Arctic Forum 2025

Food, transitions and Indigenous knowledges: finding new pathways towards resilient societies in the North

29–30 September 2025 | Lycksele

Arctic Forum is the meeting place where researchers, decision-makers, civil society and industry can discuss issues of sustainable development from an Arctic perspective.

Welcome to the Arctic Forum 2025! The theme of this year is "Food, transitions and Indigenous knowledges", where we meet to explore new ways towards resilient societies in the North by preparing and sharing meals with one another. We invite researchers, decision-makers, stakeholders, civil society, and especially young people to join the conversation.

Using food as a ticket to talk and think and imagine in new ways
At the forum, focus will be on workshops where we forage, prepare and share seasonal food together to support co-creation, deep listening and collaborative thinking. The worksops will follow five themes which will involve thinking through embodied approaches, using food and eating practices, to co-create new possibilities. The names of the themes are yet to be confirmed.

Take this opportunity to learn more about food, transitions and Indigenous knowledges. Meet our keynotes and join in on the discussion through workshops, joint meals, a hike in the forest, and a visit to the Sámi museum!

Registration

Information will be out soon.

Program (will be updated)

Day 1, 29/9

11:00 Optional events
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Welcome
- Welcome address and keynotes
14:00 Workshops, part 1
- The workshops will follow the themes. We discuss and make plan for meals. Details will be provided later.
17:00 Dinner

Day 2, 30/9

9:00 Keynote
10:00 Workshops, part 2
- Prepare meals which will feed into lunch.
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Presentations of workshop findings and panel discussion
– With guests from Canada and Australia.
16:00 Formal ending of the Forum
16:30 Optional social gatherings:
– Visit the forest and learn about and forage for local foods
– Youth-led performance-demonstrations bringing seasonal food practices to life (bark stripping and eating)
– Visits the Forest and Sámi museum
– Exchange between Indigenous guests sharing visions from three continents

Keynotes

Dr. Adrianne Lickers Xavier

Assistant Professor in Indigenous Studies, McMaster University, Canada

Doctor Adrianne Xavier's research interests include Indigenous food security, Indigenous land connections and rematriation, Indigenous food ways, and Indigenous ways of knowing. She teaches in the areas of Contemporary Indigenous Issues, Indigenous Food Security and Food Systems, Indigenous Food Sovereignty, Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Methodologies. Her community is the Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, where she works to grow the understanding and capacity around food security and sovereignty. She is the newest lead of the Indigenous Mentorship Network for Ontario focusing on the support of students, faculty and Indigenous research in the broad spectrum of Indigenous Health.
More about Adrianne Xavier

Prof. Laure Saulais

Professor at the Department of Agri-Food Economics and Consumer Sciences, Laval University, Canada

Professor Laure Saulais oversees graduate programs in Consumer Science and specializes in behavioral economics and consumer sciences. She is also a researcher at the Centre Interuniversitaire en Analyse des Organisations (CIRANO) and the NUTRISS Research Center within the Institute for Nutrition and Functional Foods (INAF). Her research explores the demand-side perspective of food system sustainability with the aim of supporting the transition towards more sustainable food consumption models. Her current projects focus on food procurement decision-making within institutional foodservice, and on the roles of food sustainability literacy and information on individual consumers’ food choices.
More about Laurie Saulais

Patricia Ellis

Business Enterprise Owner/Operator, Minga Aboriginal Cultural Services.

Ms Patricia Ellis is a respected Brinja-Yuin woman from Moruya and teacher of the Dhurga language, who has been teaching and advising on local Aboriginal culture for over 39 years. She is currently Chairperson of the Eurobodalla Shire Council Aboriginal Advisory Committee and has represented her community in many different capacities over the past four decades.
More about Patricia Ellis

Organisers

Professor Danielle Wilde, Arctic Six Chair, in collaboration with members of the UMU Sympoietic Research Collaboratory for making with food and cultures: Susanne Jonsson (project assistant and chef) and Lena Naqvi (PhD Candidate).

Professor Armando Perez-Cueto, Arctic Six Chair, in collaboration with members of the research group Sustainable Food Transitions at Umeå University and of the Profile Area “Plant science for a sustainable green transformation of the Subarctic”: Arturo Turillazzi (PhD Student), Jean-Paul Garin (PhD student).

The organisers have planned the Forum with help and support from the Arctic Centre at Umeå University

Latest update: 2025-02-21