Proposal Thematic Network on Children of the : local knowledge and sustainable development

Focus of the Network. Thematic Network Children of the Arctic: local knowledge and sustainable development aims to promote the Rights of the Child for all children in the Arctic in a framework of culturally, socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable development while sustaining cultures, local knowledge, language, and values. The Network has a particular emphasis on children of Indigenous peoples and their social and economic development. It is our shared view that Indigenous peoples have important contributions to make in view of globalization and a changing environment. Children all across the Arctic face numerous challenges that guide our focus. For example, rates of enrolment retention in education systems, as well as a lower graduation rate seem to be present across different regions. Indigenous educational deficits range from generalized exclusion in some areas, to limited access to the upper levels of education, with admittance to higher education still being the exception for a lot of communities. Facing the lack of access to basic services due to the geographical isolation nomadic children and children living in small and remote settlements are facing numerous barriers to reaching their full potential. Moreover, another major shortcoming is that different services offered to them, such as education, health, and social services, do not always reflect the realities of indigenous livelihoods, traditional exchange systems, kinship, and local cultures. For example, textbooks, educational materials, and information provided, mainly reflect the values, norms, and traditions of mainstream society. While in some of the territories we will examine, school systems provide education in indigenous languages, in others, formal school education is provided mainly in the national language. Moreover, many argue that school terms and daily schedules, including access to services, do not take into consideration Indigenous peoples’ livelihood. For example, a lot of non- indigenous service providers are not prepared to live and work in indigenous communities. Elders and community members are not always involved in the administration of various services as well as the voice of children is not taken into consideration as it should in accordance with the Rights of the Child Convention. Many indigenous children also experience the loss of an important part of their identity in their dealings with mainstream values and norms, while not feeling being a part of the dominant national society. Therefore, we believe that it is important to take into consideration the rights of Indigenous the rights of Indigenous peoples as a holistic concept incorporating mental, physical, spiritual, cultural, and environmental dimensions of well-being. We want to explore what solutions have been tested around the Arctic specifically in geographically isolated, self-sustaining communities, aimed at increasing children’s well-being and development, while preserving their connection to traditional ways of living and native languages. Goal of the Network Assess and study, in cooperation with experts from across the Arctic, successful practices of sustainable development concerning children in the Arctic, considering the adaptation of Indigenous traditional knowledge to contemporary conditions. Network objectives · Study social, economic and health conditions of the children in the Arctic as well as challenges they are facing, including climate change, industrial development, pandemics, inequality, discrimination, and globalization. · Study how children’s daily life changes as communities are preserving native languages and transmitting them to the next generations in the Arctic as well as transmitting local knowledge and skills to the next generation. · Collect data of the best international practices regarding children’s well-being and integrate them in successful practices developed and used to support the wellbeing and thriving of children and youth in the Arctic, with a special focus on indigenous children. · List best practices and success stories regarding the preservation of local knowledge among children of the Arctic and their adaptation to such contemporary challenges as climate change, economic development, globalization, security, and changing patterns of the welfare state. · Establish a network of cooperation within the University of the Arctic to create new standards for the sustainable development and well-being of the future generation of the Arctic, including the preservation of native languages and traditional knowledge of Indigenous peoples of the North. The Network. The Thematic Network on Children of the Arctic aims to assess the methods implemented in the field of well-being of children of Arctic Indigenous peoples. There is a need for new approaches and the improvement of the situation in the field of children reaching their full potential while preserving and sustaining local knowledge. Through cross-arctic comparative analyses of the contexts for children in the Arctic we will be able to make recommendations on best practices in the upbringing of children, considering the preservation of native language and culture. Indigenous peoples living in remote and isolated areas face the complicated organization of modern administration of various services. Hence, we believe that the implementation of the UArctic Thematic Network will contribute to sharing communities’ best practices and aspirations regarding giving their children the best possible environment to grow and prosper. In the network, we will gather and analyse data and information on children’s social conditions as well as best practices and efficient programs that are implemented in the field of children’s well-being in the Arctic. The result of the analyses of the data and information will serve as a basis for the creation of materials and other ways of sharing best practices across the Arctic region.

The project for developing a new network started in the autumn of 2019 with granted funding. Based on the project outcomes we are now proposing a new UArctic Thematic Network on Children of the Arctic. The project was awarded 500.000 DKK from UArctic. So far approx. 130.000 DKK has been spent on organising meetings, networking, developing a homepage, organising Round Tables, and beginning the process of editing the book on Children in the Arctic. The rest of the money will be used on organising a shared conference in the September 2021 at the University of – in person and online (100.000 DKK), a collaborative study on best practices of locally based education for indigenous children in the Arctic (60.000 DKK), the book on Children of the Arctic (120.000 DKK), evaluation (80.000 DKK), online meetings and networking in the spring of 2021 (20.000 DKK).

