Arctic governance, indigenous knowledge, science and technology in times of climate change

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 514-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisele M. Arruda ◽  
Sebastian Krutkowski
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Cultural Preservation ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Indigenous Voice

Purpose This paper aims to place a discussion of traditional knowledge and the indigenous voice within the framework of Arctic governance. Design/methodology/approach The study involves literature review spanning different disciplines and highlighting important case studies. Findings The advance of low-cost, portable technology has brought about tremendous opportunities for indigenous people. Knowledge and observation are no longer monopolised by scholars, filmmakers or politicians based in the West. Film has proved to be a powerful tool for cultural preservation while the internet (video sharing sites and social media platforms in particular) have empowered local communities and facilitated their involvement in political activism and local governance. New ways to represent themselves have been a crucial step forward, yet the new goal is to work towards greater recognition of the “indigenous voice” and ensure traditional knowledge is not treated as anecdotal and irrelevant in managing Arctic affairs.. Research limitations/implications The conclusions reached in the discussion need to be further explored by extending the research into Inuit communities to survey how technology can facilitate and impact collaborative forms of governance in the Arctic. Practical implications This research provides an increased understanding of how technology transforms power relations. Policymakers can see that the indigenous community in the Arctic is not lodged in the past. Their increased use of new technology can serve as an effective oversight of political decisions and economic initiatives, particularly those relating to oil and gas exploration in the region. Social implications Indigenous views and knowledge are literally crossing borders through media. Initially perceived as a cultural threat, film, video and internet are now regarded as powerful technology tools for cultural preservation and empowerment of local communities. In other words, the modern communication patterns are a crucial mean of indigenous population take part of the current global debate, express their concerns, reinforce their values and traditions and have an active voice in the globalised world. Originality/value This paper illustrates how technology helps indigenous communities to address different economic, environmental, cultural, educational, research and other issues in the Arctic. Robust evidence is presented to support the call for traditional knowledge to become an integral part of decision-making processes across all institutions of governance in the Arctic.

scholarly journals Traditional forest-related knowledge and agrobiodiversity preservation: the case of the chagras in the Indigenous Reserve of Monochoa (Colombia)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Alejandra Hernandez Marentes ◽  
Martina Venturi ◽  
Silvia Scaramuzzi ◽  
Marco Focacci ◽  
Antonio Santoro
Keyword(s):  
Biodiversity Conservation ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Agroforestry Systems ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Nature Protection ◽  
Wild Fruits ◽  
Deep Relationship

AbstractChagras are complex agroforestry systems developed by indigenous populations of the Amazon region based on shifting agriculture, as part of a system that includes harvesting of wild fruits and plants, hunting and fishing. During the centuries, thanks to their traditional knowledge, indigenous populations have developed a deep relationship with the surrounding environment, as, living in remote places, they must be self-sufficient. The result is the chagra, a system whose cycle is based on seven basic steps to establish a successful and sustainable system, starting from place selection and ending with the abandonment of the plot after harvesting of the products. After the abandonment, the forest starts to grow again to allow the agroecosystem to recover and to take advantage of the residual vegetal material to avoid erosion. The paper takes into consideration the Indigenous Reserve of Monochoa in Colombia as an example of how traditional knowledge can support a rich biodiversity conservation. Moreover, differently from other parts of the world where there is a growing contrast between indigenous communities and protected areas, in the Indigenous Reserve of Monochoa local communities have been recognized as the owners of the land. Results highlighted the crucial role of the indigenous communities for biodiversity conservation. The preservation and adaptation of traditional knowledge and practices, a decentralized autonomous governance system demonstrates that local communities not only can be part of ecosystems with unique biodiversity, but that they can represent the main actors for an active conservation of biodiversity. Agroforestry systems based on traditional forest-related knowledge can therefore be an effective alternative to biodiversity and ecosystem services conservation based on strict nature protection where humans are perceived as a negative factor.

