The Sámi Parliament in Finland, Sámi Youth in Finland Organization, and Suohpanterror Saami Artivist Collective participated in the 17th session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which took place from 16-27 April 2018. The University of Lapland, Faculty of Art and Design, is leading PARTY, a Horizon 2020 MCSA RISE funded project that aims to develop service design methods to facilitate service development and stakeholder dialogue between indigenous San youth and local government. The side event discussed concerns regarding the loss of land, environmental impact, potential damage to culture and language, and how they would affect traditional reindeer herding, and shape the Saami response to the Arctic railway plan. Suohpanterror, a Saami artivist collective formed by anonymous Saami artists, presented a poster exhibition during the event. The side event aimed to introduce a Saami perspective on the planned Arctic railway to the public discussion. There are three main concerns: 1. The Arctic railway’s contribution to climate change, 2. The introduction of heavy infrastructure, power lines, and service buildings in the fragile Arctic nature, and 3. The decrease in grazing lands for reindeer and the potential for an annual occurrence of reindeer getting run over by trains. The PARTY project organised a poster inclusion to raise awareness of the issue and present an art-based method to make a statement. The poster inclusion in the UNPFII was conducted as a participatory workshop where all participants were welcome and encouraged to join. PARTY (Participatory Development with Youth) co-organized the side event with the Youth Council of Sami.

See a video about the workshop here.