Sustainability, Biodiversity and
Knowledge in the Northern Circumpolar Regions
Seminar Series
Northern Studies Centre
University of Aberdeen
5 December 2003
For further information, please contact:
Robert Wishart, Postdoctoral Research Assistant
r.p.wishart [at] abdn.ac.uk
The Northern Studies Centre at the University of Aberdeen announces a
transdisciplinary seminar series: Sustainability, Biodiversity and
Knowledge in the Northern Circumpolar Regions.
BACKGROUND
The northern circumpolar regions, stretching from Siberia across
northernmost Europe and the North Atlantic to Canada and Alaska, have
become a focus for debate on environmental change, resource management
and sustainability. While the debate has pitted the interests of
industrial development against those of biological conservation, the
voices of long-term inhabitants of northern lands have been largely
ignored. Differences of perspective, and in basic assumptions about the
natural world and human relations towards it, have led to
misunderstanding and sometimes conflict, hindering the development of an
inclusive approach to the conservation of biodiversity and sustainable
management the North.
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
We aim to explore the relation between sustainability, biodiversity and
knowledge, in each of five one-day seminars, by focusing on a particular
region. The regions to be considered include: Lapland, the Canadian
Northwest Territories, Eastern Siberia, the North Atlantic, and Nunavut
land. Each seminar will have as its objective to identify areas of
conflict and potential avenues for their resolution. A final, sixth
seminar, extending over two days and following a workshop format, will
use a comparative discussion as a springboard from which to develop
proposals for further research.
TRAVEL
Limited funds are available to assist with the travel expenses of
participants without alternative sources of support. Priority will be
given to postgraduate research students and junior postdoctoral
researchers. Anyone requiring support should apply to Tim Ingold
(tim.ingold [at] abdn.ac.uk), stating their requirements.
SEMINAR 1
The first seminar on socio-economic and ecological conflicts around
reindeer pastoralism in Lapland will be held on Friday 5 December, 2003.
A web-site dedicated to the seminar series is currently under
construction and an announcement will be made when it is working.
For further information, please contact:
Robert Wishart
Postdoctoral Research Assistant
Department of Anthropology
University of Aberdeen
r.p.wishart [at] abdn.ac.uk