Out of the Shadows

Background

Hydropower accounts for about 45 percent of Sweden’s total electricity generation and is an essential part of the renewable energy mix to meet climate objectives. What is less known is that about 80% derives from Sápmi, the Sámi homeland.

From 1 January 2019, new regulations apply to hydropower, with the aim of securing modern environmental permits according to the Environmental Code and the EU Water Framework Directive. The land and environment courts will during a 20-year period review the licenses. National government agencies, led by the Agency for Marine and Water Management, has developed a national plan and guidance for the County Administrative Boards’ facilitation of regional cooperation for each catchment prior to court reviews, to ensure that relevant information is available. However, both the national plan and the guidance for the cooperation process provide little clarity about how to ensure meaningful involvement of Sámi reindeer herding communities.

Project description and objectives

The primary output of the project is a guideline, comprising of both concrete measures to address hydropower impacts and ways for responsible government agencies to include Sámi reindeer herding communities in the regional cooperation.

The project consists of several activities, inspired by collaborative and action-oriented research methodologies. Key activities include consultations with hydropower affected Sámi reindeer herding communities; legal analysis of the government duty to ensure Sámi participation in the regional cooperation; and learning with civil servants, as intended adopters in government agencies.

The project is a collaboration between the Swedish Sámi Association (SSR), Luleå University of Technology (LTU), the Swedish Sámi Parliament and Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

The project is financed by the Swedish research council Formas.