Sharing our knowledge: incorporating Indigenous knowledge systems to build governance for climate resiliency

This research aims to bring Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing together from the First Peoples of Canada and Norway to address climate change risks to source waters, fisheries and food systems, and riparian management. Indigenous communities and peoples are experts of their environments and carry intimate knowledge about water and related resources. These knowledge systems have enabled the resilience of Indigenous peoples and communities since time immemorial. Climate change is a disruptive threat that will require sharing of knowledge through traditional practices and scientific knowledge and innovation.
In this project, we want to i) investigate Indigenous-led approaches to water governance and stewardship and ii) develop methods for the inclusion of Indigenous and local knowledge and risk mitigation in water management and restoration practices in Canada and Norway to build climate resiliency for Indigenous communities.
We will explore traditional and current governance approaches in partner communities and explore using the lens of water safety planning to develop an understanding of climate change risks to water resources and services to co-develop long-term stewardship adaptation strategies. The risks addressed include:
-Risks to water security
-Risks to critical infrastructure, networks and services
-Risks to human health (health impacts arising from the accessibility and quality of drinking water) -Risks to food security (water quality impacts on freshwater/estuarine fisheries)
-Risks to coastal socio-ecological systems (sea-level rise)
We will work with Atlantic First Nations institutions and communities in Canada (Unama'ki) and in Norway (Sápmi). The outcomes will challenge some of the existing governance models around water resources and services common in the dominant national structures and identify approaches that are more aligned with the communities' traditional knowledge and long-term perspectives. The intention of this work is to challenge governance norms and legitimize Indigenous ways of knowing and caring for all relations in a changing climate.