Saami Council Headquarters

EU Legislative Interests

The Saami Council is following the EU's work on policies that affect the Sámi people. - Arctic issues, such as the EU Arctic Forum initiative of the EU Commission - Indigenous Peoples issues, such as the EU Indigenous Peoples Dialoge - Regional development and cross border initiatives, such as pilot studies on Community based Local development initiatives under DG REGIO - Energy and climate, such as the EU Nature Restoration Law and Forest monitoring law - Biodiversity through participation in the EU Biodiversity platform (EUBP) - Implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act

Communication Activities

The Saami Council received a target grant from European Maritime and Fisheries Fund named "Support to awareness raising about the Saami" in 2019. The objective of this project was to find ways and means how to raise awareness about the Sámi people within the EU institutions. This included both capacity-building activities such as fact sheets, cooperation, and information sharing with relevant stakeholders but also to build strong and resilient partnerships with EU institutions. In 2022, Saami Council received a new target grant from European Maritime and Fisheries Fund for the project AWARE EU-SAPMI to build bridges and awareness between the Saami people and EU institutions. Building on the previous initiatives, and to continue to empower the Sámi people and amplify their voice in EU policy development, Saami Council recieved EMFAF funding to the project "Sámi Influence and Knowledge Exchange in EU Policy (SIKE)" in 2024. The Saami Council also lead an Interreg project called "Filling the EU-Sápmi knowledge gaps". The project aims at building capacity and strengthening the Sámi civil society so the Sámi people can participate in EU decision-making process as well as build strong and resilient Sámi societies. The project was nominated for the Regiostar reward. ReCap ASáp: Regaining capacity in a changing Sápmi is the new Interreg Aurora-funded project led by the Saami Council and Suoma Sámiid Guovdašsearvi. The project aims to build capacity in Sámi civil society, to ensure that Sámi civil society have the proper opportunities and the means to actively participate in, and influence issues affecting Sápmi. The project-period is 2023-2026. Saami Council is also a partner in the EU-funded "Youth Together for Arctic Futures" project 2024-2027. The Saami Council was also a partner in the Erasmus + project "Mobile Virtual Learning for Indigenous Languages". The project developed an app called IndyLan designed specifically for users to learn not only some of Europe’s endangered languages but also more about the cultures of the people who speak these languages.

Interests Represented

Does not represent commercial interests

Member Of

In 2024, the Saami Council individual staff or representatives have been represented in the following: Norwegian National Human Rights Institution (Norges Institutt for Menneskerettigheter, NIM), as member of the advisory committee National Cooperation Forum IDIL (Nasjonalt samarbeidsforum IDIL, Norway), as member Norwegian Museum of Cultural History (Norsk Folkemuseum), as board member EU PolarNet2, member of the advisory committee Navigating the New Arctic Community Office (NNA-CO), member of the Indigenous Advisory Board Enhancing Trust in Government for Effective Water Governance (EnTruGo), member of the advisory committee Symbol Committee (Symbolkomiteen), members Lásságámmi, member Culture Room (Kulturrom), board member Harvard Kennedy School Arctic Initiative Board of Advisors, member of the International Board of Advisors Pawanka Fund, Guiding Committee Member Nia Tero Advisory Board, member of the Advisory Council Arctic Circle Mission Council on the Global – Arctic Indigenous Dialogue, member The Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH), member of the Advisory Committee Arctic PASSION, member of the Advisory Board International Arctic Science Committee (IASC) Social and Human Working Group (SHWG), nominated a member Arctic Council Indigenous Peoples’ Secretariat Board (IPS), , board member UNFCCC Local Community and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP) Facilitative Working Group (FWG), Indigenous representative International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity (IIFB), coordinator for the Arctic region Arctic Science Funders Forum EU Biodiversity Platform (EUBP), members EU Commission Nature Directive sub-expert group (NADEG), member EU Commission Working Group on Forest and Nature, member EU Commission Forest and Forestry Stakeholder Forum, member Sustainable Development Working Group’s Arctic Human Health Expert Group, member Permanent Participant Youth Network, youth representative International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP), member of the steering committee The Nordic Civil Society Network, member The Norwegian Touring Theatre (Riksteatret Norge), board member Norwegian Public Committee on Music (Norsk offentlig utredning Musikk), committee member Norwegian-Finnish Cultural Fund (Norsk-finsk kulturfond), member Sustainable Development Working Group Co-Vice Chair of the Permanent Participants, Co-Vice Chair UNFCCC International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, Arctic region focal points Indigenous Peoples Knowledge and Leadership Network (IPKLN) of the World Economic Forum (WEF), member of the steering committee

Organisation Members

MEMBER ORGANISATIONS OF THE SAAMI COUNCIL Reindeer Herders Association of Sweden (BEO) http://renagarforbundet.se/ Kola Saami Association (AKS) Saami Association of the Murmansk Region (OOSMO) Reindeer Herders Association of Norway (NBR) https://www.reindriftsame.no/ Norwegian Sami Association (NSR) https://nsr.no/ National Association Sáme Ätnam (RSÄ) (Sweden) http://www.sameatnam.se/ Saami Peoples Union (SÁL) (Norway) https://samene.no/ National Union of the Swedish Saami People (SSR) https://www.sapmi.se/ Central Saami Association (SSG) (Finland) https://samiidguovddassearvi.wordpress.com/

Additional Information

All other grants and contributions are under 10% of the total budget.