Sámi Health Research highlighted at the Arctic Observing Summit
NEWS
Sámi and Arctic health research is highlighted during the first day of the Arctic Observing Summit (AOS 2022), on which Umeå University is well represented. Among others, Petter Stoor and Lena Maria Nilsson, members of the research group Lávvuo at Umeå University, participate as invited speakers in two of the introductory day's panel discussions.
The research group Lávvuo was formed in 2021 at the Department of Epidemiology and Global Health. There, the group participates in the teaching of medical students and conducts research on Sami health in collaboration with among others the Public Health Agency and the Sami Parliament.
Arctic Observing Summit (AOS) is an international forum that “aims to provide guidance based on the best available knowledge for the design, implementation, coordination and sustained long-term operation of an international network of Arctic observing systems”. As a part of the yearly Arctic Science Summit Week, every second year an AOS is arranged where researchers and policymakers meet to discuss how to optimize resource allocation through coordination and exchange in the Arctic.
In a panel on Health and Well-Being, postdoctoral fellow Jon Petter Stoor, one of the founders of the Lávvuo research group, will discuss the need for adequate health data on Indigenous populations in the Arctic with examples from unique population-based survey Sámi Health on Equal Terms, with data collection performed during 2021.
- Although my example relates to health I actually think this connects to a broader issue, which is that we are not producing enough statistical data on the Arctic Indigenous societies. With our study, we are trying to change that.
In a panel on Community-Based and Community driven Observations, PhD Lena Maria Nilsson will discuss the value of Arctic food in a future circular food system with examples from Sápmi, the traditional Sámi homeland. The results of her most recent study have emerged in dialogue with, among others, the non-profit organization Slow Food Sápmi.
- Data from the Sámi Health on Equal Terms survey is one way of expanding the knowledge of the cultural value of traditional Sámi Food, she explains.
The Arctic Observing Summit of 2022 is arranged as a hybrid meeting in Tromsö, Norway and continues from March 30 to April 1. All panels are available for free online.
