Amanda Graham

Message Info
Reads: 14172
Responses: 0

Indigenous voices of the Arctic

(Blue Lagoon Productions for National Geographic News, 26 August 2011) -- Hear the views of three young people with the perspective of indigenous nations — their hopes and aspirations to make a contribution to a world changing by a warming climate and the consequent economic development of the northernmost part of the planet. They were interviewed at the Seventh International Congress of Arctic Social Sciences (ICASS VII), held recently in Iceland. Organized by the International Arctic Social Sciences Association (IASSA), ICASS VII was attended by more than 400 delegates, who between them presented some 300 papers and joined discussions in dozens of workshops. Watch our video interview with IASSA President Joan Nymand Larsen, discussing the highlights of ICASS VII. Read our entire coverage of ICASS VII. &0147;... It’s extremely important for natives to have input into the scientific process, particularly if you’re looking at sustainability and climate change. If you’re looking at the northern region, they’re the main audience, the main people who will be affected. They are the ones who experience it first-hand, more quickly than everybody else. If you don’t include them in the science, you also lose a large amount of valuable knowledge they have to share. They’re the ones intimately connected to the environment around them, and they’re the ones connected to the changing political scene even. And if you want to be able to take that science from a text book to something that’s actually usable and influential for the community, you have to develop an effective communication network to be able to take it from knowledge to action.&0148; &0150; Julie Potter, Cherokee Nation, Eastern Band. Berea College, Kentucky. NSF summer intern Posted by Amanda Graham – 27 August 2011; 8:55:56 PM – Permalink