During the 1,5 year since August 2019, the preparation of the network took place through several conferences and seminars, dissemination of knowledge through teaching and articles, exchange of students, conducting research, and expanding the network. The Corona pandemic made it impossible to meet in-vivo during 2020 but still we managed to build and maintain the network online through regular meetings, seminars, and Round Tables. The first meeting was in September at the Northern Forum on Sustainable Development (in Yakutsk), where plans were elaborated for both individual and shared research projects concerning children of the Arctic. Furthermore, team members made seminars and lectures for students at the North-Eastern Federal University. Following meetings and presentations were at the Inuit Studies Conference in Montreal and in panel sessions at McGill University in October 2019.

The involved universities have conducted and shared research project. The activities include research and building sustainable networks with researchers, professionals in the services for children, and key people in local communities:

In cooperation with Qeqqata municipality in Greenland five workshops for young people have been conducted in the period 2019-2020, one in September 2019 in the settlement Atammik, an indigenous community, one in the town Maniitsoq, also an indigenous community, in September 2019, one in December 2019 in Maniitsoq and two in the autumn of 2020 in Maniitsoq. The goal of the workshops is to strengthen social resilience in the group of young people through activities that include art and psychosocial approaches. Social resilience is defined as mutual support, trust, self-esteem, problem-solving skills, and capacity of peaceful conflict resolution. Furthermore, the workshops focus on sexual and reproductive rights as sexual violence presents a huge risk for children and young people. We are in the process of coining another concept for resilience as social balance – an understanding emerging from Inuit knowledge but still in a dialogue with the global concept of social resilience. The activities were conducted with involvement of 22 indigenous Social Work students from Ilisimatusarfik/the University of Greenland in a close dialogue with the local community. We will continue doing these workshops and have agreements with the municipalities of Qeqqata and Avannaata, encompassing the indigenous towns Qaanaaq, Maniitsoq, Sisimiut and the settlement Kullorsuaq.

Our definitions of the quality of the Network are that: · The Network makes a visible and documentable support and strengthening of the programs and institutional practices applied to secure the wellbeing and thriving of all children in the Arctic – and thus, makes it possible to reduce risk factors and enhance supportive networks for children in families, institutions, and communities across the Arctic. · A stable and lasting collaboration between researchers studying children and youth in the Arctic is built and sustained to the benefit of children, young people, families, and communities in the Arctic. · Local knowledge is reflected in the research through a respectful dialogue and through research methodologies and research ethics in accordance with local values, culture, and visions. · Research results are published in journals and books that reach the crossArctic and international community and decision makers but that they also are disseminated in ways that reach out to communities, institutions, and families. · That university students participate in the research through fieldwork and masterclasses as well as in cross Arctic exchanges and cooperation between the participating universities.

The research on and with children across the Arctic is organized in rather separate sections with most studies within medicine and social medicine with quantitative methods and surveys. There is some intervention-research pointing to the importance of community participation, local ownership, cultural identity, and local agency as factors promoting good results in prevention or social healing. There is a mass of documentation and theoretical explanation of social and mental challenges as caused by colonization, discrimination, and inequality. But still there is a need for more community- based participatory action research that includes the voices of the local population, local values, visions, and resources. But first, there is a need for dialogue and synergy between the various and different methodological approaches. This will be to the benefit of all areas of research to collaborate across disciplines and methodologies and thus to encompass social science, the humanities, and medicine. From this collaboration new methods and methodologies particular to the contexts of the Arctic could emerge and make research and science even more useful to the local communities, institutions, and policies in the Arctic.

Throughout the project, partner institutions have developed locally adjusted educational programs and courses. At Ilisimatusarfik a particular educational approach has been developed where students of social work participate in developing programs for children and young people in settlements and towns. At McGill University culturally adjusted educational programs are implemented with outreach to remote communities in the North.

Plans for the next two years for the Thematic Network on Children of the Arctic: local knowledge and sustainable development are to: · Promote research projects and education on children (and young people) of the Arctic, especially indigenous children. · Organize research training (Ph.D. and Post Doc levels) in research on children and youth in the Arctic. · Promote collaboration between universities conducting research on (and with) children and youth in the Arctic. · Disseminate scientific knowledge on children and youth in the Arctic. · Organizing annual conferences of researchers doing research on child and youth well-being in the Arctic.

The UArctic Thematic Network will have the lead contact at the University of Greenland. The University of Greenland states a particular focus on Indigenous cultures of the Arctic, but still with a clear focus on the rights and thriving of all children living in the Arctic.

The network has a strong relation to Indigenous organizations in Greenland, including ICC Greenland, FIMI (Forum for Indigenous Women), the Office of the Rights of the Child, Ilisimatusarfik/University of Greenland, and the Self Government of Greenland as well as the municipalities. As Greenland has Self Government most institutions and all settlements and towns are Inuit areas and managed by Inuit people. Also, in we have a close cooperation with Indigenous peoples through Raipon. In and Alaska, we are building the cooperation with Indigenous peoples’ organisation, especially with ICC, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, and Makivik. We are doing a Round Table on the 19th of March with many Indigenous keynote speakers. We will continue with these Round Table and continue to work together with Indigenous peoples’ organizations (attached we send the agenda for the first Round Table).

