Building shared knowledge capital to support natural resource governance in the northern periphery: concepts and challenges

Abstract

This chapter sets the scene in terms of the challenge facing northern peripheral regions particularly in relation to growing concerns regarding global interest in Arctic natural resource use and misuse. Exploring the nebulous and often contentious arena that constitutes traditional, indigenous and local knowledge, the chapter helps the reader appreciate the difficulties and challenges not only in co-producing knowledge but also the difficulties in advancing more thoughtful co-operation between stakeholders. This is particularly important in the context of resource exploitation both for the communities in which resources are located and for environmental sustainability more generally. This chapter furthermore unpacks some of the ideas around the concept of building shared knowledge capital and depicts how the narratives within the book weave their way through myriad discussions around methods and practices for integrating indigenous and local knowledge (ILK) into land use planning and decision-making. The latter part of the chapter outlines the aims of the ten topic-related chapters and the concluding chapter. Through the various scenarios presented, what becomes clear is the need to combine the habitually separated knowledge systems of 'expert' and lay knowledge to co-design and co-produce methods and solutions in any effort to ensure land resource decision-making practices that not only will be successful but more importantly will be sustainable.