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”Women and Natural Resource Management in the Rural North”

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In international agreements and declarations concerning sustainable resource management, (e.g. Agenda 21, Rio Declaration, the Arctic Council Declarations, the Beijing Platform of Action, ILO Conventions), gender equality and the rights of indigenous peoples, transparency and participatory practices are emphasised as a prerequisite for sustainable development.

This is a continuation of the Arctic Council project “Women’s participation in decision-making processes in Arctic fisheries resource management”, where we broaden the scope to include other natural resources. In keeping with the initial project, women and gender equality are again the focus of attention. An expansion from fisheries to natural resource management in general means more Arctic areas can be included, including inland rural areas, so new project partners are welcome.

Objectives of the “Women and resource management in the rural North” project:

To describe, systematise and compare the roles of women in natural resource management in Arctic areas, with particular attention to decision-making positions.

To develop tools and strategies that can be used to promote participatory values and practices.

To increase transparency and democracy in natural resource management.

To promote international cooperation on gender equality in natural resource management.

Methodology

As in the project on women in fisheries, a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodology will be used. Official statistics and previous research work already available will be used as a base for the project work, which again will focus on field studies in natural resource-based rural areas and interviews with women and men from the communities in question. There is also a special focus on discursive power (see below). This will be compiled in a project report, to be published at the end of the work period and presented to the Arctic Council in autumn 2006.

The work is comparative and process oriented, with a focus on network building and best practice exchange. Workshops will be held in conjunction with relevant research forums or conferences, or as separate events. The purpose of the workshops is to ensure close cooperation between the national project leaders, other project workers target groups and the local communities that take part in the project. In the project period, progress reports will be submitted to the Arctic Council Sustainable Development Working Group at their meetings. In addition, workshop papers and reports will be published in the project period.

Background:

Gender

The Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR) states that the Arctic today features most of the concerns about gender that have arisen in more mainstream societies. At the same time, the Arctic has given rise to a number of issues relating to gender roles that are specific to the region. Public policy documents repeatedly stress that the continued rural settlements in the North depend on the gender balance in the local communities. Women, it is claimed, are often the first to move to more central areas in search of education and work, and if they do not return then the future of these communities is threatened. This view fails to take into account the contributions women can make in their local communities. Since these communities are often resource-based, it becomes vital to see how women are included or not in these sectors, this is part of ensuring economic and socio-cultural development in the northern areas.

Power

When analysing gender relations in natural resource management we use a wide definition of power. We see power as a matter of position, participation and influence; but language, concepts and public images also convey power relations. The fisheries project found that the public perception of fisheries as a “male” sector not only served to render the women who do work there invisible, it also made it more difficult for women to choose to get involved in fisheries. In broadening the scope to include other sectors we seek to compile a resource database of the conditions for women’s participation in natural resource management.

The Norwegian project

The oil industry in Norway is of tremendous importance for the national economy and employment. As new offshore fields are opened for exploration and industry, it also becomes a factor in regional development. The oil industry has a tradition of male domination, and putting gender issues on the agenda serves to illuminate several key questions: Can new developments change out-migration patterns? Will the new employment opportunities in North Norway benefit the local population? If so, will it benefit both men and women? What are the consequences for other resource-based industries such as fisheries and aquaculture? Will women’s higher levels of scepticism regarding environmental consequences of oil development in a fragile ecosystem be a factor? In Finnmark County, women’s levels of education are above national average, men’s below. Will this be a factor? Or will the oil developments, as has been suggested, merely serve to ensure suitable husbands for these women…?

Contact details:

The Northern Feminist University / KUN: www.kun.nl.no

International project coordinator

Lindis E. H. Sloan

The Northern Feminist University/KUN

N-8286 Nordfold

Norway

Tel 0047 7577 9050

Fax 0047 7577 9070

e-mail post@kun.nl.no or lindis.sloan@kun.nl.no

National project leaders:

Canada: Joanna Kafarowski gypsy_four@shaw.ca