Recommendations for researchers, station managers, Indigenous peoples and local communities. Based on the overall work and findings of Work Package 9, the project team has developed the following recommendations:
I. Acknowledge the continuing contribution of Indigenous peoples, local communities, and their knowledge systems to research in the Arctic.
II. Note that without the inclusion of the knowledge of Indigenous peoples and local communities in the scientific process, there is a danger that conclusions are biased, and that society at large is bereft of the best available knowledge for decisions affecting all.
III. Acknowledge positive contributions of science to Indigenous peoples and local communities, while also note that there is much potential for increasing mutually beneficial research cooperation.
IV. Underline the need for sustainable science; that is, science that builds relevant knowledge and capacity locally for Indigenous peoples and local communities, as opposed to research driven merely by institutional agendas, economic pressures, individual career goals, or research shopping.
V. Recommend that any research undertaken on, with, or concerning Indigenous peoples and local communities, and any collaboration with them, is based on the principles of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), following the Nuremberg Code and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
VI. Welcome a common Code of Ethics for research on, with and concerning Indigenous peoples, developed in partnership with Indigenous peoples and building on FPIC.
VII. Recommend that some minimum requirements be established for research conducted in and around Indigenous peoples and local communities, or in other ways relating to them, such as competence training regarding FPIC, local languages, colonial histories, consequences of assimilation past and present, as well as relationship building, dialogue and co-production of knowledge within Indigenous and local communities.
VIII. Recommend that research stations are ambitious in their levels of cooperation with Indigenous peoples and local communities; for example in co-production of knowledge, project conception, planning, design, research question formation, implementation, data collection and validation, analysis, discussion and conclusion drawing, as well as outreach. This type of cooperation should be inspired by best practices, actively engaging Indigenous peoples’ traditional knowledge and languages, as well as local knowledge.
IX. Recommend that Indigenous peoples' traditional knowledge be included on all levels where co- production of knowledge is used. Without Indigenous peoples’ involvement in the development of research design and research questions, the conclusion might have been biased.
X. Recommend research stations to hold consultations and include Indigenous peoples and local communities from the early phases of project development.
XI. Encourage research stations to actively build contact with Indigenous peoples and local communities independent of currently ongoing research activities, and by various ways and means creating mutual understanding, in order to build long-term relationships that could subsequently be mobilized for research collaborations.
XII. Encourage research stations, Indigenous peoples and local communities to experiment with different approaches and settings to get people to talk with each other.
XIII. Recommend active involvement and encouragement of youth from Indigenous peoples and local communities.
XIV. Recommend research stations to co-produce adaptation plans for environmental and climatic changes with Indigenous peoples and local communities that may advance the design of future integrated observation systems.
XV. Recommend research stations, Indigenous peoples and local communities to work together to realize integrated observation systems, where local observations, traditional Indigenous knowledge and local knowledge is used in a co-production with scientific knowledge, in order to improve our holistic and common understanding of environmental change.
XVI. Recommend that traditional Indigenous knowledge be offered more space in science; having both scientists and Indigenous knowledge holders – those living on the frontlines of environmental change – at the table is a prerequisite for real cooperation in research projects. Furthermore, this involvement of Indigenous peoples in the development of research design and research questions is necessary to avoid biased conclusions.
The full report can be found at: https://eu-interact.org/app/uploads/2017/11/D9.1.pdf