Co-creating Research Projects – Some Personal Experiences from Saami Council and Arctic Researchers

The experience of co-developing a Horizon 2020 proposal inspired the authors to write a public about bringing co-designed research projects to a higher and more equity-based level. The proposal invitation was unique, as the project leads reached out to the Saami Council nine months in advance, allowing for an internal process to tailor the project based on Sámi research needs and concerns. This invitation and experience of doing transdisciplinary work on the proposal led to many learning experiences for co-creative partnerships and co-creating research projects. The statement emphasized that allocating enough time in the first phase of the process was key to both the Indigenous and non-Indigenous partners to establish a platform of mutual trust and understanding of each other’s positions. In the year following this statement, the authors and other partners collected comments, experiences and critical positions from both Indigenous and scientific partners to feed into a position paper.

Additional partners also contributed to this project. For more details on this project and their involvement, please visit the links provided.

Contributors

Annette ScheepstraLocation: Groningen, Netherlands

Gertrude SaxingerLocation: Vienna, Austria