Arctic Indigenous Peoples and Sami Research Office

The task of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples and Sami Research Office is to promote research and education within its area and cooperate with representatives of indigenous groups and national and international actors. Overall interest in the Arctic indigenous peoples has increased in society at large in recent years. At the University of Lapland there is research activity directed to these areas, but at the same time there is a need to strengthen such research and make it more noticeable. The university’s resources are also utilized while working with indigenous and Sami research issues. The research areas include the following issues: indigenous knowledge and its utilization; biodiversity-related knowledge; natural resources and related conflicts; international indigenous politics; and minority law.  Together with the Science Communications of the Arctic Centre, the Arctic Indigenous Peoples Research Office has developed the Sami Research and Project Database.

• Elina Helander-Renvall & Inkeri Markkula (2011) Luonnon monimuotoisuus ja saamelaiset. Biologista monimuotoisuutta koskevan artikla 8(j):n toimeenpanoa tukeva selvitys Suomen Saamelaisalueella. Suomen ympäristöministeriö. Suomen ympäristö 12/2011.
• Biological Diversity and Sami people  / Luonnon monimuotoisuus ja saamelaiset. Project investigates what kind of biodiversity-related knowledge Sami people in Finland have, and what measures are needed to protect and make use of this knowledge and how to share it’s benefits.
• Prerequisites of the Sami reindeer herding: meaning of traditional knowledge  / Saamelaisen poronhoidon edellytyksiä: perinnetiedon merkitys. The project investigates the changes regarding the activity conditions and their impact on the reindeer herding in relation to the prospects of the future.
• Report on Biological Diversity in the Arctic. Composite report on status and trends regarding the knowledge, innovations and practices of Indigenous and local communities in the Arctic. For further information on the Convention on Biological Diversity and Traditional Knowledge click here .
• Kai T. Kokko(toim.), 2010. Kysymyksiä saamelaisten oikeusasemasta.
• Heinämäki Leena, 2010. The Right to Be a Part of Nature: Indigenous Peoples and the Environment. Acta Universitatis Lapponiensis 180
• Valkonen Sanna, 2009. Poliittinen saamelaisuus

Arctic Indigenous Peoples Office
Arctic Centre
University of Lapland
P.O.Box 122, 96101 Rovaniemi, Finland
Visiting address: Arktikum house, Arctic Centre, Pohjoisranta 4, 3rd floor.

Director, Dr. Elina Helander-Renvall
Mobile:  +358 45 6522494
e-mail: elina.helander-renvall at ulapland.fi

Research team (2011)