Project description
Preserving Arctic heritage through collaborative knowledge
Arctic coastal communities face mounting challenges from climate change, threatening their cultural heritage, socio-ecological well-being, and traditional livelihoods. To address these challenges, the EU-funded BIRGEJUPMI project will integrate indigenous, Western, and local knowledge systems to foster resilience and sustainable governance. Grounded in ethical, community-based research led by Indigenous leaders, the project empowers communities in western Sápmi, northern Sápmi, and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland). BIRGEJUPMI revitalises Indigenous ecological practices, documents socio-environmental changes, and promotes youth-driven visions for sustainability. It also explores landscapes and seascapes as ‘living archives’ to inform resource management. Highlighting Indigenous art and handicrafts, the project supports healing, reconciliation, and environmental coping mechanisms, advancing decolonial research and inclusive policymaking for Arctic futures.
Objective
The BIRGEJUPMI project aims to strengthen community engagement and relational environmental decision-making in Arctic coastal regions by bringing together diverse knowledge systems (Indigenous, Western, and local), grounded in a holistic, ethical, and equitable community-based approach to research with strong Indigenous leadership. Empowering communities to use and develop their own knowledge is vital for fostering resilience, cultural preservation, socio-ecological well-being, and mobilizes coastal communities to address local challenges effectively while promoting social cohesion. To this end, BIRGEJUPMI focuses on three Arctic areas: western Sápmi, northern Sápmi, and Kalaallit Nunaat (Greenland), following three objectives: 1) document, revitalize, and integrate Indigenous Peoples’ knowledge-informed practices connected to marine and coastal resources management and conservation in fjord socio-ecosystems, and inform decision-making processes for coastal management and governance models rooted in Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK); 2) assess the environmental, socio-economic, cultural, and demographic changes experienced by Arctic coastal communities in relation to climate change adaptation and mitigation measures, focusing on young people's visions for a sustainable future and their involvement in regional, national and EU-level environmental decision-making; 3) investigate the transformative potential of sea- and landscapes as living archives to inform TEK-rooted resource governance and empower local institutions and knowledge centers to become open spaces for dynamic community-led research. The role of Indigenous art, handicraft, and art-based methods is highlighted as they contribute to healing, reconciliation, and environmental coping mechanisms in Arctic coastal regions. BIRGEJUPMI is grounded in Indigenous methodologies and adopts a Co-Production of Knowledge (CPK) and Two-Eyed Seeing approach to advance decolonial research and responsible policy.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques.
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Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinator
90014 Oulu
Finland