CERH
Reindeers in Finnish Lapland / SAAMI project

Presentation of "Adaptation of Saami people to the climate change" -project's key results in Helsinki

The key results of the research project Adaptation of Saami people to the climate change (SAAMI) will be presented in Helsinki at the Ministry of Education and Culture on February 11, 2020 at 8.30-12.00 (Finnish time). The project carried out by CERH, University of Oulu indicates that climate change deeply affects the environment, livelihoods and culture of the Saami people. Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Krista Mikkonen will open the event.

The purpose of the project was to investigate the effects of climate change on the Saami culture in 1960–2018. The research classifies the direct and indirect climate change observations made by the Saami people and compares them to the observations made by other indigenous peoples of the Arctic. The first observations of climate change are from the 1960s. The changes have accelerated since the late 1990s.

The analysis indicates that climate change has deeply affected the environment, livelihoods and culture of the reindeer herding Saami people of Finland and also other indigenous peoples of the Arctic. The project looked into Saami people’s possibilities to influence climate policy. There are very few objectives concerning the Saami people in current climate policy programme work.

The project presents 14 proposals for action concerning climate policy, research and follow-up, representative bodies of the Saami people, education and climate sustainability.  

Time: Tuesday February 11, 2020 at 8.30-12.00.
Location: Meeting room Jukola, Ministry of Education and Culture, Meritullinkatu 1, Helsinki, Finland.

The event is held in Finnish and is open to all interested in the topic, but attendance requires registration due to the location – please register by February 6, 2020 at https://www.oulu.fi/cerh-fi/node/196424

If you are not able to attend, the event will be streamed online at: https://www.mediaserver.fi/live/oulu

The event is organized by the Ministry of the Environment and the Center for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research (CERH), University of Oulu. The Project is part of the Finnish Government's analysis, assessment and research activities (VN-TEAS) for 2019. The project has the free, prior and informed consent of the Saami Parliament and the Skolt Saami Village Assembly. 

Contact information:
Principal investigator, Professor Jouni Jaakkola
Center for Environmental and Respiratory Health Research (CERH), Faculty of Medicine, University of Oulu
tel. +358 40 6720927
jouni.jaakkola(a)oulu.fi

Chairman of the steering group Ilkka Heikkinen
Ministry of Environment
tel. +358 295 250 079
ilkka.heikkinen(a)ym.fi

Project website:

In Finnish, Dávvisámegiella, Anarâškielâ and Nuõrttsää'm: https://www.oulu.fi/cerh-fi/saami
In English: https://www.oulu.fi/cerh/saami

 

Last updated: 30.1.2020