, the environment and knowledge and promotes mutual respect, reciprocity and shared learning. Different perspectives are brought into a dialogue that strengthens both sustainable solutions at national level as well as the resilience of Arctic cultures. In cooperation with young people from Sámi coastal communities, specific impacts of climate change such as changing ocean conditions and possible future prospects are analysed and developed together. The results not only enter into scientific publications, but also find their way back into the communities in formats such as exhibitions. The project perceives research as a long-term process. Relationships do not simply begin with the start of a project and end with its completion. Rather, it is crucial that they are continuously maintained and remain relevant for the Indigenous Peoples’ communities involved.
The Sharing Circle, which Per-Henning Mathisen chaired afterwards, played a special role in the Arctic Dialogue programme. This format is based on Indigenous methodologies and is an expression of an equitable way of sharing knowledge and cultivating and shaping relationships. The Sharing Circle created space for an open and personal exchange between representatives of the participating ministries, scientific institutions and Indigenous communities on the topic of co-production of knowledge. Here, experiences, challenges and perspectives were jointly reflected upon and rethought.
In addition to content-related issues, the 27th Arctic Dialogue also discussed the structural framework conditions for research funding. The main focus was on the question of how funding logics can be shaped and designed to better support long-term and partnership-based research projects between Indigenous Peoples’ communities and international research institutions. Traditional project structures with fixed durations and clearly defined work packages are only suitable for co-productive research processes to a limited extent. This was illustrated by the experiences gained from international collaborations such as Arctic PASSION, an EU project coordinated by AWI scientist Michael Karcher and presented at the Arctic Dialogue. Building trust-based and sustainable working relationships in particular calls for significantly more time than is provided for in many funding formats. Against this backdrop, greater flexibility within funding programmes was regarded as essential, in particular the option of adapting processes during their ongoing term. Co-productive research also requires reliable follow-up and transitional funding in order to secure collaboration activities over and beyond individual project cycles.
As a result of the 27th Arctic Dialog a joint publication by the AWI and the RIFS is planned, which will bundle key findings and provide recommendations for equitable, collaborative and strategic research approaches.