Pacific Salmon: Ecology and Management of Western Alaska’s Populations

2009 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Pacific Salmon ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Great Promise ◽  
Joint Research ◽  
Local Residents ◽  
Local And Traditional Knowledge

<em>Abstract.</em>—The Arctic-Yukon-Kuskokwim Sustainable Salmon Initiative (AYK SSI) is a research program in Alaska focused on learning from the knowledge and understanding of local indigenous fishing communities. From the mid-1990s, Alaska Natives have urged that local and traditional/indigenous knowledge be recognized as a serious body of ecological insights and stewardship traditions. This paper provides a survey of milestones in Alaska, from the early definitional debates and the rise of systematic methods for documentation, to the growing body of substantive information. The discussion on local and traditional knowledge at the AYK SSI Symposium in February 2007 provided an opportunity to assess achievements and identify obstacles. Participants underscored the continuing challenges of the diverse cultural context for joint research by biologists and local communities, directing attention to foundational questions of trust and respect. Local residents celebrated the great promise for local and traditional/indigenous knowledge to contribute to our shared scientific understanding of salmon and to promote respectful and effective systems of stewardship, but they were also acutely perceptive of the barriers to improved synthesis and mutual learning. The concluding section of this paper explores implications for the on-going research agenda of the AYK SSI, particularly the need for an on-going consultative process to insure that local communities and researchers are mutually aware of methodologies available and the substantive contributions made by local and traditional knowledge research. In this way, the on-going development of research in this area can draw more fully on the struggles and accomplishments of the preceding decade.

Economic woes to drive Greenland's hydrocarbons effort

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Content Type ◽  
New Generation ◽  
Economic Ties ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
The Eu

Subject Prospects for the hydrocarbons sector under the new government Significance After three years of GDP contraction, a new government is pursuing increased foreign investment in hydrocarbons, to boost employment and growth and to repair the budget. In the long term, Greenland is likely to emerge as an international shipping, mining and hydrocarbons centre. For now, the fall in the international oil price has seen oil exploration stop. The wish for economic development is leading a new generation of Greenlandic politicians to embark on re-integration with the EU, where a ban on seal products is the greatest obstacle to closer ties. Impacts Infrastructure and climate challenges mean that full-scale oil and gas production is at least 15-20 years away. Emerging Greenland-China economic ties may create a new alignment in the opening up of the Arctic. A relaxation of the EU seal products ban would ease negotiations on Greenland's further integration with the bloc. Enhanced EU-Greenland ties could extend the EU's role in the Arctic.

scholarly journals Towards Understanding Benefit Sharing between Extractive Industries and Indigenous/Local Communities in the Arctic

Resources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria S. Tysiachniouk ◽  
Andrey N. Petrov ◽  
Violetta Gassiy
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Extractive Industries ◽  
Benefit Sharing ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Regions ◽  
Compensation Mechanisms ◽  
Corporate Social ◽  
Industrial Resource

The aim of this Special Issue is to provide a comprehensive view of the benefit sharing and compensation mechanisms for the Indigenous Peoples and local communities in the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions due to industrial resource extraction. The papers cover the following topics: (1) Benefit-sharing frameworks in the Arctic. (2) Corporate social responsibility standards and benefit sharing by extractive industries in the Arctic. (3) Benefit sharing and international and national legislation. (4) The practice of implementing legislation to support Indigenous and local interests. (5) The methodologies for assessing compensation to Indigenous communities from extractive industries.

Fracked Taxpayers and Communities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanti Gamper-Rabindran
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
United States ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Institutional Support ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Environmental Costs ◽  
Formidable Challenge ◽  
The Us

The US and Argentinian shale industry enjoyed staunch support from domestic political, financial, and legal institutions, which enabled the industry to expand while externalizing financial, public health, and environmental costs to the general public. The Argentinian government’s decision to finance shale investments and the US and Argentinian governments’ decisions to finance the industry bailout sustained the industry even as its poor financial outlook that predated the COVID-19 crisis became widely acknowledged. State and provincial governments in both the United States and Argentina employed the legal system to prohibit local government and local communities, including Indigenous communities, from restricting shale development and infrastructures in their localities. Politicians’ support for the industry, cloaked as concerns for workers and communities, fortified the industry’s privileges. Reforming the entrenched institutional support for the industry, although a formidable challenge, is necessary for these countries to shift away from oil and gas dependency.

