BIRGEJUPMI: Bridging Knowledge Systems for Inclusive, Resilient, and Prosperous Arctic Coastal Futures

The reIMAGINE Arctic Research group is part of BIRGEJUPMI: Bridging Knowledge Systems for Inclusive, Resilient, and Prosperous Arctic Coastal Futures, the first EU- Horizon project with most work-packages led by Indigenous scholars, practitioners and institutions. BIRGEJUPMI aims to strengthen community engagement, Indigenous knowledge, and environmental decision-making in Arctic coastal regions in Sápmi and Kalaallit Nunaat by bridging Indigenous, local and western knowledge systems. The project adopts a decolonial, holistic, and community-based perspective. RIFS researchers are involved in innovative transdisciplinary methods and evaluation practices (WP1 and WP10) and in the creation of spaces of exchange for young people in Sápmi to explore changes to everyday life and visions for the future resulting from climate change mitigation measures related to the Green Transition (WP4 and WP8).

The name of the project, BIRGEJUPMI, is a Northern Sámi word indicating the interconnectedness of lives (human, animal and plants) and the ways to manage/get by – the idea of self-sufficiency. It embodies the principle of taking only what is necessary from nature, ensuring the ability to harvest again in the future.

BIRGEJUPMI is led by the University of Oulu, and will be carried out in partnership with Sámi Allaskuvla, the Saami Council, the Indigenous Voices Research Group (IVO) at UiT - the Arctic University of Norway, Alta Museum, Dáiddadállu, Ikitsivik, Psykolog Paarnaq, Árvu AS, the University of Tartu, National Dong HWA University, and RIFS and focuses on three Arctic areas: western Sápmi, northern Sápmi (Norway) and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). BIRGEJUPMI builds on the long-standing relationships built along the years among the consortium partners, including their work together in the DÁVGI project.

ETHICAL, COLLABORATIVE, AND INCLUSIVE RESEARCH APPROACHES, METHODOLOGIES, AND EVALUATION FRAMEWORKS

RIFS researchers, together with the Saami Council and the University of Oulu, contribute to Work Packages 1 and 10, both focused on ethical, collaborative, and inclusive research approaches, methodologies, and evaluation frameworks. The goal of WP1 is to create a research infrastructure for researchers and communities engaged in the project, as well as local knowledge centers and the Advisory Board (AB), to consistently evaluate the advancement of the project, adopted methods, and the quality of research collaborations. To do this, different methodological approaches to knowledge co-production and evaluation will be mapped from a multi-actor perspective. This iterative process aims to promote ethical and equitable research practices aimed at empowering researchers and communities across all work packages throughout the run-time of the BIRGEJUPMI project.

All work packages in BIRGEJUPMI have a circular relation with at least one other WP. Drawing on WP1, WP10 aims at creating a space for reflexive ethics assessment and explicit engagement with methodological approaches throughout the duration of the project to support the development and application of co-creative/co-productive and collaborative methods, promoting ethical and context-appropriate research practices and meaningful outputs. The gathered insights will be shared continuously with the consortium members to facilitate ongoing adjustments and enhancements to overall research methods, processes, and outcomes, and contribute to developing new ethical and equitable research practices beyond BIRGEJUPMI.

Lessons learned will provide novel insights into the advancement of co-productive and transdisciplinary research approaches and evaluation practices vital to RIFS research groups and focal themes.

WP4 looks at the energy transition in the European Arctic and how it is negotiated by young people in North Sápmi

Together with the Saami Council, our research group is co-leading WP4 Local and global futures: young people’s visions of sustainable livelihoods and inclusive environmental decision-making. The aim of this work package is to assess the impact, including opportunities and challenges, of climate change mitigation measures (e.g. onshore wind parks) related to the Green Transition, as experienced by young people living in the municipalities of Unjárga/Nesseby and Bieralváhki/Berlevåg. To do this, researchers will collaboratively engage with young people to create a space of exchange revolving around their ideas of future and sustainability in the face of climate change and climate change mitigation measures through methods of co-design and co-curation. The expansion of renewable energy infrastructure in this region, connected with the European demand for green energy, directly impacts local lives and is referred to by Sámi scholars and activists as "green colonialism". While many German communities resist plans for wind farms in their vicinities, German investors (such as the Stadtwerke Munich) invest in wind projects in Sápmi, thereby externalizing the impacts of the green transition. This connection - metaphorically approaching the subject from two ends of the power lines - is of particular interest to the reIMAGINE group.

Building on this work, WP8 Mobilizing youth leadership and exchange for shaping socio-economic transitions in Arctic coastal regions linked to the EU Green Deal will focus on the development of an infrastructure of knowledge exchange between actors at the local, national, and EU-level about the way young people navigate the changes and challenges that climate change mitigation strategies bring to their lives. In doing wo, WP8 will further explore concepts and practices of solidarity.

Funding information

The BIRGEJUPMI project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101182041.