Opening seminar in Rovaniemi attracts a large audience

The CoE’s Rovaniemi opening seminar brought together researchers, students and members of the public at the University of Lapland and online to discuss Indigenous justice, knowledge, rights and more-than-human relations. The event introduced the CoE’s newly launched research programme and featured internationally renowned speakers from Aotearoa New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The event offered an opportunity to explore the CoE’s research themes from a range of international and interdisciplinary perspectives. Throughout the afternoon, speakers addressed questions of Indigenous philosophies, justice, cultural rights, human-environment relations and ecological futures.

The seminar was opened by Rector Antti Syväjärvi. This was followed by and introduction to MultiBEING’s research programme by Professor Sanna Valkonen and postdoctoral researchers Áile Aikio and Anne-Maria Magga (University of Lapland), and Professor Pirjo Kristiina Virtanen (University of Helsinki).

The second part featured four distinguished international guest speakers whose work resonates closely with the CoE’s research themes. Professor Carl Mika (University of Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand) explored Indigenous philosophy and uncertainty in his lecture Māori Logics and Justice: Being without Certainty. Drawing on Māori thought, he reflected on alternative ways of understanding knowledge, existence and justice.

Professor Emeritus Tim Ingold (University of Aberdeen), one of the world’s leading anthropologists, delivered a lecture titled For a New Humanism, inviting participants to rethink the relationships between humans, environments and the material world.

The afternoon programme continued with online lectures by Professor Alexandra Xanthaki (Brunel University London and UN Special Rapporteur in the Field of Cultural Rights) and Professor Jérémie Gilbert (University of Southampton). Their presentations examined connections between Indigenous rights, cultural rights, ecological justice and the rights of nature, highlighting both new opportunities and ongoing challenges in advancing justice for Indigenous peoples.

The event generated lively discussions among participants and demonstrated the strong interest in the questions at the heart of MultiBEING’s work: Indigenous concepts of justice, responsibility, relationality and more-than-human worlds.

We warmly thank all speakers and participants for an inspiring event and for the thought-provoking conversations throughout the day.

📸 Photos: Marko Junttila