ArcticKnows · Just knowledge co-creation for a regenerative Arctic economy

ArcticKnows will empower Coastal, Local and Indigenous Communities (CLICs) in the Arctic to mobilise their indigenous and local knowledges (including traditional ecological knowledge) and enhance their agency to act towards co-creating regenerative economies and livelihoods in a just, inclusive, and gender-sensitive way. The project convenes CLICs, researchers and other local stakeholders (industry, businesses, civil society, policymakers) in a just and decolonial knowledge co-creation process, to co-design and co-deploy pioneering principles, methodologies, guidelines, frameworks and indicators for regenerative economies and livelihoods, as well as attractive platforms for community engagement and participation. ArcticKnows tackles some of the key challenges including a) climate change and climate related vulnerabilities; b) extractive economic models and mindsets; c) lack of recognition and/or—depending on the context—appropriation of local and indigenous knowledges; and d) lack of CLICs, women, and youth engagement in decision-making. It employs just, decolonial and inclusive knowledge co-creation and multi-actor collaborative and transdisciplinary approaches, for innovating and transforming towards regenerative and climate-wise economy, while co-designing platforms for meaningful community engagement that empowers and strengthen CLICs’, women, youth and other marginalized groups to participate in policy making. In ArcticKnows we cocreate, demonstrate and evaluate examples of regenerative local economies in four Pilots, in Greenland, Norway, Sweden and Finland, focusing on close-to-nature tourism, small-scale climate-resilient agriculture and climate-resilient fisheries, all of which represent environments of multispecies encounters. ArcticKnows advances and activates multispecies coexistence and justice. Finally, it promotes mindful sharing and scaling up best practices, while ensuring intellectual and cultural autonomy of local and indigenous knowledge holders.