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Updated: Feb 10


22-24 March 2023

Brussels, Belgium

The Sámi Parliament in Finland, the European Parliament and the Finnish Presidency of the Barents Euro-Arctic Council have the pleasure to invite you to the Summit of Barents Euro-Arctic Indigenous Sámi People, taking place in the European Parliament, Brussels, on 22–24 March 2023. The up-coming Summit is the first Indigenous Peoples Summit organized physically for four years, following the Covid-19 pandemic. The Summit will convene both Sámi and EU decision-makers to an important dialogue. One of the main topics to be discussed during the Summit, is the climate change, which has a profound impact to Sámi culture, languages, and livelihoods.


The purpose of the Summit is to contribute to a closer dialogue between the Sámi community and the EU, as well as to exchange knowledge and experience that can lead to more sustainable development among indigenous peoples in the European part of the Arctic. The Summit aims also to raise awareness among EU decision-makers about the need to include the Sámi people in EU policymaking.


A project on intellectual property rights, presented at the Sámi Summit in Brussels, issued a Publication summarizing results of cooperation.


Intellectual property legislation is considered a complex area of law and the indigenous peoples; and a proper education on this matter is needed. It plays a key role when solutions are sought to legitimate expectations of indigenous peoples. To meet these needs, a project on the cultural intellectual property of northern indigenous peoples was carried out during 2022.


The Sámi Education Institute (SAKK) based in Inari acted as the main project implementer in cooperation with the Sámi Parliament of Finland and the Ministry of Education and Culture. The project was carried out in coordination with intellectual property experts of the Barents Euro-Arctic Region and other partners. Tuomas Mattila, an expert on intellectual property rights and Pasi Jaakonaho, a lecturer in Sámi handicrafts in the Sámi Education Institute and doctoral candidate, were tasked with carrying out the project and preparing this training material. The training material created in the project supports the training of both intellectual property experts and Sámi artists (especially young artists) and all those interested in traditional livelihoods.


Publication in English

Publication in Finnish, Inari Sámi and Swedish

Project homepage

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