An example of interdisciplinary research: Sustainable reindeer management in Lapland, Finland

1. An example of interdisciplinary research: Sustainable reindeer management in Lapland, Finland Janne Hukkinen Tieteidenvälisyys ja sen haasteet yliopistoissa STTS seminaari 26.2.2008

2. Introduction • “Crossing disciplinary boundaries” and “working together to solve problems” are unquestioned operating assumptions in sustainable development • Yet if we want to seriously tackle the challenges of human-environment interaction, it is not enough to try to “work together” • Often experts from different walks of life do not mean or target the same thing when they say they want sustainability • Need to increase knowledge of the cognitive foundations of sustainability assessment: How do individuals understand sustainability? How do groups of individuals solve sustainability problems? • Here: knowledge integration through cognitive blending

3. Cognitive blending • Cognitive blend is a novel mental model selectively composed of elements and relations originating in two or more familiar mental models called inputs • Blending completes what are only barely distinguishable patterns in partial domains of knowledge, which results in a new domain of knowledge qualitatively different from the partial inputs input 1 input 2 blend

4. Introduction to RENMAN project • European Commission 5th Framework Programme RENMAN: The Challenges of Modernity for Reindeer Management: Integration and Sustainable Development in Europe´s Subarctic and Boreal Regions (2001-4, 2 Me) • Coordinator University of Lapland, Arctic Centre • Objective of RENMAN: design and negotiation of policies for reindeer management that will improve local conditions and secure an acceptable quality of life • Workpackage 1 (Helsinki University of Technology): Development of participatory institutions for reindeer management

5. Characteristics of knowledge networking in the EU project on sustainable reindeer management

6. EU desk officer Subgroup 1 Individual 1 Coordinator Joint sessions Project coordination committee Individual 2 Individual 3 Subgroup 2 Subgroup 3 Work packages 1-10 Pioneer networking Input: committed participants Output: ideas generated during field visits and interviews Translational networking Input: ideas from pioneer networking Output: solutions and scenarios formulated during workshops Modular networking Input: solutions and scenarios from translational networking Output: policy recommendations to EU Knowledge networking in the EU project on sustainable reindeer management

7. RENMAN policy recommendations • Recommendation 1: Develop reindeer management as an innovation and a brand. • Recommendation 2: Establish scale sensitive coalitions and strategies in reindeer management with participatory decision making procedures. • Recommendation 3: Monitor and regulate reindeer management with dynamic sustainability bandwidths. • Recommendation 4: Resolve tension between planned and market economy in reindeer management.

8. Input 1 Input 2 uniform government policy uniform government policy and diverse environmental pressures overall socio-economic inefficiency disruption of local community uniform government policy and diverse environmental pressures disruption of local community and overall socio-economic inefficiency Blend Blending in the first workshop

9. Input 1 Input 2 uniform government policy and diverse environmental pressures diverse problems disruption of local community and overall socio-economic inefficiency diverse solutions diverse policy and diverse environmental pressures strengthening of local community and local socio-economic efficiency Blend Blending in the second workshop

10. Input 1 Input 2 branding and innovation funding diverse policy and diverse environmental pressures strengthening of local community and local socio-economic efficiency government subsidy diverse policy and diverse environmental pressures branding and innovation funding strengthening of local community and local socio-economic efficiency Blend Blending in the third workshop

11. Further reading • Hukkinen, J. (in press) Sustainability Networks: Cognitive Tools for Expert Collaboration in Social-Ecological Systems. London: Routledge (http://www.routledgeeconomics.com/books/Sustainability-Networks-isbn9780415461603). • Forbes, B.C., M. Bölter, L. Müller-Wille, J. Hukkinen, F. Müller, N. Gunslay and Y. Konstantinov, eds (2006) Reindeer Management in Northernmost Europe: Linking Practical and Scientific Knowledge in Social-Ecological Systems, Ecological Studies 184. Berlin Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag. • Bruun, H., J. Hukkinen, K. Huutoniemi, J. Thompson Klein (2005) Promoting Interdisciplinary Research: The Case of the Academy of Finland. Academy of Finland Publication Series 8/05. Helsinki: Academy of Finland. • Hukkinen, J. (1999) Institutions in Environmental Management: Constructing Mental Models and Sustainability. London: Routledge. • On cognitive blending, see • D. Gentner, K.J. Holyoak and B.N. Kokinov (eds) The Analogical Mind: Perspectives from Cognitive Science, Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 2001; • G. Fauconnier and M. Turner, The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind’s Hidden Complexities, New York, NY: Basic Books, 2002