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知识，这对其平衡和可持续性至关重要。作为与北极环境密切相关的原住民、管家和传统使用者，因纽特人作为土著人民的离散地位、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确认。因纽特当局、组织和社区是建立和维护保护这一生态和文化独特地区的有效机制的核心。粮食主权和自治项目旨在增进对因纽特人对被认为对因纽特人粮食安全至关重要的海洋资源的自治的了解。这包括探讨因纽特人共同管理制度如何支持粮食主权目标--这些成果对于支持因纽特人社区的人权至关重要。该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对等伙伴在管理这些资源方面所发挥的作用。这项研究的结果将被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具有价值。该项目的总体目标是：1)通过评估美国(美国)适用的法律当局，综合现有的因纽特人自治法律框架。2)通过审查四个共同管理案例研究，确定现有因纽特人自治办法在实践中如何运作，以此作为粮食主权办法的范例。这将全面了解影响执行关键法律框架的社会、政治和体制参数；3)通过将粮食主权目标与这些法律框架进行比较，并观察这些制度的实际执行情况，了解因纽特人自治制度是否以及如何支持粮食主权；4)向因纽特人、州/领土、国家和国际领导人传播项目成果，目的是支持和推动改进在面临快速生态变化的情况下协作管理北极海洋资源的制度。项目组将采取两级分析方法来解决这些目标：(1)评估法律和体制框架的理论法律研究；(2)通过案例研究进行社会法律分析。法律研究将审查各级政府的相关法律、法规和政策，建立一个从理论上理解北极合作治理如何运作所必需的框架。案例研究将采取下一步行动--从这些治理系统应如何运作到它们在实践中如何运作--以及最终如何改进它们，以优化粮食主权、人权和资源可持续性的成果。与共同管理制度参与方合作开展的案例研究将重点放在阿拉斯加的海象和鲑鱼以及加拿大因努维亚卢特安置区的Char和Beluga。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)因努维亚卢特狩猎委员会(Inuvialuit Game Council)--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环极理事会。进行案例研究分析的项目研究人员将遵循“共同生产知识”的方法，即没有人的信息和知识比另一个人的信息和知识具有更大的内在价值。该项目将与因纽特人密切接触，他们在每个案例研究中都在美国和加拿大北极的自然资源管理中发挥作用，通过焦点小组、半指导性访谈和讨论，所有这些都由专家咨询委员会提供的意见指导。该项目将促进了解因纽特人自治办法如何支持因纽特人的粮食主权目标和资源可持续性。该项目将把重点放在美国和加拿大，从而能够对法律和体制结构、做法和观念进行比较分析，以促进对共同管理制度所体现的因纽特人对海洋资源的自治进行批判性评价。这项研究也将有助于其他北极国家与土著人民合作，实现北极的环境、社会和生态福祉。

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.