| 英文摘要: | Inuit possess a distinct and sophisticated knowledge of the Artic ecosystem which is crucial to its balance and sustainability. As first inhabitants, stewards, and traditional users intimately tied to the Arctic environment, the discrete status, rights, and interests of Inuit as Indigenous Peoples are affirmed in a number of legally binding treaties, as well as other international human rights instruments and domestic laws. Inuit authorities, organizations, and communities are central to the establishment and maintenance of effective mechanisms for safeguarding this ecologically and culturally unique region.
The Food Sovereignty and Self-Governance Project aims to advance understanding of Inuit self-governance of marine resources deemed crucial for Inuit food security. This includes exploring how Inuit co-management systems support food sovereignty objectives - outcomes that are essential for supporting human rights of Inuit communities. This project will examine the role Inuit communities in Alaska and Canada play in managing these resources as co-equal partners with their counterparts in federal, state, and local government agencies. The results derived from the research will prove valuable to other Arctic federal governments collaborating with Indigenous communities to achieve objectives related to the environmental, social, and ecological well-being of the Arctic.
The project's overarching goals are to:
1) Synthesize the existing legal frameworks providing for Inuit self-governance by evaluating applicable legal authorities in the United States (U.S.) and Canada;
2) Determine how existing Inuit self-governance approaches operate in practice by examining four co-management case studies as examples of approaches to food sovereignty. This will provide a comprehensive understanding of the social, political, and institutional parameters affecting implementation of key legal frameworks;
3) Understand whether and how Inuit self-governance systems support food sovereignty by comparing food sovereignty objectives against both these legal frameworks and observation of the implementation of those systems in practice; and
4) Disseminate Project findings to Inuit, state/territorial, national, and international leaders with the goal of supporting and driving improvements to systems providing for collaborative management of Arctic marine resources in the face of rapid ecological change.
The Project Team will take a two-tiered analytical approach to address these goals: (1) doctrinal legal research that evaluates legal and institutional frameworks; and
(2) socio-legal analysis through case-studies. The legal research will examine relevant laws, regulations, and policies at all levels of government, building a framework essential to understanding how Arctic collaborative governance functions in theory. The case studies will take the next step - moving from how these governance systems should work to how they operate in practice - and, ultimately, how they could be improved in a manner which optimizes outcomes for food sovereignty, human rights, and resource sustainability. Case studies conducted in partnership with those participating in co-management regimes, will focus on Walrus and Salmon in Alaska and Char and Beluga in the Inuvialuit Settlement Region of Canada. Current partners of this project include:
(1) The Eskimo Walrus Commission
(2) The Fisheries Joint Management Committee
(3) The Inuvialuit Game Council
Organizations advising this project include both the Association of Village Council Presidents and the Inuit Circumpolar Council Canada.
Project researchers conducting the case study analysis will follow a "co-production of knowledge" approach, in which no one person's information and knowledge is assigned greater inherent value than another's. Researchers with utilize Indigenous Knowledge and social science methodologies. The project will intimately engage with Inuit who play a role in natural resources management in the U.S. and Canadian Arctic under each case study, through focus groups, semi-directive interviews and discussions'all guided by input provided by an expert Advisory Committee.
The Project will advance the state of knowledge on how Inuit self-governance approaches support Inuit food sovereignty objectives and resource sustainability. With a combined focus on the United States and Canada, the Project will enable comparative analysis of legal and institutional structures, practices, and perceptions to facilitate critical evaluation of Inuit self-governance over marine resources as embodied in co-management regimes. This research will also be useful for other Arctic nations that are working with Indigenous peoples to achieve the environmental, social, and ecological well-being of the Arctic. |