RENMAN - The challenge of modernity for reindeer management: integration and sustainable development in Europe's sub-arctic and boreal regions

Project partner
University of Oulu, Finland; Helsinki University of Technology, Finland; The Norwegian Crop Research Institute; New Bulgarian University; CAU Institut für Polarökologie; University of Lapland, Finland; University of Tromsoe, Norway; Uppsala University, Sweden; Finnish Forest Research Institute

Short description

RENMAN (RENtier MANagement) will develop new tools and models of participatory research and planning in reindeer management that will facilitate integrated and sustainable use of living resources in sub-arctic/boreal Europe. RENMAN is a direct result of the participation of key partners in the project 'Human Environmental Interactions' in the European Union Concerted Action ARTERI, and the IASC workshop on the 'Human Role in Reindeer Systems'. The project involves rural stakeholders, via local workshops and interviews, in the process of research on topics they have helped to prioritize. The analyses will focus on human interactions (in particular indigenous vs. scientific perceptions of management and the transfer of expertise from the EU to Russian systems), the quality and hygienic status of summer pastures, soils and surface waters, and the implications for animal and human health. The findings will provide better cultural and scientific bases for EU policy implementation.

Benjamin Burkhard completed this project at the Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel.