The Finnish-India joint seminar on Indigenous and tribal peoples’ studies comparing the Arctic and India was held on 27 May 2022 at the Arctic Centre of the University of Lapland.
The Northern Institute for Environmental and Minority Law at the Arctic Centre, in cooperation with the UArctic Law Thematic Network and the UArctic Chair in Arctic Legal Research and Education, organized the seminar.
The event was held primarily as part of the project “Interdisciplinary curricula on indigenous and tribal peoples’ studies,” participated by five Universities, including the Universities of Lapland and Oulu from Finland and Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, North Bengal University and Sikkim University from India. The seminar attracted both online and offline participants from a number of countries, including staff and students’ participation from Indian partner Universities.
The one-day seminar demonstrated sharing of views and ideas and thought-provoking discussions amongst the participants on several topics, comparing the Arctic and India. Much of the discussions touched upon various issues linked to Arctic and Himalayan region highlighting Indigenous perspectives from the region located in the Third Pole. Discussions held at the seminar suggested a need for exploring avenues for future research comparing the Arctic and the Third Pole.