The University of Greenland will be very happy to be the lead contact university of the UArctic Thematic Network of Children of the Arctic: local knowledge and sustainable development. The University of Greenland holds a Centre for Child-, Youth-, and Family Research – which will then support the UArctic Thematic Network on Children of the Arctic. The University of Greenland is an Inuit university as it was established by the Government of Greenland and has a clear focus on research on the Inuit culture as well as Indigenous peoples in the Arctic and globally.

The University of Greenland encourages research and higher education that support the priorities and needs of the circumpolar regions. Furthermore, it encourages research and traditional knowledge in the Arctic – and emphasises research that includes the voices of the children and families of the Arctic and the traditional knowledge and values of indigenous peoples.

The UArctic Thematic Network on Children of the Arctic will invite more Arctic universities into the network. We need to expand the range of universities involved in building the network on research on children and youth in the Arctic. Especially, universities in the Sápmi lands as well as in , , , the Faroe Islands, and will be invited to participate. This will provide a broader and more stable basis for the UArctic Thematic Network on Children of the Arctic.

List of partners Lead Partner: Ilisimatusarfik / University of Greenland (UArctic member) Professor Peter Berliner. [email protected]

Partners: McGill University (UArctic member). Professor Marianne Stenbaek. [email protected] Administrative and Scientific Assistant Emily Hoppe. [email protected] North-Eastern Federal University, Yakutia (UArctic member) Associate Professor Daryana Maximova [email protected] Ilisimatusarfik / University of Greenland (UArctic member) Rector Gitte Adler Reimer. [email protected] Associate Professor Jette Rygaard [email protected] Master student, member of Ili Ili, the students’ organization,Tuperna Kristensen. [email protected] Lakehead University (UArctic member) Associate Professor Paul Berger. [email protected] State University of New York (SUNY) / Binghamton University Ph.D. student Susan Vanek [email protected] Russian Association of Indigenous Peoples of the North (RAIPON) (Indigenous peoples’ organization) Vice President Nina Veisalova. [email protected] The Office of the Rights of the Child, Greenland (Inuit organization) Head of the office: Aviâja Egede Lynge. [email protected] Inuit Circumpolar Conference, ICC Greenland. (Inuit organization) Board member Aviâja Egede Lynge. [email protected] FIMI (Forum for Indigenous Women) Aviâja Egede Lynge. [email protected]

Lawyer and Strategic Advisor Karina Kesserwan [email protected] Lawyer and strategic advisor Jean-Francois Arteau. [email protected]

Short description for the Thematic Network’s website Title: Thematic Network on Children of the Arctic: local knowledge and sustainable development

The overall goal of the Network is to assess and study successful practices of sustainable development concerning children in the Arctic, considering the adaptation of indigenous traditional knowledge to contemporary conditions.

Objectives are to: Study the social, economic and health conditions of children in the Arctic as well as challenges they are facing, including climate change, industrial development, and globalization; Study how communities are preserving native languages and transmitting them to the next generations in the Arctic, including local knowledge and skills; List best practices and success stories regarding the preservation of local knowledge among children of the Arctic and their adaptation to contemporary challenges; Establish a network of cooperation within the universities of the Arctic to create new standards for the sustainable development and well-being of the future generations of the Arctic.

Background and need:

· There is a need for more knowledge on best practices for promoting well-being in children in the Arctic, especially children of Indigenous peoples.

· Drop-out of education, domestic violence, alcohol abuse, relative poverty and neglect are still too often seen as challenges for children in the Arctic – and we need more knowledge on how to prevent these challenges through community-based, efficient, and culturally sensitive methods.

· That good methods for securing the Rights of the Child to all children in the Arctic are being developed – but that they still need to be implemented in all areas.

· That the conditions for indigenous children differ profoundly across the Arctic countries and areas – and that some of the children live under very difficult social and cultural conditions.

· There is a huge need for community-based participatory action research involving children and young people in the local communities in the Arctic.

· There is a need for more cooperation between researchers within this field across the Arctic.

Activities: · Promote research projects and education on children (and young people) of the Arctic, especially indigenous children.

· Organize research training (Ph.D. and Post Doc levels) in research on children and youth in the Arctic.

· Promote collaboration between universities conducting research on (and with) children and youth in the Arctic.

· Disseminate scientific knowledge on children and youth in the Arctic. This will be achieved through teaching at universities and through the publication of a book (in English) in 2021 on the research and furthermore, through articles in international peer-reviewed journals.

· Organizing annual conferences of researchers doing research on child and youth well-being in the Arctic.

Plan for the next two years:

· To engage more universities in the Arctic in the network.

· To continue and strengthen the impact of the network on national policies securing the Rights of the Child for all children in the Arctic.

· To collaborate in solution- and resource-focused research in cooperation with local and indigenous children, families, and local communities in the Arctic.

· To cooperate in planning and conducting community-based participatory action research on/with children and young people in the Arctic – as this is part of increasing well-being and participation in a democratic society.