This project will support the participation of Arctic indigenous peoples at the annual Sosnovka Coalition Meeting in October 2009. The Sosnovka conference brings together international scientists, environmental advocates, and Russian policy makers to discuss the effects of governmental policy on indigenous environments and resources. This project will bring a larger and more diverse group of indigenous people, Buryat, Chukchi, Evenk, Itelmen, Sakha, Shor and Udege people to the conference. Many of the members of these cultural groups have been strongly involved in projects through Pacific Environment, an NGO that focuses on governance and the environment in Russia, that incorporate scientific and traditional knowledge into public policy and governance; and although some of the participants are not geographically Arctic, the participation of the southern Siberian people, Buryat, Shor, Sakha and Udege, with northern Siberian peoples, Chukchi, Evenk, and Itelmen in this conference will facilitate the sharing of knowledge and training.
One of the goals of the Arctic Social Sciences Program is to engage communities in science and equally important is to engage scientists in the issues that are of most concern to Arctic communities. The Sosnovka Coalition conference is very much an applied science conference, it brings together science and community members, along with policy makers, to discuss their mutual interests - how they can provide the best knowledge (scientific and traditional) to policy makers when decisions are of critical importance to the concerns of communities, such as: natural resource development, fishing and hunting regulations, economic development plans, transportation corridors, etc. These decisions have the potential to affect indigenous lifeways in the Arctic, as well as other regions in Russia, and thus are of greatest concern to rural residents. The Sosnovka conference is a space where communities can learn how to bring the best information to the policy table; how to make the most cogent argument on behalf of indigenous community interests; and how to partner with scientists in this process.
This project is notable through the collaboration of scientists and indigenous knowledge scholars in the conference dialog on issues of wildlife habitat, environmental policy, indigenous management regimes, and resource development strategies. In addition bringing the voices of under-respresented groups to the table with scientists to inform public policy decisions is an important science goal. In addition, the project will bring 5 young indigenous leaders to participate and develop the Young Sosnovka program to entrain the next generation of scientists and environmentalist and encourage a model of public policy based on good scientific data.
The results of the Sosnovka project will be disseminated broadly through letters, web sites and listserves of NGOs, scientists, scientific and indigenous organizations, and others, including the national press. This dissemination plan adds to the broader impacts of the project.