Corporate reporting to the crown: a longitudinal case from colonial Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sean Bradley Power ◽  
Niamh M. Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Annual Report ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Public Benefit ◽  
Corporate Context ◽  
Narrative Reporting ◽  
Royal Charter ◽  
Private Investors

PurposeA royal charter of incorporation imposing public benefit/social responsibilities established the privately owned British South Africa Company (BSAC), in return for power to exploit a huge territory using low-cost local labour. This study explores the dual principal–agent problem of how the BSAC used annual report narratives to report on its conflicting economic responsibilities to investors versus its public benefit charter responsibilities to the British Crown.Design/methodology/approachHaving digitised the dataset, the research analyses narratives from 29 BSAC annual reports spanning a continuous 35-year royal charter period, using computer-aided keyword content analysis to identify economic-orientated versus public benefit-orientated annual report narratives. The research analyses how the annual report narratives shifted according to four key contextual periods by reference to the changing influence of private investors versus the British Crown.FindingsThere are two key findings. First, economic primacy. At no point do public benefit disclosures outweigh economic disclosures. Second, the BSAC's meso-corporate context and macro-social/political context can explain patterns in public benefit disclosures. The motivation for producing public benefit information is not altruism. Rather, commercial interests motivate disclosure. The BSAC used its annual reports to sustain what proved ultimately unsustainable – royal charter-style colonialism.Originality/valueThis accounting history study contributes to an understanding of corporate narrative reporting using one of the earliest known cases of such analysis and shows how accounting plays a central role in facilitating a company in sustaining its interests. This 100-year lookback may be a portend of the future for modern-day annual report corporate social responsibility narratives in, say, mining and oil and gas company corporate reports, especially if these natural resources run out.

scholarly journals An international approach to establishing a Competent Authority to manage and protect traditional knowledge

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Martin ◽  
Ann Cahill ◽  
Evana Wright ◽  
Natalie Stoianoff
Keyword(s):  
Informed Consent ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Competent Authority ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Design And Development ◽  
Cook Islands ◽  
Nagoya Protocol ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Equitable Sharing ◽  
Indigenous Voice

This article discusses the establishment of a Competent Authority in accordance with the Nagoya Protocol to ensure that traditional knowledge of Indigenous communities is accessed subject to free, prior and informed consent and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of such use. It builds on research expressing the view that the design and development of a Competent Authority should take a grass roots approach. It analyses the authorities established in the Cook Islands and Vanuatu that include significant Indigenous voice and concludes with comments on the attributes of each system and its limitations.

Arctic governance regime: the last frontier for hydrocarbons exploitation

2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 498-521 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gisele M Arruda
Keyword(s):  
Energy Security ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Arctic Region ◽  
Energy Development ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Governance Regime ◽  
Innovative Model ◽  
Current Governance ◽  
The Arctic Region

Purpose – This paper aims to deepen our understanding on circumpolar current dynamics relating to oil and gas exploitation and the role of nations in the polar development process. Additionally, it is fundamental to raise the debate about the energy development in the Arctic and the fact that the exploration of oil and gas resources in the Arctic cannot be performed with the current governance regime, policies and legal framework. Arctic-specific natural ecosystems, the presence of indigenous communities and the commercial interest in the region will require an innovative model of development based on the highest level of responsible exploitation, diplomacy, regulation and policy-making. Design/methodology/approach – This is an unexplored subject but the paper uses a review of past and recent literature, outcomes of recent “petit comités” with some of the involved parties, as a vehicle to discuss possible new approaches and paths for the future development of an innovative model of environmental governance relating to energy development in the Arctic region. Findings – This paper demonstrates the necessity of improving the current governance patterns, as the author believes that energy development will have both positive and negative impacts on micro and macro levels. The first relevant contribution of these operations in the Arctic, undoubtedly, is the benefit for energy security levels at a global platform; however, the framework built up in terms of new legal cooperation agreements, policy-making and technological innovation in different areas will define the new Arctic citizenship as well as the Arctic’s geopolitics, and, consequently, the region’s destiny. Research limitations/implications – This is an unexplored subject, as it is an unexplored region. New literature about the region dynamics is being developed, as new licensing process is ongoing, and there are more questions than answers about open space for reflection and decision-making. Important data have not been published or shared in “petit comités” due to strategic interests and confidentiality reasons. Practical implications – The major drivers of change could be described as energy security, climate change and transportation that will have a huge direct impact in the region under social, economic and environmental perspectives. The core practical implication of this reflection is the energy development model for the Arctic region. Social implications – How the Arctic’s energy resources will contribute to the global energy mix in the decades to come and the impacts of the governance regime to Arctic and non-Arctic societies is the first relevant question. Another fundamental aspect with huge social implications is how the climate changes will impact the Arctic environment and societies. These are themes that deserve more study and deeper analysis. Originality/value – The paper provides a deep reflection of the challenges and future trends involving the new frontiers of the world energy exploration. Multidisciplinary dialogue and research on all aspects of offshore oil and gas development will require a shift in the current conceptual view of the Arctic as well as in the multilateral efforts to negotiate and design an efficient Arctic governance regime that goes beyond the setting of new standards of spill prevention, preparedness and safety, but a regime that congregates the Arctic and Non-Arctic nations’ experience, workforce and leadership.

