About the Sámi Regional Team
The Sámi Regional Team with UiT researchers and local collaborators is led by Dr. Camilla Brattland (co-PI), UiT The Arctic University of Norway, who also co-leads WP 1 with Dr. Walker. The key Indigenous partner in the Team is DeanuInstituhtta with professor in Sámi literature Harald Gaski who also co-leads WP 2 with Dr. Robert Grabowski. The Team meets regularly with the Unamaki and Cranfield regional teams and is supported by an Indigenous-led steering committee consisting of the DeanuInstituhtta, Sámediggi - the Sami Parliament of Norway, and Joddu – the local branch of the national wild salmon centre in Norway located in Deanušáldi/Tana bru.
Dr. Brattland’s research is centred on Indigenous and Sámi knowledge, participation of Sámi and Indigenous peoples in environmental governance, particularly in blue social-ecological systems. She specializes in documentation of Sámi and Indigenous traditional use of the environment using participatory GIS and StoryMapping. She participates in several ongoing research projects in the Deatnu region which this project will align with: The RecoSal project lead by the Natural Resource Institute (LUKE) Recovering diversity in salmon populations and cultures of fishing: the subarctic River Teno basin as a confluence and a Living Lab (RecoSal) | Natural Resources Institute Finland in Finland and the Tana project lead by the Norwegian Institute for Nature Research: Tanaelva: vitenskapelig og samisk tradisjonell økologisk kunnskap - Framsenteret
The steering committee leads the community engagement work with local community representatives and organizations along both sides of the Deatnu watersheds. The local community engagement and collaborators will strengthen local and Sámi participation and leadership in the development of a multiple knowledge base for the region, while the Sharing our knowledge project will offer exchange of experiences and knowledge across Indigenous knowledge and water sciences based on the Two-Eyed Seeing approach.
Researchers and Master students with competence in Sámi language will be recruited by the project to facilitate the knowledge mobilization work between the UiT The Arctic University of Norway and the local communities.
River Dialogues Across Sápmi
From the 23rd to the 27th of June 2025, the Sápmi team is organizing a trip titled River Dialogues Across Sápmi with the goal of exploring the history of Sámi and Indigenous relations with rivers and their contemporary challenges in terms of climate and biodiversity and management systems. Details, including the trip itinerary and registration, are available here.
View of the Deatnu River. Photo credit: Minetta Westerlund
Policy Brief on the Deatnu Watershed Future Vision Workshop
Read the RecoSal project policy brief here to learn more about how it supports collaborative governance for the recovery of Atlantic salmon in the large Tana river catchment in northern Norway and Finland.
View of the Tana river with a rainbow. Photo credit: Panu Orell
Master Student Scholarships - Sharing our knowledge: Incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems to build governance for climate resiliency
Climate change is driving significant alterations to water systems and associated habitats that are negatively affecting ecological and human communities all over the world. The goal is to build a shared understanding of climate change risk perception based on Indigenous and scientific multiple knowledge systems. In this, we aim to identify community knowledge needs regarding climate change, and co-develop Indigenous-grounded risk assessment and action frameworks to address key risk themes. Steered by Indigenous scholars and partners, with support from universities, this research project will facilitate knowledge sharing and collaboration between two communities in Unama’ki, Atlantic Canada, and the Deatnu watershed valley (bordering on Norway and Finland).
The project is based on the principles of Indigenous leadership and Two-Eyed Seeing, which embraces the contributions of both Indigenous and Western ways of knowing. Our partners are DeanuInstituhtta, the Sámi Parliament and Joddu – the Wild Salmon Centre.
We offer scholarships for two master students of 30 000 NOK each, who wish to write their master thesis within the topic of the project, and with opportunities to participate in local work and with an international group of researchers. Sámi and Indigenous students are encouraged to apply. Your background can be from humanities, social sciences, or environmental sciences.
Please send a short description of yourself and your master thesis project idea (max 1 page in total):
Project lead Camilla Brattland, camilla.brattland@uit.no
More on the project: Sápmi — Sharing Our Knowledge