Collaborative Research: Food Sovereignty and Self-Governance--Inuit Role in Managing Arctic Marine Resources

因纽特人对北极生态系统有着独特而复杂的了解，这对北极生态系统的平衡和可持续发展至关重要。作为与北极环境密切相关的第一居民、管理者和传统使用者，因纽特人作为土著人民的独特地位、权利和利益在一些具有法律约束力的条约以及其他国际人权文书和国内法中得到了肯定。因纽特当局、组织和社区是建立和维持有效机制以保护这一生态和文化独特地区的核心。粮食主权和自治项目旨在增进对因纽特人对海洋资源的自治的了解，这些海洋资源被认为对因纽特人的粮食安全至关重要。这包括探索因纽特人共同管理系统如何支持粮食主权目标，这些目标对于支持因纽特人社区的人权至关重要。本项目将考察阿拉斯加和加拿大的因纽特人社区作为联邦、州和地方政府机构的平等伙伴，在管理这些资源方面所发挥的作用。从研究中得出的结果将证明对其他北极联邦政府与土著社区合作实现与北极环境、社会和生态福祉相关的目标是有价值的。该项目的总体目标是：1)通过评估美国和加拿大适用的法律当局，综合现有的因纽特人自治的法律框架；2)通过检查四个共同管理案例研究作为粮食主权方法的例子，确定现有因纽特人自治方法在实践中是如何运作的。这将提供对影响关键法律框架实施的社会、政治和体制参数的全面了解；3)通过将食物主权目标与这些法律框架和实践中对这些系统实施情况的观察进行比较，了解因纽特人自治系统是否以及如何支持食物主权；4)向因纽特人、州/地区、国家和国际领导人传播项目发现，目标是支持和推动北极海洋资源协同管理系统的改进，以应对快速的生态变化。项目团队将采取两层分析方法来实现这些目标：(1)评估法律和制度框架的理论法律研究；(2)通过案例分析进行社会法律分析。法律研究将审查各级政府的相关法律、法规和政策，建立一个对理解北极协同治理如何在理论上发挥作用至关重要的框架。案例研究将采取下一步行动，从这些治理系统应该如何运作转向它们在实践中如何运作，并最终探讨如何以优化粮食主权、人权和资源可持续性成果的方式对其进行改进。与参与共同管理制度的伙伴合作进行的个案研究将集中在阿拉斯加的海象和鲑鱼以及加拿大因纽瓦伊特人定居地区的查尔和白鲸。该项目目前的合作伙伴包括：(1)爱斯基摩海象委员会(2)渔业联合管理委员会(3)因纽特人狩猎委员会为该项目提供咨询的组织包括村理事会主席协会和加拿大因纽特人环极理事会。进行案例研究分析的项目研究人员将遵循“知识的共同生产”方法，在这种方法中，没有一个人的信息和知识被赋予比另一个人更大的内在价值。研究人员利用本土知识和社会科学方法。在每个案例研究中，该项目将通过焦点小组、半指导性访谈和讨论，与在美国和加拿大北极地区自然资源管理中发挥作用的因纽特人密切接触，所有这些都由专家咨询委员会提供的意见指导。该项目将促进对因纽特人自治方法如何支持因纽特人粮食主权目标和资源可持续性的认识。该项目将以美国和加拿大为重点，对法律和体制结构、实践和观念进行比较分析，以促进对共同管理制度中体现的因纽特人对海洋资源的自治进行批判性评价。这项研究对其他正在与土著人民合作实现北极环境、社会和生态福祉的北极国家也很有用。

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; and4) 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 CouncilOrganizations 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.