Filling the EU-Sápmi knowledge gaps

The Saami Council member organizations have over time expressed a need for more knowledge and exchange of experience in Sápmi on how EU directives, regulations, decisions, opinions and recommendations affect the everyday life of the Sámi people. The need has also been raised in the Sámi Parliamentary Council (SPR) for a long time on how Sámi can get a clearer voice within the EU and how a permanent contact point with the EU can be organized. The project is rooted both at the political level in Sápmi and in civil society.

In September 2019, the Saami Council in partnership with the Suoma Sámi Nuorat received funding from the EU Interreg Nord program for the project Filling the EU-Sápmi knowledge gaps. The overall aim of the project is to strengthen the relationship between Sápmi and the EU, through creating a knowledge platform on EU-Sámi relevant topics but also to develop a more strategic approach towards the EU. The project has four main activities, including a trainee program, a module based course on relevant EU-Sápmi topics, a pilot Sámi Week in Brussel in 2022 as well as the establishment of an EU-Sámi think-tank of Sámi experts. 

The project is funded by Interreg Nord, Regional Council of Lapland, Sámi Parliament in Norway, County Municipality of Troms and Finnmark, Region Norrbotten, and Region Västerbotten.

The project has established an interdisciplinary EU-Sápmi Jurddabeassi, a Sámi thinktank. EU-Sápmi Jurddabeassi has 6 members, all of whom are Sámi experts in their fields and are distributed between Norway, Sweden and Finland. The experts will, among other things, represent the Sámi business community, the Sámi decision-makers, academic research and the Sámi civil society.

The goal of EU-Sápmi Jurddabeassi is to collect Sámi resource persons for the work with a strategic planning process for how Sápmi will position itself towards the EU. EU-Sápmi Jurddabeassi aims to convey knowledge and ideas that are innovative and challenge the political debate on the EU in Sápmi. EU-Sápmi Jurddabeassi should produce a useful analysis of what Sápmi's potential is in the meeting with the EU.   

EU-Sápmi Jurddabeassi will be the first Sámi meeting place for various industries and sectors that have the opportunity to discuss the choices Sápmi stands in front of. A central issue is the steps that are required for secure sustainable development based on Sámi premises with the help of EU instruments.

The work with EU-Sápmi Jurddabeassi will be organized according to the following model:

• Jurddabeassi will have 8 physical meetings in 2 days of which at least one meeting should be in Norway, Sweden and Finland.             

• Jurddabeassi will draw up a policy document with suggestions on how Sápmi can operate more strategically towards the EU. This policy paper will be presented in May 2022 during the 22. Sámi Conference in Gällivare.

The Sápmi - EU strategy is available here.

Participants in EU-Sápmi Jurddabeassi have been recruited and are;

The trainee program will include practical knowledge of project management and how the Saami Council works with various EU institutions to promote Sámi interests.

In general, lack of work experience is often an obstacle to getting a job, which is also relevant for Sápmi. Long distances between Sámi local communities and larger communities can mean that it is difficult to find jobs other than traditional Sámi enterprises. The impoverishment of the Sámi communities by forcing Sámi to move to larger societies is a challenge for the Sámi languages and traditional knowledge transfer between generations. At the same time, the Sámi community needs Sámi to remain at the local level and promote regional development based on Sámi conditions. As a representative of the Sámi civil society and with long international experience, the Saami Council has a unique position to work as a knowledge and competence developer within Sápmi.

The program's target group is young Sámi in education or other trained Sámi who want to work with Sámi issues in an EU context. The trainee program will comprise three trainees from Norway, Sweden, and Finland, respectively. The participants are hired 100% of the project until June 2022, receive a mentor, and participate in the project organizes' courses. The Sámi languages will be used throughout the program.

The goal of the program is that young Sámi people should acquire the relevant working life experience in a Sámi environment. Participants will gain an understanding of how the Saami Council is working towards the various EU institutions for the promotion of Sámi interests and gain insight into the job opportunities in Sápmi in relation to cross-border cooperation. Through the work of the various departments in the Sámi Council with both theoretical and practical information, participants will get to know the organization and see how the different parts of the organization relate themselves to each other.

The second objective of the program is for participants to create formal networks among Sámi people with an interest in the EU. The project sees that the trainee program will serve as an incubator for innovative meetings between young Sámi as the term is to result in more geographical, professional, and socio-economic mobility in Sápmi.              

The third objective of the program is for participants to get to know the existing mechanisms within the EU where Indigenous Peoples are consulted. The program, therefore, includes a study trip to Brussels for all three trainees where they participate in the EU's annual Indigenous Dialogue, visit the European Parliament and other relevant EU institutions.              

The trainee program application was open from June to mid-August 2020. Anja Márjá Nystø Keskitalo was elected from the Norwegian side, Susanna Israelsson from the Swedish side, and Ida-Maria Helander from the Finnish side. The trainees started their work in the Saami Council on January 1st and will be in full-time employment until June 2022. Read more about the trainees here.

The Saami Council acknowledges a need for the Sámi community to gain more knowledge about the EU. The project will therefore arrange training courses where the target group is primarily the Saami Council's member organizations, but they will also be open to other Sámi actors and institutions. One of the modules will be implemented in Norway, while the remaining three will be implemented in Sweden and Finland. The Sámi languages will be the main language during education.

The course package contains four different modules where each module is two days.             

EU Market, Sámi livelihoods and entrepreneurship
This module deals with the topic of the EU as a market and problematizes the regulations that apply to Sámi products and services within the EU.

From project rookie to project pro
This module deals with the topic of leading an EU project, which will create the conditions for participants to lead and implement an EU project. The module will provide both theoretical and practical knowledge on how to implement an EU project.

Sámi advocacy and diplomacy
This module deals with the topic of the EU as a political premise provider will problematize how Sápmi can influence EU decision-makers so that the Sámi perspectives are incorporated into the documentation. Lobby and other forms of influence work will be central.

This module gives an introduction to the various EU institutions and will be organized together with the Sámi conference.

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The EU has on a number of occasions expressed a need to strengthen its knowledge of Sámi culture and way of life. Increased knowledge of Sámi is a prerequisite for the EU to achieve the goal of "consistency between the EU's internal and external policy towards indigenous peoples". 

The project will therefore carry out a pilot on organizing an EU Sápmi Week in Brussels 2022 (ESW2022). The goal is for EU Sápmi Week to become an annual event that builds Sámi partnership with EU institutions.              

The target group for ESW2022 is the bureaucrats at various European institutions, parliamentarians, members of national parliaments and other international institutions in Brussels, as well as the civil society in Sápmi, especially Sámi youth.              

ESW2022 will prepare the foundation for an annual event in Brussels, where the Sámi culture and way of life are in focus. ESW2022 should create an arena where Sámi experts and EU policymakers meet to be taking the first steps for the development of a strategic and coherent European Indigenous Affairs. Network and knowledge exchange is a central part of this work. The Sámi civil society has expressed the need to also increase awareness about the Sámi relations with European policymakers. ESW2022 is one of a number of measures to influence the EU's policies in various sectors that affect Sámi interests, including language, culture, education as well as traditional and new Sámi industries. Increased knowledge and understanding among policymakers about the Sámi people will contribute to creating better conditions for the Sámi people to influence the issues that affect Sami life and culture.

The pilot EU-Sápmi Week will be implemented on 20.-23. June in Brussels. Theme of the first ESW is Art & Land.

Tweets about the project #EUSápmi

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