Rights and equity

Indigenous Sámi communities have for centuries shaped and cared for the lands and waters of Sápmi. For much of this time, their rights and livelihoods have been challenged by competing land uses and colonial dispossession – encroaching on fishing, hunting and reindeer herding, fragmenting landscapes and undermining ecological integrity. Geopolitics, climate change and green transition policies further intensified these pressures.

Our team is a hub for critical, engaged research, combining social science, political science, human rights law and physical geography. We have long-standing, trusting collaborations with Sámi organizations and reindeer herding communities in the Nordics and beyond. We also work with public authorities, civil society organizations and industries committed to upholding human rights and promoting fairness and transparency in governance and decision-making, while addressing environmental and societal challenges.

Our work aims to ensure:

Increased public awareness of rights and responsibilities, supporting a shift away from colonial and extractivist narratives and practices.
Government legislation and institutions that uphold human rights and protect and restore lands and waters.
Industry and finance actors take responsibility for human rights and equitable futures, and implement these responsibilities in practice.
Indigenous leadership with strong institutions and capacities to enact self-determination over lands and waters.

Birds eye view of a river flowing through a forested area with patches of snow

Inkludering av renskötseln i vattenkraftens omprövning

Other publication / Vattenkraftens omprövning bör inkludera åtgärder som stärker samisk kultur och möjligheterna att bedriva renskötsel – då skulle vattenkraftens legitimitet öka.

26 March 2025 / About Land use, Planning and modelling and Water resources

A wooden church with a pointed steeple in Karesuando, Sweden, surrounded by trees and water, under a blue sky with white clouds.

Kyrkans skogsutredning kan bana väg för färre konflikter i skogen – men kyrkan kan göra mer

Perspective / Kyrkans skogsutredning kan bidra till hållbar skogsförvaltning i Sápmi, men kyrkan kan göra mer för att stärka urfolks rättigheter och renskötseln.

26 February 2025 / About Ecosystems, Forests and Land use

Stack of freshly cut tree logs in a forest of young thin evergreens, with rays of sun reflecting on the trees and photo lens.

Can conflict be planned away? A critical assessment of participatory land use planning in Swedish forest governance

Journal article / This paper critically analyses the Reindeer Husbandry Plan (Renbruksplan) in Sweden, evaluating its potential for resolving land use conflicts.

30 January 2025 / About Land use

View of a mine from above in a snow covered landscape in northern Sweden at sunset

What do the EU’s new rules on corporate due diligence mean for Sámi rights and mining in Sweden?

SEI working paper / Learn how the new EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive could affect mining projects and Sámi rights in northern Sweden.

3 October 2024 / About Business and Land use

A herd of reindeer in a snowy landscape walking next to a forest with a herder behind them.

Agreement-making in the Sámi homeland: Investigating an emerging tool in green transition governance

Project / An empirical investigation of "extraction contracting" between green transition industries and the Indigenous Sámi peoples.

2023 - 2027 / About Innovation, Land use and Renewables

Open wire notebook with a black pen on top of it, lying on a glass table

CONSULT

Project / Empowering state officials to meaningfully include Sámi voices in planning and development on Indigenous lands through consultation.

2021 - 2024 / About Geopolitics, Land use and Participation

Shadowy outlines of several reindeer stopped in their tracks with their heads turned toward the camera in the background of dark green hills drenched in sunlight from a bright, but cloudy sky.

RADISAM

Project / RADISAM investigates Nordic settler colonialism and its impact on present day Indigenous land rights and discrimination against the Sámi.

2024 - 2027 / About Forests, Land use and Public policy

A rocky green hill in the background of a blue and yellow sky

Land use conflicts on Sámi lands

Project / Green transition has become a catch-all solution, but it's not without its trade-offs and conflicts. We seek to highlight them to ensure a just transition.

2024 - 2027 / About Climate policy and Land use

Birdseye view of heavy mining equipment on brown rock formation during daytime

Mistra Mineral Governance

Project / Mistra Mineral Governance research project aims to help decision-makers in Sweden and the EU navigate the critical mineral governance landscape.

2024 - 2028 / About Geopolitics, Land use, Renewables and Supply chains

Out of the Shadows

Project / The project's aim is to explore how to ensure inclusion of Sámi reindeer herding communities in the review of environmental licenses for hydropower.

2021 - 2025 / About Land use, Participation and Water resources

Workers on dam with water at hydroelectric power station

EnTruGo

Project / The project's aim is to explore how stakeholder processes affect social relations between actors involved in water governance.

2020 / About Participation, Public policy and Water resources

Synthesis of multiple knowledge sources on the impacts of mining

Project / As mining in the Arctic increases, there is an urgent need to assess social and environmental impacts as well as mitigate negative impacts.

2018 - 2023 / About Fossil fuels, Land use, Pollution and Wellbeing

Truck parking at the Aitik open pit mine

The mining industry in a sustainable future

Project / Svemin, together with SEI, initiated a project to analyse the role of the mining and minerals industry in the shift towards a sustainable future.

2018 - 2019 / About Land use, Pollution, Supply chains and Sustainable Development Goals

Many reindeer surround a few poeple in a snowy environment in northern Sweden.

CO-LAND

Project / Contested landscapes: navigating competing claims and cumulative impacts in Northern Sweden (CO-LAND) explores how to manage impacts on reindeer pastures.

2016 - 2018 / About Land use

REXSAC

Project / Resource Extraction and Sustainable Arctic Communities (REXSAC) is an interdisciplinary research environment focusing on sustainability and Arctic mining.

2016 - 2021 / About Adaptation, Geopolitics and Land use

Hybrid accountability innovations for the Philippine oil palm industry

Project / Improving in the accountability of multinational corporations and investors when engaging in the oil palm industry in the Philippines.

2013 - 2017 / About Supply chains

Climate change adaptation and water governance: reconciling food security, renewable energy and the provision of multiple ecosystem services (CADWAGO)

Project / Climate change adaptation and water governance: reconciling food security, renewable energy and the provision of multiple ecosystem services (CADWAGO).

2012 - 2016 / About Adaptation, Disaster risk, Food and agriculture, Renewables, Water resources and Water-energy-food nexus