Background
Current data governance trends increasingly emphasize the need to open access to data, despite growing
concerns over data privacy, control and surveillance. Indigenous peoples, with different epistemological
traditions for the use and sharing of culturally sensitive information, reinforce the growing concern of
people’s ability to exert data sovereignty, especially since they hold specific collective rights under the UN
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Thus, while interest continues to grow on the
documentation and use of Indigenous knowledge, current data governance trends do not align well with
Indigenous data rights and governance rules. This is the case of most data on Indigenous peoples
especially within EU open-data research.
Using the Local Indicators of Climate Change Impacts research project as a case study, the Research on
Indigenous Data Governance Protocols (RIDAGOP) – a 18-month European Research Council (ERC) Proof-
of-Concept research project – aims to contribute to the field of Indigenous Data Sovereignty (IDS) by
developing a toolkit to guide research institutions in better understanding how to handle sensitive
Indigenous knowledge and cultural information in open research contexts in order to better adhere to IDS
principles (e.g. CARE Principles). The project aims to contribute to the work of leading organizations in this
field (e.g., Global Indigenous Data Alliance). The potential of this research is to help reframe how datasets
concerning Indigenous peoples are interpreted and managed in EU open research projects and
consequently how Indigenous peoples’ knowledge is represented.
Roles & Responsibilities
Background & skillset
Time commitments & deliverables:
Details & Compensation
This is a 12-month advisory role starting 15 October 2022.
Compensation is EUR 3,000
To apply: please send your CV to victoria.reyes@uab.cat and adrien.tofighi@uab.cat by September 28,
2022.
*Approval is dependent on ERC acceptance of the candidate