Can a formalised model of co-production contribute to empowering indigenous communities in decisions about land use?

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Gillies
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
First Nations ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Heritage Management ◽  
Cultural Heritage Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Uk

Purpose Co-production has been used in public services in the UK areas such as mental health to improve the participation of service users in decisions made about the services traditionally provided for them and done to them. It has also been used in areas such as mental health and to address concerns about the quality of services provided to members of minority communities. Western Australia is currently passing legislation to address the issue of aboriginal cultural heritage management in the context of recent adverse incidents such as the incident where Rio Tinto was responsible for the destruction of the site. This paper aims to show how a formalised model of co-production can assist in the implementation of this legislation. Design/methodology/approach This paper considers how effective co-production has been within the domain of mental health services in the UK and then considers whether they are lessons that may be learnt in other contexts. It considers whether concepts from co-production have a role to play in ensuring that the legislation and its implementation are not seen as actions done to or on behalf of the aboriginal communities and if a more structured approach to coproduction can produce a model, which facilitates genuinely collaborative aboriginal heritage management. Findings The approach has facilitated the development of a model to monitor and improve collaboration within aboriginal cultural heritage management, which complements existing participatory approaches and enables businesses to demonstrate their legislatory compliance. Social implications The study offers an approach, which may be used globally to empower indigenous communities in decision-making in other contexts, such as deforestation in South America and oil and gas exploitation on Inuit and First Nations land in Canada. Originality/value The use of co-production concepts and capability modelling is novel in this space.

Fighting elephants, suffering grass: oil exploitation in Nigeria

2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 791-811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikechukwu Umejesi ◽  
Michael Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Cultural Theory ◽  
Oil And Gas Industry ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
The State ◽  
Environmental Advocacy ◽  
Gas Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Oil Companies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the interactions of the different actors – the state, multinational oil and gas companies, environmental advocacy groups and local people – in the oil-rich Niger Delta. Design/methodology/approach – The paper draws on interviews, observations and focus group discussions, as well as on archival materials relating to the development of the oil and gas industry during the colonial period (i.e. pre-1960 Nigeria). Findings – A cultural theory-based analysis of the environmental risk perceptions of the different actors reveals a profoundly unconstructive institutional configuration, in which the collusion of two “solidarities – the oil companies (individualism) and the state (hierarchy) – has led to the exclusion of the local communities (egalitarianism) who have found themselves impoverished and marginalised (fatalism). With these two “elephants” – individualism/hierarchy and egalitarianism/fatalism – pitted against each other, it has been the “grass” – the natural environment that has suffered. Practical implications – Giving the local communities a stake in the wealth-creating process, from which they are at present excluded, would shift the pattern of inter-solidarity engagement from one in which two “active” (i.e. non-fatalist) voices silence the third to one in which each voice is able to make itself heard and is then responsive to the others. Originality/value – Innovative and current on under-researched topic and geography. The main fieldwork was conducted between 2007 and 2008, with further field visits and updates between 2009 and 2013.

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