The Saami Council and Suoma Sámiid Guovddášsearvi kick off Interreg project
From left to right: Åsa Larsson Blind (Project manager SWE), Enni Similä (project officer FIN), Simon Lundmark Kuhmunen (project officer SWE), Helene Ajuna Olsen (communication officer NO). Photo: The Saami Council // Piera Heaika Muotka
The Saami Council together with Suoma Sámiid Guovddášsearvi has now kicked off the Interreg project “ReCap ASáp: Regaining capacity in a changing Sápmi”. The project is led by Åsa Larsson Blind, who is joined by Simon Lundmark Kuhmunen, Enni Similä, and Helene Ajuna Olsen. The project will seek to build and strengthen the capacity of Sámi civil society.
“A robust and resilient Sápmi in times of rapid change”
– I am excited for this project with the aim to increase capacity in Sápmi during the coming three years. The project activities will strengthen the Sámi civil society and give better possibilities for Sámi organisations to influence issues they find important, says project manager Åsa Larsson Blind.
“ReCap ASáp: Regaining capacity in a changing Sápmi” is a three-year project aimed at strengthening Sámi civil society, through a variety of activities aimed at leadership development, as well as knowledge sharing and development. The project partners are the Saami Council and Suoma Sámiid Guovddášsearvi (SSG).
– At SSG we are very excited to be part of this project and the activities within it as they will offer great tools for us to function effectively as an umbrella organisation on the Finnish side. We are especially happy that the project aims to build capacity among Sámi organisations with a targeted focus on youth and elders as we see a great need for knowledge transfer in this area, says Janne Näkkäläjärvi the Chair of Suoma Sámiid Guovddášsearvi.
Janne Näkkäläjärvi (Chair of SSG), Enni Similä (project officer FIN), Åsa Larsson-Blind (project manager), Simon Lundmark Kuhmunen (project officer SWE), Áile Javo (Secretary General, Saami Council)
Rapid changes, such as those caused by climate change, affects Sámi society directly and indirectly through the actions taken by surrounding societies. The project will contribute to a robust and resilient Sápmi in times of rapid change, and to strengthen the capacity of Sámi civil society to advance self-determination.
In early October, representatives of the project partners Janne Näkkäläjärvi (SSG) and Áile Javo (Saami Council) met together with the project staff in Heahttá, on the Finnish side of Sápmi.
The project is funded by Interreg Aurora, Sametinget i Norge, Lapin Liitto, Finnmark, Troms, Nordland and Trøndelag fylkeskommuner, Region Norrbotten, Västerbotten, Jämtland Härjedalen and Västernorrland.